Canucks News, Rumours, and & Fantasy GM | Some Like it Hot

[Vector]

Here’s my spreadsheet for upcoming UFAs, each team’s cap situation, and a trade tracker. I update the spreadsheet daily. I use CapFriendly to create this list and AFP Analytics for the contract projections.

Edit: Spreadsheet has been updated with AFP's latest projections and I added a new section for RFAs.

Spoiler: UFAs By Position

Top-6 Forwards
Sam Reinhart	RW	28	8y/10.25m
Jake Guentzel	W	29	6y/7.94m
Steven Stamkos	LW/C	34	3y/6.30m
Jonathan Marchessault	W	33	3y/6.25m
Joe Pavelski	RW	39	1y/3.94m
Matt Duchene	RW/C	33	3y/6.46m
Sean Monahan	FW	29	3y/2.87m
Tyler Toffoli	W	32	5y/6.53m
Jonathan Drouin	W	29	4y/4.46m
Teuvo Teravainen	W	29	5y/6.13m
Vladimir Tarasenko	RW	32	3y/5.64m
Adam Henrique	LW/C	34	2y/4.60m
Chandler Stephenson	C/LW	30	5y/5.77m
Max Domi	C/RW	29	3y/4.17m
Patrick Kane	RW	35	2y/5.51m
Elias Lindholm	C/RW	29	7y/8.04m
Anthony Mantha	W	29	3y/4.40m
Daniel Sprong	W	27	3y/3.89m
Jake DeBrusk	W	27	5y/5.92m
David Perron	W	36	2y/2.80m
Tyler Bertuzzi	W	29	5y/6.00m
Anthony Duclair	W	28	3y/3.22m
Jason Zucker	W	32	3y/5.46m
Jack Roslovic	C/RW	27	3y/3.11m
Max Pacioretty	LW	35
Alexander Barabanov	W	30	3y/3.03m

Top-4 Defecemen
Shayne Gostisbehere	LD/RD	31	3y/4.38m
Brady Skjei	LD	30	6y/7.39m
Noah Hanifin	LD	27	7y/7.69m
Brandon Montour	RD	30	7y/8.71m
Oliver Ekman-Larsson	LD	32	3y/3.67m
Dylan DeMelo	RD	31	4y/5.07m
Sean Walker	LD/RD	29	4y/4.87m
Matt Roy	RD	29	4y/5.58m
TJ Brodie	LD/RD	34	3y/4.91m
Brenden Dillon	LD	33	2y/3.91m
Alexandre Carrier	RD	27	3y/3.57m
Nikita Zadorov	LD/RD	29	4y/5.10m
Chris Tanev	RD	34	3y/4.68m
Brett Pesce	RD	29	6y/6.72m
Matt Grzelcyk	LD	30	3y/4.07m
Oliver Kylington	LD/RD	27

Bottom-6 Forwards
James van Riemsdyk	W	35	1y/1.50m
Warren Foegele	W	28	4y/3.58m
Stefan Noesen	W	31	2y/3.23m
Danton Heinen	W	28
Tyler Johnson	FW	33
Alexander Wennberg	C	29	4y/4.21m
Jordan Martinook	W	31	2y/2.79m
Dakota Joshua	LW	28	3y/3.00m
Michael Amadio	W	28
Teddy Blueger	C/LW	29	2y/2.56m
Sam Lafferty	FW	29	2y/1.72m
Kiefer Sherwood	W	29
Mike Hoffman	LW	34	1y/1.86m
Tomas Tatar	W	33	1y/2.21m
Kyle Okposo	RW	36	1y/1.96m
Kasperi Kapanen	RW	27
Andrew Cogliano	LW	37
Jakob Silfverberg	W	33	2y/2.78m
Cal Clutterbuck	RW	36
Corey Perry	RW	39
Patrick Maroon	W	36
Yakov Trenin	LW/C	27	3y/3.33m
Dominik Kubalik	W	28	2y/1.34m
Anthony Beauvillier	W	27
Sam Carrick	C/RW	32
Tanner Pearson	LW	31
Zemgus Girgensons	LW/C	30	2y/1.74m
Colin Blackwell	C/RW	31
Brandon Duhaime	W	27
Nick Cousins	LW/C	30
Connor Brown	W	30
Joel Kiviranta	W	28
William Carrier	LW	29	3y/2.68m
Tyler Motte	W	29	3y/2.55m
Samuel Blais	W	28	1y/0.94m
Tyson Jost	C	26

