Vancouver Canucks: 4 Remaining UFA Targets

Radim Vrbata

by Jeff Godley

After the season he had, why would I suggest that the Canucks should bring back Radim Vrbata?

I’ve written before that the Canucks could get him at a discount price; Vrbata, who is 35 years old, may want a do-over on the past season before he signs what might be his final multi-year contract.

This would be in the Vancouver Canucks’ favour; after signing Loui Eriksson, doling out another hefty contract to a free agent might prove problematic for the Canucks, with pay raises for Bo Horvat, Ben Hutton and Erik Gudbranson looming.

Additionally, the Canucks have a stated desire to improve their depth on left wing. While Vrbata is a right winger, he could help indirectly. Eriksson is a natural left winger, so he could line up at his normal position while Radim Vrbata lines up on the right side.

This in turn, allows younger wingers like Sven Baertschi, Jake Virtanen and Anton Rodin to play in more sheltered roles further in the lineup, which could also give the Canucks enough depth to roll four lines effectively, as Willie Desjardins prefers to do.

The Canucks need a goal-scoring winger, and Radim Vrbata is the purest sniper still on the market. Re-signing Vrbata gives them bonafide top-six depth with what should be a fairly inexpensive and short-term deal. A roster with both Vrbata and Loui Eriksson could see the Canucks improve drastically from last season.

Next: Suggestion 2

Jiri Hudler

by Connor Cullen

Well, the player I truly wanted the Canucks to go after was Jamie McGinn because he is the “youthful veteran” type they’re searching for and he provides size and strength, with the added bonus of scoring 15 to 20 goals. He’s also a left winger and could’ve helped take the pressure off Sven Baertschi, as Benning seems so concerned about it.

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Alas, I’ll settle for suggesting the Canucks sign Jiri Hudler but it’s very dependant on term and money. It’s true that playing in the tough Pacific Division should necessitate the Canucks try to add size to their lineup but the cream of the free-agent crop is gone now and the team is left looking at a bunch of secondary and tertiary options for scoring help. Can’t be too selective at this stage of the game.

The downsides to Hudler are that he’s 32 and coming off a disappointing season. He’s also just 5-foot-10 and he’s a natural centerman. The Canucks already have quite a few centers hanging about, but Hudler has more experience than the majority of them, so somebody is going to be converted to the wing. After adding Loui Eriksson, the Canucks should be looking to add guys on the brighter side of 30, but Hudler plays with a lot of energy.

Hudler had 16 goals and 30 assists last season. Yes, he definitely regressed from his amazing season in Calgary in 2014-15 but he actually still produced near his average. Plus, can the Canucks really afford to pass on that extra 15 to 20 (with the ability to score 25) goals a year? Hudler’s play-making abilities are pretty fantastic and I’d love to see how he’d mesh with some of the younger players on the team. He’d certainly be a mentor for the centers and he’d give the Canucks another weapon on the power play.

Again, I wouldn’t want the Canucks to overpay Hudler and sign him for more than two or three years but the reality is that he’s been a solid offensive contributor and skilled play-maker throughout his whole career. The Canucks could do worse than signing Hudler.

Another riskier option? How about giving the Cody Hodgson thing another shot? That kid’s career has been derailed but he’s still only 26 and he looked very promising in Vancouver and Buffalo before things went south. He’s a UFA now after Nashville decided not to send him a qualifying offer. Bring him back into the fold and see if you can’t strike gold again with a new reclamation project, a la Sven Baertschi.

Next: Suggestion 3

Brandon Pirri

by Janik Beichler

Young players are better than old players. Plain and simple.

Well, there is one thing that needs to be said for it all to make sense. Younger players aren’t always better in the sense that they are better hockey players. They are just almost always a better free-agent option than older players who are entering the final years of their careers.

When talented players with respectable careers turn 30 or so and become unrestricted free agents for the first time, they also want it to be the last time. They know just as well as we do that the human body generally starts to regress in the late twenties and definitely past 30. So, they also know that it might be their last chance to get a big, long-term contract.

