Chef Boi RD wrote: ↑Sun Feb 23, 2020 6:16 pm
The Brown Wizard wrote: ↑Sun Feb 23, 2020 6:13 pm
One would assume if he is indeed talking to the agent it would be to negotiate an extension prior to trading for him so his pending UFA status would no longer be an issue
Does the salary cap no longer apply to the Vancouver Canucks?

we haven’t even signed Hughes and Pettersson to their 8 figure contracts yet
Here's a different take on it.
Most have assumed that Sakic traded Barrie because he had younger guys in the pipeline and was unwilling to pay Barrie a salary ask that was presumed to be as much as $8M AAV.
Taking a look at Barrie's career stats and contract history....
He signed his current deal of $5.5M for the 2016-17 season following a pair of 50+ points per 82 game seasons which he produced while under a 2 year contract worth $2.6M, and that was built on two years of ELC where he scored at a similar pace. His last two seasons in Colorado saw him put up numbers at a 60+ point pace.
So it seemed a reasonable assumption that he would be asking for a contract that runs similar to blueliners like Letang, who seems like a good comparable because Letang has a more offense first style of game and his numbers are produced playing on a team led by Crosby and Malkin, while Barrie benefits from the likes of MacKinnon and Rantanen. It's quite likely true that his agent would have sought that.
Here's a twist though. Barrie is a career minus-67, and while +/- is a Mickey Mouse stat of sorts, it's also not easily dismissed when it comes to defensemen, particularly the ones playing on the top pairing of a high scoring team, and it did come up considerably last season. On top of that Barrie's numbers have dropped off, while playing on a team that is again loaded with high scoring forwards, but his +/- has maintained a similar track to last season, this while playing on a team that doesn't know what defense is.
The trade to Toronto has hurt Barrie's career path in terms of negotiating power in his big UFA season, and his age (29 this summer) does him no favors as an UFA looking for a payday with any kind of term. I can't see a reasonable ask of anything north of $6.5M from Barrie from any team unless that team is desperate to have him.
Based on that I have no trouble believing that Benning has interest, and that he has requested permission to speak with Barrie's agent, but that interest is going to be contingent on how conversations go. If Barrie wants to come home he will have to give a hometown discount, particularly if he wants any kind of term.
It's not inconceivable that Benning thinks he can bring Barrie home for the same price tag as Edler, and for a term of 5 years or less. It's more likely if he is fairly confident that Tanev will be headed to Toronto next year as a free agent.
The question is whether or not that's worth it and what kind of changes would need to be made to the roster, and how confident Benning is he can do it.
Loui, Stecher, Sutter, Tanev, Baertschi, and Ferland, all combine for a $22.95M.
There's a chance none of them are back next season.
When it's time to pay Pettersson and Hughes we will have seen Edler's $6M also disappear.
If all of those names are somehow gone next year it's possible to do the following...
Toffoli $5.5M
Virtanen $4M
Barrie $6.5M (Based on desire to play in Vancouver and a bad year)
Markstrom $6.5M
Gaudette $2.5M
MacEwan $1.25M
And still have $9.1M in space for 2 defensemen and 2 forwards.
The question is just whether it's worth it.