Vancouver Canucks: 3 defencemen the Canucks need to sign

The Vancouver Canucks are preparing for a big summer, which could include the departure of long-time Canuck Alex Edler. We look at three impending free agent defencemen whom the Canucks should consider signing on July 1st.

Nothing lasts forever. Pavel Bure left the Vancouver Canucks and played for another team. Trevor Linden retired. Daniel and Henrik Sedin set new franchise records, and have also retired.

The current Vancouver roster features just two players from their 2011 Stanley Cup Final run and, while Chris Tanev has a year remaining on his current deal, the next few weeks could potentially see the only other remaining survivor of that team depart. Who here remembers what it’s like to watch a Canucks team without Alex Edler on it?

While it’s still likely that Edler does end up receiving a contract extension, the only recent word on the street is that the two parties remain apart in both term and the sticky issue of protection. If the Canucks refuse to provide Edler with a no-trade clause, he’ll likely depart — and this team would then be short of a quality top four defenceman.

With this in mind, it’s a good time to take a look ahead to July 1st, where there is a small crop of quality defencemen available in free agency that could help the Vancouver Canucks get over the loss of Edler.

Make no mistake: If general manager Jim Benning is not able to re-sign Edler, he will simply have to be in the market for a replacement top four defenceman. This Canucks team won’t go far relying on Quinn Hughes alone.