Bottom-Pairing Defencemen
Erik Gustafsson	LD	32	3y/4.99m
Tyler Myers	RD	34	2y/2.67m
Justin Schultz	RD	33	2y/3.81m
Kevin Shattenkirk	RD	35	1y/1.37m
Jalen Chatfield	RD	28	3y/2.77m
Mike Reilly	LD	30	1y/1.24m
Dmitry Kulikov	LD/RD	33
Alec Martinez	LD	36	1y/1.7m
Tyson Barrie	RD	32	2y/3.72m
Jani Hakanpaa	RD	32	2y/2.38m
Vincent Desharnais	RD	28	2y/1.41m
Ian Cole	LD/RD	35	2y/3.09m
Matt Dumba	RD	29	3y/3.73m
Colin Miller	RD	31
Mark Giordano	LD	40	1y/3.11m
Marco Scandella	LD	34
Calvin De Haan	LD/RD	33
Josh Brown	RD	30
Ilya Lyubushkin	RD	30	1y/1.31m
Joel Edmundson	LD/RD	31
Troy Stecher	RD	30
Derek Forbort	LD	32
Erik Johnson	RD	36	1y/1.13m

Forward Depth
Christian Fischer	W	27
Craig Smith	RW	34
Victor Olofsson	W	28
Trevor Lewis	RW/C	37
Justin Bailey	RW	29
Kevin Stenlund	C/RW	27
Jeff Carter	RW/C	39
Ryan Carpenter	RW/C	33
Nicolas Aube-Kubel	RW	28	2y/1.53m
AJ Greer	W	27
Liam O'Brien	W	29
Chris Tierney	C	30
Mattias Janmark	W	31
Sam Gagner	RW/C	34
Brendan Smith	LD/RD	35
Eric Robinson	LW	29
Zach Parise	LW	39
Kevin Labanc	W	28	2y/1.94m
Fredrik Olofsson	C/LW	28
Alex Barre-Boulet	W	27
Matt Martin	W	35
Radim Zohorna	W	28
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	C/LW	39
Tyler Pitlick	RW	32
Austin Watson	W	32
Tomas Nosek	LW/C	31
Jansen Harkins	LW	27
Rourke Chartier	C	28
Steven Lorentz	FW	28

Defensive Depth
Jack Johnson	LD	37
Vincent Desharnais	RD	28	2y/1.41m
Anthony Deangelo	RD	28	2y/1.80m
Jarred Tinordi	LD	32
Sebastian Aho	LD	28
Dakota Mermis	LD/RD	30
Jacob MacDonald	LD/RD	31
Dennis Gilbert	LD	27
Nikita Zaitsev	RD	32
Nick DeSimone	RD	29
Travis Dermott	LD/RD	27
Caleb Jones	LD/RD	27
Chad Ruhwedel	RD	34
William Lageson	LD/RD	28

Goaltenders
Cam Talbot	G	36	1y/1.89m
Ilya Samsonov	G	27	2y/3.26m
Alex Nedeljkovic	G	28	2y/2.00m
Kaapo Kahkonen	G	27	2y/2.93m
Scott Wedgewood	G	31	2y/1.57m
Casey DeSmith	G	32	1y/2.02m
Anthony Stolarz	G	30	2y/1.91m
James Reimar	G	36
Antti Raanta	G	35	1y/1.31m
David Rittich	G	31
Kevin Lankinen	G	29	1y/1.58m
Laurent Brossoit	G	31	2y/1.95m
Calvin Pickard	G	32
Martin Jones	G	34

Click to read more...

