It is never the most fun activity to look back on some offseason departures that most Vancouver Canucks fans probably didn’t agree with at the time. But now, five years later, let’s relive some of those 2020 offseason decisions.
After what was a difficult four-year playoff-less stretch of Canucks hockey, General Manager Jim Benning got aggressive and traded their 2020 first-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward JT Miller. Luckily, this move turned out to be the best trade Benning made as Canucks GM.
Midway through December, the Canucks were a middling team, carrying a 16-15-4 record. However, with help from the newly formed Lotto Line, the Canucks caught fire. The club won seven straight games and 14 of 17 and found themselves firmly in the playoff race by February.
At that time, the Canucks found themselves atop the Pacific Division standings, with a 30-18-5 record. Now primed to make the postseason for the first time since the 2014-2015 season, Benning rewarded his players by making a splash ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
Benning sent Tim Schaller, forward prospect Tyler Madden, a 2020 second-round pick and a conditional 2022 fourth-round pick to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for right winger Tyler Toffoli. The condition on the fourth-round pick was dependent on Toffoli re-signing in Vancouver. And well, we all know the Canucks kept that pick.
The newly-acquired Canuck was paired with Tanner Pearson on Bo Horvat‘s line, in hopes of recreating the wingers’ chemistry from their “That 70’s Line” back in the early 2010s. Toffoli would make an impact early, scoring six goals and 10 points in 10 games before suffering a lower-body injury. However, he did not miss any games because the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the regular season the day after his injury.
The 2020 bubble playoffs kicked off on August 1st, with the Canucks finishing seventh in the Western Conference, set to face off against the Minnesota Wild in the qualifying round. The Canucks handled business in four games, with defenceman Chris Tanev scoring the overtime winner just 11 seconds into overtime.
The Canucks now officially advanced to the postseason for the first time in the 2014-2015 season, but were challenged with taking on the defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues.
Against the Blues, Jacob Markstrom was a dominant performer. The Swedish netminder came up with some massive saves, finishing the series with a .930 save percentage. However, Markstrom’s performance was even more impressive when you consider the amount of shots he faced in the series, averaging 38.2 shots against per game in the six-game series.
With the stellar play from Markstrom, the Canucks advanced in six games to take on the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Canucks dropped Game 1 in embarrassing 5-0 fashion, but they got reinforcements back for Game 2, when Toffoli returned after getting injured in Game 1 against the Wild. In Toffoli’s return, he went on to score the opening goal, the primary assist on the Canucks’ second goal, and topped it off with his third point of the night on their third goal. Markstrom also had an impressive performance, stopping 38 of 40 shots to allow the Canucks to even up the series.
However, after back-to-back losses in Games 3 and 4, Markstrom went down with an injury that ended his playoffs. And despite the emergence of bubble Demko, the Canucks would drop Game 7, ending their Cinderella run.
We go over the playoff efforts from Toffoli, Tanev and Markstrom because all three players were set to become unrestricted free agents. And, well, the Canucks did not retain any of the trio, as the club just ‘ran out of time’.
The Canucks set their priorities on re-signing Markstrom and Tanev first.
They first approached Markstrom. However, the Canucks’ five-year, $5 million average annual value (AAV) offer was not up to snuff compared to Calgary’s six-year, $6 million AAV, which came with a full no-move clause. Management was reportedly uncomfortable giving Markstrom that clause because it would have potentially exposed Demko in the 2021 Seattle Kraken expansion draft.
And again with Tanev, the Flames beat their offer on both term and money. Tanev signed a four-year, $4.5 million AAV contract in Calgary. His contract, too, came with a full no-move clause.
As contract negotiations prolonged with Markstrom and Tanev, Toffoli got lost in the shuffle. Toffoli later confirmed that the club told the player they wanted to re-sign him, but was not made a priority by the team, and he went on to sign a four-year, $4.25 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens.
Here’s a recap of the timeline:
October 7
Markstrom: The Canucks were in “wait-and-see” mode, as they felt they had offered their best.
Tanev: Suggested to the media he felt he was a lower priority and that the Canucks would likely need to make space for him.
Toffoli: The Canucks were unable to clear the necessary cap room in order to retain him, and he would hit the market.
October 9
Markstrom: Signed his six-year, $6 million AAV contract with the Calgary Flames.
Tanev: Signed his four-year, $4.5 million AAV contract with the Calgary Flames.
Canucks: Signed Braden Holtby to a two-year, $4.3 million AAV contract.
October 12
Toffoli: Signed his four-year, $4.25 million AAV contract with the Montreal Canadiens.
Canucks: Trade a 2022 third-round pick for defenceman Nate Schmidt.
Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston recently said on Sekeres and Price that the only time the Canucks ownership group cut back on budget was the COVID season in 2020-2021. The pandemic resulted in the flat-cap era, where, to regain money the league spent, the salary cap did not increase. Which could have led to the reasons these three players were not signed, despite the relatively fair contracts they did end up signing.
Looking back on it today, the Canucks allowing Markstrom to walk away and sign his no-move clause with the Flames allowed bubble Demko to blossom as the franchise goalie. Had the Canucks signed Markstrom, they likely would have lost Demko in the expansion draft.
Losing Tanev and Toffoli likely hurt the Canucks the most. The defensive defenceman’s leadership, especially on a pairing with Quinn Hughes, was so valuable to the young star and his development. Toffoli gelled so well with this group, despite the short time spent in Vancouver. In 2023-2024, the Canucks were looking for a winger to help Elias Pettersson. Toffoli might have been that perfect fit.
There were rumours the Canucks had interest in re-signing both Tanev and Toffoli last offseason. However, both players signed elsewhere, essentially ending their chances at a Canucks reunion.
It was surely disappointing to see the Canucks not retain one of their three unrestricted free agents. (And no, we didn’t forget about Troy Stecher leaving as well. However, the Canucks did not even sign him to a qualifying offer. So he was clearly never in their plans.) And after five years, all Canucks fans can do is look back on that 2020 bubble playoff run and remember the good times with their old players.
What do you think, Canucks fans? Which of the trio of Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev and Tyler Toffoli would you have liked the Canucks to re-sign that offseason?
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