Canucks roundtable: Who is the most important UFA to extend?
The Vancouver Canucks won’t have enough cash to extend all expiring contracts this offseason. Who are the most important players to re-sign moving forward?
The Vancouver Canucks have some valuable players in their roster that, if general manager Jim Benning can’t afford to re-sign or come to terms on an extension with, will soon be heading to the open market as unrestricted free agents.
Everything was going according to plan for the Canucks this season and right when all the hard work was finally going to be worth it, right when the Canucks were about to prove themselves a worthy playoff team, COVID-19 struck and shut down the NHL.
The hard work and incredible maneuvering of trades over the past year by Benning to acquire a playoff-ready team had finally arrived, only to be ripped away by the world’s currently disastrous circumstances.
Realistically, the fans may never get to see what this team was capable of doing given a proper playoff opportunity. The pieces put in place for this year’s playoff push could have done some damage, but regardless of if this season returns or not, likely this particular roster won’t still fit under the salary cap beyond the end of 2019-20.
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Regardless, moving forward it’s important for Benning to make the right decision on who to consider for an extension and who to let walk to free agency. It would have been a whole lot easier to make these decisions having seen this team in the playoffs, but that has yet to happen, and if it doesn’t, it’ll be that much more challenging to prepare for the future.
A playoff appearance would have done wonders in the world of trying to scope out this team’s cup window, but unfortunately for the Canucks and for Benning, they may have to do without it. So, is Jacob Markstrom the answer and true starting goalie moving forward? Or does Chris Tanev‘s elevated game alongside Quinn Hughes make him the best choice? What about Tyler Toffoli? He completes the team’s top-nine perfectly.
There are definitely some extremely tough calls to make, and a few different directions to consider, but regardless of how Benning decides to move forward, he best keep the future of this team in mind, as well as doing what’s best for the core of this organization.
The Canuck Way staff got together to discuss the options at stake here and what different routes can be taken concerning the team’s future. There are a few different opinions on who’s best to re-sign for next season and we are here to debate it. Who is the most important UFA to extend this offseason? Let’s dive in!