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Interested to see what happens with Linus Karlsson this off season. I think a lot of us anticipated him going back to Sweden - but seeing how much Tocchet liked him and trusted him, and his development this year, I wonder if he sticks around NA for another season.

 

[Peen]

I really want to know what the Carolina offer was for Petey

IIrc it was Necas, JK picks/prospects

 

[mathonwy]

I agree with MS here. Teams overpay for big players, or players that fit a traditional archetype, Garland is as non-standard as it gets.

It’s a free country. Do what you want.

For me, Garland passes the eye test. I was super impressed with his 5on5 play when he was with Arizona and ngl it sucked seeing struggle here until this season when Blueger unlocked his potential.

 

[Vector]

Interested to see what happens with Linus Karlsson this off season. I think a lot of us anticipated him going back to Sweden - but seeing how much Tocchet liked him and trusted him, and his development this year, I wonder if he sticks around NA for another season.

I’ve definitely made that assumption but I wonder if they go with three “rookie” forwards next season: Karlsson, Bains, and Podkolzin. If you can effectively fill 5 roster spots with near league minimum (including Aman and PDG) you can move those savings to more impactful positions.

 

[thecupismine]

All due respect but 46-point Garland was part of a Bruce Boudreau led joke of 83pt team featuring bozo the clown, -20 Boeser, -24 OEL and no Blueger.

This season, the entire team has experienced a titanic shift starting with a new Jack Adam’s winning coach.

And with this titanic shift in standings is a completely different outlook by nhl teams on Canuck players in general.

This whole season, the Canucks have been actively competing for the prez trophy and teams have been playing us hard every night.

I’ve also heard more than a few casuals comment how impressed they are with Garlands ability to go into a scrum with much bigger guys and emerge with the puck consistently. Anecdotal for sure. But it’s undeniable that he STILL had his legs in game 7 when he scored off that turn over. Nobody else on our team could have done that.

I think yer way off base on Garland.

This isn't MS saying he thinks Garland has no value, it's him saying he doesn't think GMs think he has value.

These are two different things, and I'm with MS on this one. 5'8 winger who puts up sub 50 points making 5 million and hasn't shown chemistry with two top flight centers on a team in desperate need of top 6 wingers is going to raise an eyebrow with GMs.

He had golden value this last season to the Canucks, and was very effective in forming a third line with Joshua, but a traditional GM is going to look at that & not offer much. Wingers are the lowest positional value group in the league.

He's much more valuable to the Canucks than the rest of the league at this point, especially if we do the smart thing and retain Joshua (who, despite being 28, has way fewer miles on his body than even someone like Petey given his play time since he broke into the AHL in 2020).

 

[mathonwy]

This isn't MS saying he thinks Garland has no value, it's him saying he doesn't think GMs think he has value.

These are two different things, and I'm with MS on this one. 5'8 winger who puts up sub 50 points making 5 million and hasn't shown chemistry with two top flight centers on a team in desperate need of top 6 wingers is going to raise an eyebrow with GMs.

He had golden value this last season to the Canucks, and was very effective in forming a third line with Joshua, but a traditional GM is going to look at that & not offer much. Wingers are the lowest positional value group in the league.

He's much more valuable to the Canucks than the rest of the league at this point, especially if we do the smart thing and retain Joshua (who, despite being 28, has way fewer miles on his body than even someone like Petey given his play time since he broke into the AHL in 2020).

I understand his point and your point and I disagree because teams are no longer taking nights off when they’re playing us.

Our regular season success was predicated on our first and third lines delivering and I have to believe opposing GMs are seeing Garlands value just like opposing coaches are.

 

[Vector]

I understand his point and your point and I disagree because teams are no longer taking nights off when they’re playing us.

Our regular season success was predicated on our first and third lines delivering and I have to believe opposing GMs are seeing Garlands value just like opposing coaches are.

What do you think his value is? Could you cite any recent trades that reflect that value, even ones that could be reasonably scaled up to reflect the increase in cap space and teams wanting to compete this off-season?

