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The Chicago Blackhawks and the Vancouver Canucks completed a “late night trade” on Wednesday, June 27, helping the latter to open some cap room while the former reunited with a former player of the organization.
The Blackhawks acquired winger Ilya Mikheyev and forward Sam Lafferty, along with a 2027 second-round pick, in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick from Vancouver, Chicago announced on X.
For Chicago, this trade marks the reacquisition of Sam Lafferty, who previously played with the Blackhawks before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Lafferty had 24 points, including an NHL career-high 13 goals, in 79 regular-season games during the 2024 season, his first with Vancouver. The forward, however, did not have a point in 11 playoff games. The Canucks acquired Lafferty from the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 8, 2023.
The Blackhawks also add Ilya Mikheyev, a player known for his speed and two-way play. The Canucks were trying to find a team to dump his salary and they found it in Chicago.
Mikheyev has two years remaining on a four-year, $19 million contract signed with the Canucks in 2022. He entered the NHL after the Maple Leafs signed him as an undrafted free agent on May 2019. Mikheyev has 131 points (60 goals, 71 assists) in 270 regular-season games with the Maple Leafs and Canucks, and 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 30 playoff games.
Canucks Dump Ilya Mikheyev on Chicago’s Roster
With a cap hit of $4.75 million, the Canucks retain 15% of Mikheyev’s salary as part of the trade. The Canucks’ main goal with this trade was to create salary cap space ahead of the upcoming free agency.
By offloading Mikheyev’s contract, Vancouver frees up over $4 million for the next two seasons. This transaction positions them to be more active in the free agency market.
“I would like to thank both Sam and Ilya for their time in Vancouver and wish them both the best moving forward,” said Allvin on June 26, via Canucks Army. “In Mik’s case, we were really impressed with how hard he worked to come back from his knee surgery. That determination and drive is what makes him such a good player.”
The trade also includes Vancouver sending a 2027 second-round pick to Chicago while receiving a 2027 fourth-round pick in return. That wouldn’t please the Canucks, but it’s the sweeter they had to add to the trade in order to get rid of the salary attached to Mikheyev’s name.
Thomas Drance of The Athletic reported the initial desire of the Canucks of avoiding including a second-round pick, but rather try to sweeten any deal with a third-round selection.
“Vancouver had been attempting to move Mikheyev to free up cap space for weeks, but given that internal confidence, had been only offering a third-round pick as the sweetener,” Drance wrote. “Canucks management hadn’t been able to find a taker at that price.”
Vancouver Keeps Working Its Cap Room for Free Agency
With the trade, the Canucks now have significant cap flexibility heading into free agency, which opens on July 1.
The Canucks have made it to the rumor mill as potential pursuers of top free agents such as Jake Guentzel, Dakota Joshua, and Nikita Zadorov.
“That’s really what the shockingly painless Mikheyev cap dump was all about—what comes next, and what the Canucks can pull off this summer to try and cement themselves as a team with a real shot of winning big,” Drance wrote.
The Canucks’ strategy involves clearing space to potentially re-sign key players and target high-impact free agents.
PuckPedia projects the Canucks have over $19 million in cap space with 16 players under contract entering the offseason. That figure doesn’t include the potential salaries of pending Vancouver free agents.
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