Vancouver Canucks: 4 Remaining UFA Targets

The Vancouver Canucks are looking to add another middle-six winger to support Sven Baertschi. Who could that be?

Vancouver Canucks fans love Sven Baertschi. Not only because he’s a very likeable person and good hockey player, but also because Vancouver got him from the Calgary Flames — which means the Flames don’t have him anymore. There really isn’t much to dislike about Baertschi. So, it comes as no surprise that not everyone fell in love with the idea of acquiring another left winger to put ahead of Baertschi.

Still, for a team that wants to win, the idea to have a plan B in case Baertschi doesn’t break out just yet, is a very good one.

As I noted in various discussions in the comments section, I don’t believe Jim Benning and/or Willie Desjardins want to sign a player to replace Baertschi on the second line. All they want is a player to support Baertschi.

That could mean one of two things:

The new addition could be a veteran and strong two-way player who can play the tough defensive minutes. Take some D-zone starts from Baertschi and play against opposing top lines with Brandon Sutter. That shouldn’t take a lot of minutes from Baertschi, but rather take the tough minutes and give him some easier ice time with Bo Horvat and whoever the other line mate is.

Alternatively, they could sign a player who simply shares time with Baertschi. Both play some easier minutes and some tougher minutes as equal or almost equal players. In that scenario, both players could get about the same amount of ice time or Baertschi could play a little more.

In both scenarios, the new addition could move down on the depth chart to play full-time third-line minutes if Baertschi outplays him.

In this slightly different version of a roundtable, I asked each of our staff members for one player suggestion. Thanks to a slightly small staff, that leaves us with a list of the following four players.

Next: Suggestion 1