NHL free agency came early, so who’s left for the Canucks?

Well, the fun of free agency kind of got sucked out within the span of an hour on Monday afternoon when all the big fish on the market seemed to re-sign with their teams.

As we covered in our latest NHL Notebook, Mitch Marner was traded and subsequently extended by the Vegas Golden Knights. Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad re-signed with the Florida Panthers, while Ivan Provorov re-upped with the Columbus Blue Jackets. But none of these guys were realistic targets for the Vancouver Canucks.

There were a handful of moves and re-signings that occurred on Monday that the Canucks could have pursued.

Ex-Canuck Andrei Kuzmenko could have been an option if he hadn’t re-signed with the Los Angeles Kings on a one-year deal. A playmaking winger in Mattias Maccelli and a scoring winger in Vladimir Tarasenko were traded, one for cheap and one for future considerations.

So, with free agency just a few hours away, who’s left out there for the Canucks?

Who’s left in free agency?

Heading into tomorrow, the Canucks don’t have a ton of cap space to work with. With just $7,031,667 million, they sit with the ninth-least cap space in the league heading into free agency, with a few holes on this roster.

Here is how the Canucks stack up with the players currently under contract:

Jake DeBrusk – Elias Pettersson – Nils Höglander
Evander Kane – Filip Chytil – Kiefer Sherwood
Dakota Joshua – Teddy Blueger – Conor Garland
Drew O’Connor – Aatu Räty – Linus Karlsson

Quinn Hughes – Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson – Tyler Myers
Derek Forbort – Elias Pettersson

Thatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen

Extras: Max Sasson, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Victor Mancini

Realistically, to be a contender in the Western Conference, they’re likely a top-six scoring forward and a second-line centre away. However, with just over $7 million of cap space, they won’t be able to fix both of those issues, potentially not even one.

Examining the current free agent market, it appears bleak for high-end talent. Five unrestricted free agent forwards scored 40 or more points last season – sadly, two of which are Canucks.

Mikael Granlund, Nikolaj Ehlers, Brock Boeser, Pius Suter and Evgenii Dadonov are those five players.

Barring a last-minute miracle, Boeser and Suter are heading to market and looking for a new home. At 36 years old, Dadonov doesn’t move the needle for what the Canucks are looking for right now. Ehlers comes with a hefty price tag that will likely price him out of Vancouver.

That leaves Granlund.

He fits the second-line centre void the Canucks ar looking for. But coming off his best season since 2017-2018 with the Minnesota Wild, the 33-year-old Finn will likely look to cash in while the iron’s hot. Granlund finished the 2024-2025 campaign with 22 goals and 66 points (45 points in San Jose and 21 points in Dallas), not to mention his outstanding performance on the international stage at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

AFP Analytics have Granlund at a reasonable $4,975,550 cap hit on a two-year deal. However, with him now being the top centre available, that number will likely creep into the $6 – $7 million range on a three- to four-year deal. The Canucks are reportedly expected to pursue Granlund on July 1, so if they’re going to be competitive with their offer, they’ll have to shoot high like this.

Outside of the top point-scoring forwards, Jack Roslovic, Christian Dvorak, Anthony Mantha, Nick Bjugstad, Gustav Nyquist, and Radek Faksa could provide surplus value as secondary options. None of these guys really fit the mould of the type of game-changing player the Canucks seek, but really, there isn’t much out there that does.

Roslovic and Nyquist are players the Canucks have had interest in in the past, Roslovic being the more desire name of the two. After tying his career high in goals (22) with the Carolina Hurricanes this year, the 28-year-old could be primed for an elevated role in a lineup. He does have history playing centre, but he’s done his best work on the wing.

Will he be the 2C answer? Likely not. But could he be a decent middle-six centre tandem to pair with Filip Chytil? Probably.

AFP Analytics has Roslovic projected to earn $4,094,562 on a three-year contract. As a perennial 40-point producer, it’s a fine projection with the salary cap rising. This might be a better long-term option than overpaying for Mikael Granlund.

Some lower-end, younger, offensively talented forwards stick out on the list that could be intriguing as a reclamation project.

Philip Tomasino and Michael Eyssimont have all shown upside at the NHL level, while Jakob Pelletier, a former first-round pick, could be worth a flier. However, my favourite forward who fits this bill and could provide some scoring help, potentially in the top six, is Victor Olofsson.

With the Golden Knights’ cap trouble after acquiring and signing Mitch Marner earlier, they don’t have the money to retain Olofsson’s services. Olofsson is a Swedish winger, known for his goal-scoring ability. Through his first six seasons in the NHL, Olofsson has scored at a 20-goal pace in five of those years, scoring a career-high 28 goals in 2022-2023 with the Buffalo Sabres.

AFP Analytics have him projected at a $3,410,543 cap hit over a three-year deal. That price seems a little high, but with the Canucks needing to find goal-scoring help, a player with the upside to play in a second-line role alongside Chytil could be an interesting pivot option if the Canucks strike out aiming higher.

To a lesser extent, Philip Tomasino is another player whom we wouldn’t mind the Canucks taking a shot on. However, does that just cloud the already crowded bottom six heading into next year?

Regardless of the players available, Canucks management will attempt to utilize their cap space to improve this team. However, the options are bland and may not move the needle that gets this team over the hump to conteder status. Unless we see a trade, it will be challenging for the Canucks to make a significant move on July 1 that will leave fans excited about the upcoming 2025-2026 season, given their expected option on the free agent market.