When the Vancouver Canucks need to clear cap space, they talk to the Chicago Blackhawks.
According to multiple reports, the Canucks and Blackhawks have agreed to a trade that would send Ilya Mikheyev, the signing rights to Sam Lafferty, and a second-round pick to the Blackhawks in exchange for a fourth-round pick.
The one sticking point to the deal getting done is that Mikheyev has a 12-team no-trade clause, with the basement-dwelling Blackhawks likely on that no-trade list. Considering the Canucks gave Mikheyev's agent, Dan Milstein, permission to facilitate a trade, it seems likely that point won't be sticky for long.
That said, Mikheyev reportedly has not yet been asked to waive.
One potential reason why is that there is reportedly another team vying for Mikheyev. Both this mystery team and the Blackhawks are on Mikheyev's no-trade list, so it may come down to Mikheyev deciding which team he'd rather play for.
UPDATE: Mikheyev has reportedly waived his no-trade clause to go to the Blackhawks.
It should be noted that the Canucks don't have a second-round pick in this year's draft and neither do the Blackhawks have a fourth-round pick in this year's draft.
According to DailyFaceoff's Frank Seravalli, the two picks are from the 2027 draft. In addition, the Canucks will be retaining 15% of Mikheyev's salary in the deal. That works out to $712,500, meaning the Canucks clear $4,037,500 from their books.
Lafferty was unlikely to re-sign with the Canucks, so including his rights in the trade doesn't cost the Canucks anything. The true cost to dumping 85% of Mikheyev's $4.75 million cap hit is the second-round pick. It was a similar cost for the Detroit Red Wings to dump Jake Walman's contract on the San Jose Sharks, only the Red Wings didn't get a fourth-round pick in return.
The Canucks wanted to avoid adding a sweetener to trade Mikheyev but the need to create space under the salary cap was too great, especially if they want to retain a pending free agent like Nikita Zadorov and go big-game hunting in free agency for someone like Jake Guentzel. Without shedding Mikheyev's salary, the Canucks' cap crunch would have made it difficult to make significant improvements to the lineup heading into next season.
The Canucks have previously dumped other contracts on the Blackhawks to shed salary, trading Jason Dickinson and a second-round pick to the Blackhawks for Riley Stillman in 2022 and trading Anthony Beauvillier for a fifth-round pick in 2023.
Dickinson subsequently became a key centre for the Blackhawks, even garnering Selke votes this past season, while the Blackhawks recouped a fifth-round pick for Beauvillier at the 2024 trade deadline in a deal with the Nashville Predators.
It was initially reported that the second-round pick was going to be from the 2025 draft. With the Canucks not making a second-round pick in either 2022 or 2023 and without a second-round pick in 2024, moving their 2025 second-round pick would have meant four straight drafts without a second-round pick. Instead, for now, they still have their 2025 (and 2026) second-round picks.
