The Vancouver Canucks and Ilya Mikheyev appear to be at an impasse. Mikheyev wants to play in Vancouver for the contract he negotiated. The Canucks want Mikheyev to play in Vancouver, but cheaper. Or better, either one.
Canucks and Mikheyev Mutually Imperfect
It’s never a great sign when a team gives an agent permission to “help look for a fit.” It means they have already looked themselves and are no longer shy about hiding the fact. There is a flaw somewhere in the relationship, and usually, both sides agree a move is needed.
While it doesn’t mean there is definitely going to be a deal, that’s probably the way to bet. But Vancouver has been through this before, and recently. Brock Boeser asked for a trade out of town during another disappointing season just last year. The team didn’t get the price they wanted and enlisted his agent to look for a deal.
The move that didn’t happen by that trade deadline continued to not happen into training camp. And by the end of the calendar year, no one was looking anymore. He led the team in the regular season with 40 goals, then did it again in the playoffs with seven goals and 12 points in a dozen games.
Everyone got more than they bargained for, and now the Canucks need to decide what to do with him. This is Boeser’s contract year, and the decision to extend or possibly move him looms large. This is not the same question the Canucks have with Ilya Mikheyev.
The Defendable Decision
Mikheyev was coming off a 21-goal season, scoring that in just 53 games. He also went 2-2-4 in seven playoff games, marking not just new career highs but showing how he had grown offensively. He was used far more on the defensive side of the puck and felt his opportunities were stifled with the Leafs.
Vancouver was looking to tighten things up defensively but also saw the potential of adding a 20-goal scorer at the same time. The Canucks needs were not few, and if they could add speed, scoring, AND defence in one player? It’s no surprise that they offered him nearly triple his pay. Mikheyev saw not just a sizable paycheque but the opportunity to do the fun part of hockey: score!
As anyone who follows the team knows, disaster struck early for both player and team. His ACL injury in the pre-season hampered his best feature, eventually ending his first season early for corrective surgery. He finished with 13 goals and 28 points in 46 games. Those are decent numbers for a middle-six winger, but without his signature speed, his defence also slipped.
It’s easy to forget now, but Mikheyev’s return was looking very, very good. His stride was lacking from former highs, but it was improving. He was getting in on the forecheck like he used to. He was even putting up points on the top line with Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko. Our writer Joshua Rey talked about his first month here, and for good reason.
Doctor Mikhel and Mister Heyev
And that’s the problem, isn’t it? The Canucks signed Ilya Mikheyev with the expectation of that version of him. A team doesn’t commit $19 million on wishful thinking – or this one doesn’t, anyway. If he shows up again, this time fully healed from his injury and at full speed, any team would want him, including Vancouver.
But what if the Ilya Mikheyev who scored one goal in 50 games – and zero points in the playoffs – is the “real” Mikheyev?
In theory, finding skilled wingers is easier than the “high-skill” positions of centre and right-hand defence. In practice, there are tiers to those wingers, and it’s just as hard to find a high-skill one there. Ilya is a very specific type, still with a surprising amount of potential for a 28-year-old.
If you ask any coach or general manager what their ideal winger would be, it’s a familiar description. You can probably answer it in your sleep if you’ve seen more than two press conferences. Over six feet, heavy forechecker, fast, responsible defensively, reads plays well, good shot.
Five out of six ain’t bad.
Mikheyev is 6’3″ and 190 pounds, one of the fastest skaters in the league, retrieves the puck from the corners, and is rock-solid on defence. He had not only 21 goals in 53 games two seasons ago, but scored ten in the first 28 games of 2023-24. He can absolutely score 20 in a full season, no question.
Except when he doesn’t. The last 50 games of 2023-24 were a strange time. His speed slowly improved as the year went on, but his hands were left behind. He had just 91 shots on net, scoring once at even strength. In fact, all of his goals came at even strength last season.
Can the Canucks Move Ilya Mikheyev On?
The Canucks clearly want to push talent down the lineup rather than promote from below. That’s simply the position they are in right now. Any thought of rebuilding the team went straight out the window with the J.T. Miller signing two years ago.
You can see it in their effort to chase down Jake Guentzel. They want HIGH-skill players to fill the forward ranks. If one of their younger players forces his way onto the top two lines, so much the better. But until then, the team wants players to drop onto the top.
The problem is that those players are expensive. If Mikheyev can bounce back, he will be a very good fit on the second line. He’s already on the team, so they don’t need to pitch for him. But he’s also got a $4.75 million cap hit, so if he doesn’t return to form that hampers who they can bring in in addition to him.
As far as a trade goes, Mikheyev is as low a value as he can be. Recovering from injury, a miserable playoff run with zero points and demotion to the fourth line, and, as mentioned, one goal in the last 50 games of the regular season. Oh, and a year remaining on his contract.
Not only is this player hard to move, he might be impossible. Vancouver’s got very little in the way of future assets they can trade away right now, as a sweetener or anything else. Unless a team is willing to accept a lot of risk, the Canucks will need to retain salary or add a young player to go with him.
As much as the Canucks want to trade Ilya Mikheyev, they might not be able to afford it.
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