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

I’ve definitely made that assumption but I wonder if they go with three “rookie” forwards next season: Karlsson, Bains, and Podkolzin. If you can effectively fill 5 roster spots with near league minimum (including Aman and PDG) you can move those savings to more impactful positions.

I don't think they'll qualify Karlsson, and I don't see them giving Bains a regular role while he can play in Abbotsford without waivers (ie, the Podkolzin and Hoglander plans).

I expect do Podkolzin, PDG, and Aman will be the 11th, 12th, and 13th forwards next season (in some order).

 

[Vector]

I don't think they'll qualify Karlsson, and I don't see them giving Bains a regular role while he can play in Abbotsford without waivers (ie, the Podkolzin and Hoglander plans).

I expect do Podkolzin, PDG, and Aman will be the 11th, 12th, and 13th forwards next season (in some order).

They will definitely being qualifying Karlsson. He can still sign in Sweden even if they qualify him. The issue is whether they feel he has a realistic shot at making the club. Bains will be 24 years old next season with 2 full seasons in the AHL. He's already played more AHL games than Hoglander and Podkolzin combined. If he doesn't make the team or at some point next season, there's not much hope for him as a prospect.

They've preferred to run with 8 defencemen, and it's my preference as well, but I can see them going with 14 forwards instead.

 

[HairyKneel]

They literally couldn't give Garland away in October 2023 after a season where he had 1 less point than he had this year.

I love Garland and what he brought this year (and I don't want to move him), but you aren't getting shit for him in a trade. Like maybe a 3rd rounder or something.

I’d think a 2nd for sure or a real solid prospect, but you’re getting cap space which is king

 

[Vector]

One team to keep an eye on is the Flyers. If they don't extend Konecny, there's a good chance he's traded now. They've been firmly committed to rebuilding even when they were in the playoff race.

 

[Svencouver]

Drance and Dhaliwal on the Canucks off-season priorities and plans.

-Wednesday morning Allvin, Rutherford, and Tocchet held a high-level meeting to discuss the off-season
-amateur scouts are meeting this week
-pro scout meetings begin next week
-off-season goals:

• dynamic scoring punch at the top of the lineup
• reconstruct the defence corps
• maintain some of the size advantage

-are aware they need to add more skill and creativity to the forward group
-will be aggressive in adding a top-6 forward who can contribute to generating shots and goals
-will move aggressively in free agency to replace those who leave
-want Bains, Podkolzin, and others in the AHL to step into full-time roles


Hronek:
-all indications is that Hronek's preference is to stay and meet somewhere in the middle
-little progress in talks between Allan Walsh and Canucks' management; haven't been negotiations in months
-if the Canucks thought he was worth 8m, they would have already signed him
-no formal offers and counter-offers were exchanged
-no urgency from either side

Lindholm:
-Canucks will at least check in with Lindholm's agent to gauge whether they can keep him
-7-8m is too much for the team
-Lindholm and Joshua are the team's top priorities

Joshua:
-mention that his cap hit could be pushed north of 4m
-lots of term will help bring the cap hit down (uses Nick Paul and Pierre Engvall as examples)
-management is aware that they may have to consider "getting a bit uncomfortalbe" with term to keep the cap hits low

Zadorov:
-internal understanding that he may have priced himself out
-Milstein is looking for big term
-Canucks know what it will take to get a deal done here
-cap hit that starts with 5m and long term

Myers:
-Canucks and Myers both want to be back
-not going to sign for 2m
-multiyear deal just over 3m could be appealing to the Canucks
-belived if he gets to free agency could get over 4m with term
-internal feeling that it's important to keep at least one of their big blueliners

Blueger:
-will push hard to re-sign
-sense they need to keep him because will likely lose Lindholm

Cole:
-Cole cut his ankle in game two, required stitches, and needed a lot of extra prep to play each game afterwards; this impacted his mobility
-lots of respect
-not convinced he's a priority

Colliton:
-there's a disagreement between the Canucks Colliton and both sides have been exploring other opportunities
-last week it was reported that both sides were open to continuing the relationship but something has changed behind the scenes
-resolution, one way or another, is coming shortly

