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Vancouver Canucks: The Rebuild Could End in 2016

By Janik Beichler

Apr 11, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; The Vancouver Canucks celebrate the win during overtime against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver Canucks won 5-4 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 11, 2015; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; The Vancouver Canucks celebrate the win during overtime against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver Canucks won 5-4 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Free Agency

Milan Lucic. Steven Stamkos. Those are the two names that have frequently been mentioned in Canucks free-agency rumours.

But they won’t be the only interesting players this summer. Here is a list of just a short selection of players that are not yet signed for the 2016-17 season and after — including the aforementioned duo.

  1. C Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning
  2. C Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes
  3. LW Milan Lucic, Los Angeles Kings
  4. D Brian Campbell, Florida Panthers
  5. D Keith Yandle, New York Rangers
  6. D Alex Goligoski, Dallas Stars

Some of those players will likely get re-signed before they hit free agency. But what if they don’t?

With the departures of Radim Vrbata, Dan Hamhuis, Brandon Prust, Matt Bartkowski and Yannick Weber, the Canucks will save $15.25 million in salary cap space that they can invest in free agents.

As outlined before, the Stamkos rumours are, unfortunately, extremely unrealistic. But, how about, say, Milan Lucic and Keith Yandle? Both Lucic and Yandle are likely looking for contracts with annual salaries of $6 million. That would leave the Canucks with $3.25 million saved on their current free agents.

Lucic, a 27-year-old power forward from Vancouver, has been rumoured to be interested in signing with the Canucks for a long time. After spending his junior career with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants, he was drafted by the hated Boston Bruins in 2006. Not hated by Lucic, but hated by Canucks fans — especially since that 2011 Stanley Cup run that Lucic and the Bruins capped off with a victory and Vancouver did not.

Who would Lucic play with if the Canucks signed him? We’ll talk about that in a bit.

First, lets get back to Yandle. Lucic is a Vancouver native and is reportedly interested in signing with the Canucks. Yandle? Well, he’s just signing in Van for the fun of it.

Next: The Roster

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