Canucks: Edler, Holtby, Baertschi sign with new teams

The Vancouver Canucks made some big moves during free agency, but they weren’t able to keep everyone on their roster.

By end of day Wednesday, it was announced that netminder Braden Holtby, forward Sven Baertschi and blueliner Alex Edler had found new homes in the NHL.

This move was expected for Holtby.

The soon-to-be-32-year-old was less than 48 hours removed from being placed on unconditional waivers for the purposes of a buyout, and had already garnered attention from a handful of teams.

Holtby was initially brought in on a two-year, $8.6 million deal last year, with management hoping that he’d be able to bounce back from the previous year in Washington, while also providing Vancouver with one of the stronger goalie tandems in the league.

The former Vezina Trophy winner struggled out of the gate, and never seemed to find his groove until late in the season. He posted a 3.67 GAA and a .889 SV%, to go along with seven wins and zero shutouts in 21 games.

There’s no doubt that Holtby still has some decent hockey left in the tank. The former Washington Capital would’ve still been a good back-up option behind starter Thatcher Demko for the coming season, but the team wasn’t able to swallow his $4.3 million AAV.

Holtby ended up signing a one-year, $2 million deal with the Dallas Stars, and will be able to provide more depth behind Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin.

Hopefully his turtles won’t have any issues with the big move this time around.

https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/1420421326670532609?s=20

Baertschi had an interesting career in Vancouver.

The Bern, Switzerland native was originally acquired from the Calgary Flames via trade in March 2015, with the Canucks sending back a second round pick in return. Baertschi was first signed to a one-year, $900,000 deal for the 2015-16 season, and eventually signed two more deals with Vancouver that carried higher term and salary.

Baertschi was able to contribute in a top-six role for a few years, registering 92 points in 190 games between 2015 and 2018. His most productive season occurred in 2016-17, where he put up career-highs in goals (18), assists (17) and points (35) in 68 games.

Unfortunately, like other players before him on the roster, Baertschi wasn’t able to live up to his final contract. Baertschi signed a three-year, $10.1 million deal in July 2018, but only played 32 games after that. He was placed on injury reserve at the beginning of the 2018-19 season, and made one more appearance later that year. Baertschi was eventually placed on waivers for the 2019-20 campaign, and spent the remainder of his contract in the AHL.

During his time in Utica, Baertschi produced at just under a point-per-game pace, registering 18 goals and 42 assists in in 67 games.

He was signed to a one-year, $750,000 deal by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Baertschi will still need to compete for a roster spot out of training camp, given Vegas’s strong depth on the wings, but many fans are hoping that he is still able to return to a steady NHL role in Sin City.

The biggest loss, of course, came on the blueline with the departure of Edler.

Edler had spent his entire career with the Canucks, after being drafted 91st overall by the organization in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

He made his rookie debut during the 2006-07 campaign, and immediately became a fixture on the backend. The 6’3″, 212 pound blueliner has registered 99 goals and 310 assists in 925 games, all with Vancouver, while providing heavy top-four minutes and strong leadership in the locker room. His most productive season came in 2011-12, where he put up 49 points in 82 games.

Edler also served as an alternate captain for the team since from 2018 to 2021.

The 35-year-old had previously expressed interest in finishing his career in Vancouver, and was hoping to slot back onto the left side of the blueline. However, given the team’s tight financial situation entering free agency, as well as their blockbuster draft day deal that landed them Oliver Ekman-Larsson, General Manager Jim Benning knew it would be tough to bring back #23.

Edler was on the same page.

Earlier in July, his agent, Mark Stowe, spoke on “The Donnie and Dhali Show”, revealing that the veteran blueliner wanted to test out free agency, given that management hadn’t been able to come up with a contract agreement yet.

Edler will now be heading to Hollywood after signing a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings. His new contract will carry an AAV of $3.5 million, without any trade protection or bonuses.

As expected, L.A. won’t be receiving the same player that Edler was a few years back. The 15-year vet has struggled with nagging injuries and declining foot speed, but can still be relied up on to chew up around 20 minutes of ice time each night in a second or third-pairing role, while contributing to even strength, powerplay and penalty kill situations.

Edler leaves Vancouver as the franchise leader in goals, assists, points and games played for a defenceman. He is 75 games short of reaching the historic milestone of 1,000, a feat that could very well be accomplished this upcoming season if the Swede can stay healthy. Edler was also the last remaining player from the team’s incredible, but heart-breaking 2011 Stanley Cup run.

He will be making his highly-anticipated return to Rogers Arena on December 6th, when the Kings are set to take on the Canucks. Edler is also in search of his 100th career NHL goal, something that all fans would love to see him accomplish in Vancouver.

What are your thoughts on where these former Canucks landed? Make sure to drop a comment below!