CANUCKS SIGN KESLER AT BOBBY'S PRICE

This afternoon the Canucks matched Clarke's offer and signed Ryan Kesler to a 1-year, $1.9 million contract.
Clarke has officially inflated Kesler's salary with his offer a couple days ago, and it was a controversial move. The Canucks were looking to sign Kesler for half of Clarke's offer.
I believe this puts the Canucks at over $42 million in salaries, which really isn't that much room to breathe. Will Canuck GM Dave Nonis make a trade to free up some cap room? This will be the speculation over the next few days. I don't think he will.
I believe the rule is that the Canucks cannot trade Kesler for one year since Clarke made the offer and the Nucks matched. Too bad, because it would be efficient for Nonis to try trade Kesler to any team who would be willing to bite, but as Hodge said: "who would pay Kesler that kind of money besides Clarke?"
This is unfortunate for the Canucks, because as Sportsnet put it: Kesler is a checking center who only had 10 goals last season.
Why did Nonis match the offer? Does he see alot of upside in Kesler? Was it a stand to say f**k you to Bobby Clarke? He would have been better off to let him go, take the 2nd round pick, and use the $1.9 million on someone like Yanic Perrault perhaps.
What are your thoughts on this?