The Chicago Blackhawks used their considerable salary-cap space to swing a deal with the Vancouver Canucks late Wednesday, acquiring winger Ilya Mikheyev, forward Sam Lafferty and a 2027 second-round pick in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
Mikheyev carries a $4.75 million cap hit. The Canucks will retain 15% of his salary. His agent, Dan Milstein, celebrated the trade via X: “Nobody comes to Chicago to get a tan. Ilya Mikheyev is #Blackhawks bound. #WeAreGoldStar!”
According to reports, other teams expressed interest in Mikheyev, who needed to waive his modified no-trade clause for the deal to go through. He’s signed through the 2025-26 season before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Lafferty, 29, can become an unrestricted free agent Monday.
The NHL draft takes place Friday and Saturday at Sphere in Las Vegas. The Hawks own the Nos. 2 and 18 selections in the first round, then six more Day 2 picks, including two each in the second and third rounds.
After the season in April, Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson reiterated his stance on preserving cap space for situations such as Wednesday’s predraft maneuver.
“We’re in a really good spot contractually and salary-cap-wise,” he said during exit interviews with reporters. “We’ve got a ton of flexibility, a ton of space. You don’t want to do anything that hurts you long term.
“Because the salary cap is unforgiving, and once you give that space up, you can’t get it back.”
The Hawks had $32.9 million in cap space before the trade, according to Capfriendly.com. The Canucks’ cap space with long-term injured reserve candidates factored in was projected to be about $17 million.
Some teams are more in dire straits, but the Canucks likely will need more room to sign free agents, including forwards Elias Lindholm and Dakota Joshua and defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
Mikheyev last season posted 11 goals and a career-high 20 assists in a career-best 78 games. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Omsk, Russia, native also played in a career-high 11 games this postseason. He has 60 goals and 71 assists (131 points) over five seasons and 270 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Canucks forward Elias Lindholm said of Mikheyev via Postmedia, “He’s fast and strong on pucks. And he’s one of those guys as an opponent where you don’t realize how fast he is.”
Coach Rick Tocchet lauded him for playing with more anticipation late last season: “When he waits too much, that’s when he gets in trouble,” he said via Postmedia.
Lafferty, 29, a frequent linemate of Mikheyev’s, had 13 goals and 11 assists last season. This is his second time being traded to the Hawks.
The Pittsburgh Penguins sent him to Chicago in January 2022 for Alex Nylander, and Lafferty found his stride with the Hawks, who parlayed his success into a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs in February 2023.
Lafferty has 83 points (36 goals, 47 assists) in 289 career games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Blackhawks, Leafs and Canucks.
