Sedins ink 5 year $30.5 Million Extension

In what has been an up and down drama all week Canucks fans can rest easy for the rest of the day. The tough work is done for now. After the Sedin’s accepted a 5 year 30.5 million dollar offer to come back as Canucks the collective remainder of Canuck nation heaved a giant sigh heard echoing through downtown.

The Sedins had originally wanted a 12 year deal and it looks like Gillis won on that front getting them to stick to a 5 year deal. The cost was a larger cap hit which borders my comfort level with what I thought they should have gotten, but the bottom line is that without them the Canucks would have had a harder time replacing them.

This means the rebuild is still a few years away. Gillis has managed to keep the core intact at a relatively cost effective cap hit. The Sedins can only get better and if they improve upon their 82 point seasons and break the 90 point barrier, this deal is going to look genius. Gillis has already started to put a stamp on this team and I have a feeling we’re one big dip into free agency away from seeing what the Mike Gillis Canucks really look like.

What this all means is the Canucks now have approximately $9.5 million dollars in cap space to play around, based on the assumption Corey Schneider and his 1.084 million in the last year of his contract. The Canucks still need a top 6 forward and a top 4 defenseman at the top of their list. Burrows was a great triplet for the Twins next year, but they need someone else, and the void left by Ohlund is a bit bigger than anyone thinks.