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Milan Lucic signed with the Edmonton Oilers for the maximum term of seven years. Loui Eriksson signed with the Canucks for six. Those deals are great today because a) both teams secured the player they wanted and b) both teams want to win today — and Eriksson and Lucic make their respective teams better.

That is great today, but once Lucic and Eriksson stop producing, they will join the David Clarkson, Scott Hartnell and Dustin Brown club of overpaid players their team wants to get rid of. Having too many players of that sort is terrible.

So instead of signing another veteran to a long-term deal — even if it’s just three years for Jiri Hudler — is not a great idea.

A much safer thing, contract-wise, would be to sign a guy like Brandon Pirri. Pirri is 25, can play at center or on the wing, and had 14 goals and 29 points in 61 games last season. The numbers aren’t great, but there is still hope that he can improve over the next couple of years. On the bright side, his low numbers make a really strong argument for a short-term deal at a low price.

If he breaks out this season, the Canucks can re-sign him to a bigger deal. If not, they let him walk after a year or two. Little risk with a chance to get a good player.

And after all, the primary role would be to support Baertschi, not steal minutes from him.

Next: Suggestion 4

Lucas Lessio

by Gerald Morton

There are two ways for the Vancouver Canucks to approach a free-agent signing. (This is obviously untrue, but for simplicity’s sake let’s all agree on this lie). The Canucks can either sign a player to help now or they can sign a player to develop. Since the more obvious, and useful, players like Jiri Hudler or Brandon Pirri are already written about, I am going to go the other way. I’m going to suggest someone who is young, a possible bust, but perhaps a hidden gem.

The Vancouver Canucks should sign Lucas Lessio.

I’ll wait while you look him up.

Pros:

Lucas Lessio is only 23 years old. He is a left winger, and the Canucks are thin at left wing. He was a productive offensive player in junior, scoreing 147 points in 167 games with the Oshawa Generals. He is a relatively productive AHL player, having scored 108 points in 165 games.

He is a good skater with size, physical skills and some offensive talent. In a league that is short on left-wing talent, and for a team that is practically devoid of it, taking a chance on Lessio may pay dividends in a couple of years.

Cons:

He’s basically Derek Dorsett. That’s fine. Derek Dorsett is a perfectly serviceable NHL fourth-line winger. But, the Canucks have a slightly used Derek Dorsett already. Lucas Lessio is a bottom-six player with limited upside.

But that’s the key – there is still upside. For very little money and no risk, the Vancouver Canucks might replace most of the things Dorsett does for less.

Outlook:

Don’t believe everything you read, Lucas Lessio isn’t going to be a hidden gem. At least, he’s not going to be a diamond in the rough. But he might be a semi-precious stone. (I know this is an awful metaphor and these are terrible cliches. But I’m kind of enjoying them and I need to entertain myself a little bit too).

But he could be a serviceable NHL player, and an upgrade on an expensive fourth-fourth line left winger. For those reasons, I think he is worth a shot.

If I’m wrong, and the Vancouver Canucks realize he is an AHL player, they haven’t overpaid for a veteran who is going to take the spot of a prospect while improving the team marginally.

Next: Outlook

Outlook

While I personally feel very strongly about the “young players are better than old ones” rule when it comes to free agency, a case can certainly be made for someone like Jiri Hudler or Radim Vrbata as well. But as both Connor and Jeff pointed out, it is all a matter of the price. Hudler and Vrbata are decent options, but not if they only sign for four years and an annual average of $4 million or anything along those lines.

The thing is that Vrbata isn’t much of a defensive player, so he wouldn’t be one to take the tough minutes from Baertschi. If we are just talking cheap, secondary scoring, though, he is definitely an option.

Next: Is Nikita Tryam the Real Deal?

Fact is, even 19 days into free agency, there are still plenty of players available. Whether the Canucks want to sign a second-line player like Hudler, a third-line scorer like Vrbata or a young bottom-six guy like Lessio or Pirri, they have enough options. And to this point we haven’t even mentioned Russian forward Vadim Shipachyov yet, whom the Canucks were or still are reportedly negotiating with.

As a big fan of Jake Virtanen, I don’t really want another winger added to the fold anyway. But it is always good to have options.