from Travis Yost of TSN,

Is there a trade market for Vancouver Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers?

That’s not a question I figured to be exploring in September with the season approaching, but owing to a contractual wrinkle, there is a possibility Myers could be on the move.

The 33-year-old veteran blueliner, who is on pace to cross the 1,000-game threshold this year, will see his contract expire at the end of the 2023-24 season. That deal – a five-year, $30-million pact inked back in 2019-20 – is heavily paid by way of signing bonuses. With his $5-million signing bonus for the approaching season now paid, the remaining money owed on Myers’ contract is just $1 million. (Note: Myers does also have a 10-team no trade list.)

With such little real money owed, and with Vancouver in need of cap space, Myers becomes an intriguing trade option – both for teams that may be searching for artificial help to reach the cap floor and for teams that think Myers has some game left in the tank.

The second scenario is the more pertinent one. With such little cap growth around the league in the post-COVID era, teams have had less difficulty reaching the cap floor, so the appetite for contracts where cap hits may dwarf real salary is muted.

But there’s always an appetite for NHL-ready defencemen, and the allure of Myers’ size and skating ability has followed him throughout his career.

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