Silovs & DeSmith:
-with Silovs post-season play, Canucks will not be bringing back DeSmith
-Silovs will likely be the back-up next season

Karlsson:
-has drawn interest from top teams in Sweden (he's an RFA)
-his preference is to remain in North America
-is a favourite of Tocchet

LTIR:
-operating in LTIR is something management doesn't like doing
-not willing to part with draft picks or future assets to get rid of the contract
-if the Canucks do trade picks and prospects it will be for roster players

Losing Lindholm at 7m (in raised cap terms) and wanting to get additional top 6 scoring at the same time feels a little counterproductive imo. I get theres a risk to having him at that number with term, but I think he showed that there could be more there with Pettersson and the Powerplay - where are both dire needs of improvement. Getting him at 6-6.5m would be a steal. If its not with us, he's going to go to Boston and outplay that number instantly. I would only let him go at that number if you can guarantee someone like Guentzel in.

 

[David71]

could they move poolmans contract since hes never gonna play again. read an article somewhere earlier at the trade deadline that they couldn't add another forward because of that money still on the books. im sure alvin and company will find a taker for his contract just to get rid of it .

 

[mriswith]

Garland's massively outplayed his contract 2 out of 3 years here. Trading him for cap space is stupid.

He probably has no trade value because he was apparently only worth a second and change when we tried to trade him during the season where he was carrying the second line and ended with a monstrous 50 ES points despite Green constantly f***ing with him.

He was worth ~9 mil that year and other GM's didn't get it. I doubt they've come around even though he carried this team for half the season this year.

There is a huge eye test difference between those two seasons

Agreed and there's even a huge points difference between the two seasons.

Last season was a bigger dip than a lot of people realize because he produced really well in his PP minutes and that masked the massive dropoff in ES production.

I agree with the original point that he doesn't have much trade value but it's not because his second season here is remotely comparable to his most recent.

 

[HairyKneel]

VAN needs 2 top6 wingers, maybe more. They have Boeser and Garland doesn't play in the top6.

Most good teams have a top 9. But your point stands.

What about punting Garland for picks? Use a pick to punt Miky.

Bring Sam home. That way there’s two viable 1-2 punches and a guy who could ignite the PP.

 

[Bleach Clean]

Losing Lindholm at 7m (in raised cap terms) and wanting to get additional top 6 scoring at the same time feels a little counterproductive imo. I get theres a risk to having him at that number with term, but I think he showed that there could be more there with Pettersson and the Powerplay - where are both dire needs of improvement. Getting him at 6-6.5m would be a steal. If its not with us, he's going to go to Boston and outplay that number instantly. I would only let him go at that number if you can guarantee someone like Guentzel in.

Your initial point is something I've considered heavily. To me, it's not counterproductive because Lindholm and Pettersson have not been able to get the best out of each other. It's been tried more than once and it doesn't work. Both are natural centres. And so, a $7m winger should theoretically get more out of Pettersson directly.

At $7m AAV, it's a tough decision though because the AAV only gets that low if the team uses the 8th year to do it. This changes the calculus between signing your own FAs vs general Free Agency (Guentzel/Reinhart). Still, signing him means not providing Pettersson any help on his line. Why create a super 3rd line when your franchise C has no wingers? That seems counterproductive to me...

Aside: Interesting that you mention Guentzel. Many here don't want him signed because of the likely age and term. Yet to secure Lindholm, you're dealing with the same age and likely the same term. It will be interesting to see the reactions here if the same/similar idea plays out with Lindholm.

 

[DFAC]

One team to keep an eye on is the Flyers. If they don't extend Konecny, there's a good chance he's traded now. They've been firmly committed to rebuilding even when they were in the playoff race.

Would love Konecny from Philly but the price would likely be very high. Morgan Frost is another guy I would look at for the bottom 6.

 

[DFAC]

Your initial point is something I've considered heavily. To me, it's not counterproductive because Lindholm and Pettersson have not been able to get the best out of each other. It's been tried more than once and it doesn't work. Both are natural centres. And so, a $7m winger should theoretically get more out of Pettersson directly.

