It was confirmed in late April by Capfriendly.com that the Vancouver Canucks are facing a $315,000 cap hit for bonuses that will count towards next season. The bonus overages were accrued this season but because the Canucks were up against the cap, it could not be applied this season, hence the carry over into next.

as #Canucks continue to sign players, we can now confirm that Vancouver will have a bonus overage applied to their 2016-17 cap of $315,000. — CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) April 29, 2016

All this is to say that the news itself isn’t exactly breaking, so much as the details involved therein are now clearer and more defined.

Canucks management confirmed this figure to me, and also advised me, that they will face this carryover for the following players and reasons:

Ben Hutton received a games played bonus

Andrey Pedan received a games played bonus

Markus Granlund received a games played bonus

Bo Horvat obtained an ice-time bonus

As per team policy, the specific amounts for each player and bonus were not disclosed. However, it was revealed that Horvat’s bonus made up the majority of the amount.

The bonus that Ben Hutton received is not surprising given that he wasn’t expected to play a full season in the NHL. Hutton hit the max bonus available in his contract for games played. Generally similar players to Hutton will see a handful of games or spend the majority of their first professional season in the AHL. It’s fair to say, that even if all of the $315,000 (which it isn’t) was Hutton’s, that it was money was well earned.

Andrey Pedan and Markus Granlund signed their entry level contracts with their previous organizations before being acquired by the Canucks. Pedan appeared in 13 NHL contests for the Canucks this season while Granlund appeared in 47 games between Calgary and Vancouver.

Lastly, Horvat received his max bonus for average ice time per game – which was 17:08. Given that the Canucks were without Brandon Sutter for most of the season, the bonus is well earned. Horvat posted 16 goals and 24 assists this past season.

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If the salary cap remains flat, the $314,000 is just 0.4% of the total amount available, so nothing to worry about when looking at next season – but it is good to have some clarity to see which players received those bonuses. All four players are expected to be a part of the Canucks organization going forward, so it’s fair to say that it was money well spent.





