"He may have been a finance major at Bowling Green University, but Kevin Bieksa insists he is not all about the money.

And the soon-to-be unrestricted free-agent defenceman knows he is going to have to take less of it than he could get elsewhere if he wants to remain a Vancouver Canuck.

"I'm not a money guy," Bieksa said Friday. "I think everyone knows that … I know about money, I understand its value and everything, but it's not my main priority."

There was more from Bieksa on Friday that won't make the job of his Denver-based agent, Kurt Overhardt, any easier.

"I think everybody takes less to play here," Bieska said of the Canucks. "It's such a great organization that you want to be here, so if you want to be here you have to take less, that's just the culture. It's like Detroit. If you want to win, you have to take less to be here. Again, without making my agent's job too tough, I'm optimistic."

So it's fair to assume Overhardt won't be going all Jerry Maguire on the Canucks, screaming "show me the money." But Overhardt, who declined to comment when reached by phone Friday, will undoubtedly be reminding both his client and the Canucks that Bieksa is arguably the top blue-chip defenceman on the free agent market this summer.

Bieska acknowledged that loyalty has a lot to do with him wanting to remain a Canuck."