4 takeaways from the beginning of free agency for the Canucks
After the expected early flurry of NHL free agency activity, we break down how things have gone so far for the Vancouver Canucks.
Once you get outside the actual season, the beginning of free agency is one of the most anticipated dates on the annual NHL calendar for fans. And after one of the best seasons in Canucks history -- with the third-most ever regular season points -- this year's free agency period was particularly of interest to hockey fans in Vancouver.
As per Global News, day one of NHL free agency on Monday turned out to be mayhem, with teams combining to surpass a staggering $1 billion in spending. Some of the most noteworthy deals included Sam Reinhart remaining in Florida for eight years and $69 million, Steven Stamkos going to Nashville for four years and $32 million, and Brandon Montour heading to Seattle for seven years and $50 million.
In respect of the Canucks specifically, their biggest addition was Jake DeBrusk for seven years and $38.5 million. We've written in detail about DeBrusk's signing here, but in summary he's an intriguing, hard-working, quality two-way player who will help boost the top-six.
The question is, how do people perceive free agency in general for the Canucks up to this point? Here's a breakdown of our early returns on how the organisation has performed thus far, with four takeaways:
1) Canucks avoid disaster with Lindholm
It's always been all but known, but now it's official - Elias Lindholm will not be back with the Canucks next season. As per TSN's Chris Johnston, he has signed a seven-year deal with the Boston Bruins, which carries an annual average salary of $7.75 million.
There was some speculation from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman that the Canucks would have been prepared to go as high as 7 x 7 to re-sign Lindholm, but even that would have been too much for him. He's not worth as much as he thinks he is, and the Canucks have well and truly dodged a bullet with this one.
Don't get me wrong, we totally understand why the 2013 fifth overall draft pick would want to maximise his earnings while he still can. However, this is a player that disappointed so much after arriving in Vancouver via a November trade, that there was talk of moving him on before the March 8 deadline!
We appreciate that Lindholm stepped up his game during the playoffs and showed more of what he's capable of, but he just didn't do what was required on a consistent enough basis, to warrant a long-term deal in Vancouver. This is not to say he isn't capable of excelling in Boston, but as far as we're concerned, they've paid too much for the forward and the Canucks are better off without him.
2) Agonisingly close with Guentzel
Jake Guentzel was at the top of the list for plenty of NHL teams, when it came to finding a pending free agent quality top-six player to boost the lineup. The Vancouver Canucks were no different in this thinking.
As we've previously written, Guentzel is an excellent, hard-working, two-way forward with a high hockey IQ, coming off one of the best campaigns of his career. As such, it may well be agonising and frustrating for Canucks fans to find out that their team was right in the mix to sign him, before he eventually signed a seven-year, $63 million deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
As per Ben Kuzma of The Province, Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said they were really close with Guentzel. The organisation was more than willing to offer the appropriate term and annual salary, in order to land the two-time All-Star.
In the end though, as noted by Kuzma, the Lightning won out because of Florida's no-tax advantage. Ultimately there are no prizes for second place in situations like this, no matter how close you were.
3) Most underrated addition
Of the myriad of moves undertaken by the Cancuks, we would argue that agreeing terms with Vincent Desharnais was the most underrated signing. At two seasons and $4 million, he could turn out to be one of the bargains in all of NHL free agency.
Desharnais has already beaten the odds, as a seventh round draft pick in 2016 he came through the Edmonton Oilers' system to become a bona-fide blue-liner in the NHL. Already established as a third pairing, he spent time as part of the second pairing for the Oilers this past season before losing his spot alongside Darnell Nurse due to an ill-timed injury. (Is there any other kind?)
The 28-year-old is a physical and intimidating presence, who is not afraid to get stuck in and will be near the top of team in both blocks and hits. He can also play on the penalty kill, which should help a Cancuks team which improved from last in 2022-23 to 17th this past season, but still wants -- and needs -- to be even better.
Desharnais is not the type of player who will offer much in the way of an offensive threat, but his defensive game more than makes up for this. He can log major minutes for the Canuck, and has the potential to become a regular top-four pairing.
4) An enforced cautious approach
The Canucks were among the best positioned teams heading into free agency. As previously noted, they had $24,078,333 of projected cap space, which was the eighth-highest amount in the NHL.
With being in such a healthy financial position, the Canucks were well-placed to make a strong run at some of the bigger names and be able to offer lucrative deals. However, as we've already noted, this hasn't necessarily worked out as planned; aside from missing out on Guentzel (unfortunate) and Lindholm (not so much), Allvin also wasn't able to convince Nikita Zadorov to re-sign in Vancouver.
As a result, the overall battle plan from the Canucks has been a cautious approach, albeit not necessarily by design. The result has been signings such as Danton Heinen at two years and $4.5 million, Kiefer Sherwood for two years and $3 million, and Derek Forbort at one year and $1.5 million.
Now throw in the recent re-signings of defencemen Dakota Joshua (four years, $13 million) and Tyler Myers (three years, $9 million). As a result, the Canucks find themselves in a position of having pretty much filled out the roster but now only having, as per Cap Friendly, $240,833 of projected cap space left for next season.
Grading the Vancouver Canucks' five 2024 draft picks. Grading the Vancouver Canucks' five 2024 draft picks. dark. Next
Ultimately, it's tough to argue with the results of the Canucks' approach to free agency so far; they have tried to target some big names, while also getting plenty of players (re-signed and free agents alike) on team-friendly deals. Whether they've done enough to have actually improve the overall strength of the roster however, is open to debate at this stage.
For his part, Allvin seems happy enough with what the organisation has accomplished so far. As per Chris Faber on the official team site, Allvin said: "July 1st is an interesting day, but it's also a scary day. I think we were pretty good here today in terms of managing our money and getting hopefully good value out of the players we got."
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