At $7m AAV, it's a tough decision though because the AAV only gets that low if the team uses the 8th year to do it. This changes the calculus between signing your own FAs vs general Free Agency (Guentzel/Reinhart). Still, signing him means not providing Pettersson any help on his line. Why create a super 3rd line when your franchise C has no wingers? That seems counterproductive to me...

Aside: Interesting that you mention Guentzel. Many here don't want him signed because of the likely age and term. Yet to secure Lindholm, you're dealing with the same age and likely the same term. It will be interesting to see the reactions here if the same/similar idea plays out with Lindholm.

I think the plan is always to have Petey and Miller playing down the middle so Lindholm is essentially a luxury the Canucks can't afford.

A scoring winger is probably a higher priority. The Canucks are just too thin on the wings with Brock (and maybe Garland) as only bonafide top 6 wingers next year. Hoglander is still a question mark and guys like Suter/Podkolzin/Mikheyev are bottom 6ers on a good team. Lekk is not ready and there's no one on the farm that screams top 6 winger.

Teravainen is an interesting name - I wonder if he could be a good fit if the price was right.

 

[kanucks25]

Feels like I'm the only guy that isn't very high on Blueger.

He had a good run as 3C with Garland and Joshua when they were hot you can't count on that working long-term. That line didn't accomplish much when they were put together in round 2 (albeit short sample size).

To me it's still telling that he was an extra forward on the Cup winning team a few years ago. I don't mind bringing him back as 4C but it'd have to be a rather cheap deal.

It won't be easy but the Canucks will have to find a new batch of the Bluegers/Suters/Soucys etc instead of paying depth players market value.

 

[StickShift]

One team to keep an eye on is the Flyers. If they don't extend Konecny, there's a good chance he's traded now. They've been firmly committed to rebuilding even when they were in the playoff race.

I do believe the Canucks would be interested in Konecny—but only at the expense of Garland or Hoglander.

No matter how tenacious he plays—I cannot believe that the Canucks would want to add another small bodied forward.

I wonder too about Philadelphia players like Sanheim or Ristolainen. If Foote can fix Myers and make him look like a top-four defenseman, could he fix Ristolainen?

 

[mathonwy]

What do you think his value is? Could you cite any recent trades that reflect that value, even ones that could be reasonably scaled up to reflect the increase in cap space and teams wanting to compete this off-season?

I'm certainly not as well versed on current trades and contracts as y'all but I do think his value has risen (not fallen) between last year and this year based on

• his performance in the regular and post season
• one less year on his contract
• the overall titanic shift in the league's perception of our team.

Let's ask the main boards and find out.

 

[PavelBure10]

Losing Zadorov after that amazing playoff series he and the team had would be very disappointing. The big Z gave us a element that we haven't had in years, physical toughness and a fear from the blue line. To hear that the Canucks have to keep one of their big men and it will probably be Myers is disappointing. Myers has an outstanding season and will come cheaper but he doesn't strike any fear in the opposition. Zadorov has become a fan favorite of mine, and I really hope Allvin finds a way to resign him.

Losing Lindholm would be disappointing too under the circumstances.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

One team to keep an eye on is the Flyers. If they don't extend Konecny, there's a good chance he's traded now. They've been firmly committed to rebuilding even when they were in the playoff race.

Sanheim is another name that is interesting. Top 4 RD who can play big minutes and is signed at $6.25 mill until 2031. He was rumoured to be on the trade block a year or so ago as well. If the Canucks trade Hronek, they could use the assets received towards Sanheim (or possibly a 3 way trade).

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

One team to keep an eye on is the Flyers. If they don't extend Konecny, there's a good chance he's traded now. They've been firmly committed to rebuilding even when they were in the playoff race.

Yep.

The other thing I'd think about is keeping the powder dry, waiting for the Senators season to inevitably implode (thanks Travis), and making a play for Tkachuk at the deadline.

 

[arttk]

Ok...for what?

Let's wait until Aug 24th...or Feb 8th...or?

The final roster at training camp