VANCOUVER – After nibbling around the edges of free agency his first two summers as the Vancouver Canucks’ general manager, Patrik Allvin finally has the salary-cap space to take a big bite on Monday.
He won’t be able to overfill his plate at the all-you-can-eat free-agent buffet, but Allvin has given himself the flexibility to dine large by looking for a top-six winger to help Vancouver scoring that fell to 23rd in the NHL in the second half of the season.
Like the smorgasbord crab legs, however, marquee free agent Jake Guentzel may be off the table before free agency opens after the Tampa Bay Lightning acquired his rights from the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. The Canucks, under president Jim Rutherford, have long been considered one of the front-runners for Guentzel.
There will be other options.
Unable to afford another goal-scoring winger at the trade deadline, Allvin declared it his top priority after the Canucks were eliminated by the Stanley Cup finalist Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the second round in May.
But after failing to convince mammoth defenceman Nikita Zadorov to re-sign with the Canucks, Allvin must also secure coach Rick Tocchet another big, mobile blue-liner who fits the team template for size around their net.
And, if he can, Allvin will also want to find a third-line centre to replace expensive rental Elias Lindholm, who will be headed to Boston or somewhere else that can offer him a place in the top six, a chance to win, and $7-8 million per season for the next seven years.
The offensive winger will be an entirely new cost for the Canucks, but the team will pay a lot less for the defenceman and third-line centre than had they kept Zadorov and Lindholm. Retaining both was always a long shot, but Allvin sounded genuinely disappointed on Friday when he informed reporters during a pre-draft media availability on Zoom, “I can’t overpay one single player. Nikita Zadorov was extremely good for us in the playoffs and a character guy, (but) we did our best and he decided that he wanted to go somewhere else.”
Not overpaying any player is a challenge in free agency, and you can see how even with roughly $14.5-million to spend, Allvin probably can’t get everything he wants – or even what he thinks he can afford. But he isn’t coming home from the store empty-handed.
If the Canucks balk at the price of an elite scorer, they may decide to spread their budget and get a couple of middle-six forwards for the price of the first-liner. Or maybe Allvin spends a little more on a defenceman than merely whatever he has left after paying for forwards. But the Canucks are getting some help in free agency.
Without first- and second-round picks at the draft in Las Vegas, Allvin still had a productive week. He escaped most of Ilya Mikheyev’s leaden $4.75-million cap hit by trading him to the Chicago Blackhawks with little cost to the Canucks and just $700,000 in retained salary. Allvin used those savings to increase offers to four of his free agents, and got Dakota Joshua, Tyler Myers and Teddy Blueger to re-sign as Zadorov walked away.
Even at the draft, scouting director Todd Harvey and his team appeared to find good value in the middle and late rounds Saturday with the selection of five players, the first three of which were forwards with much higher offensive ceilings than typical of their draft positions. Anthony Romani, an overage winger bypassed in the draft a year ago, was nabbed in the sixth round after leading the Ontario Hockey League with 58 goals for North Bay.
“If we had drafted him last year, then watched him have the season he had this year, we’d have been thrilled,” Harvey said Saturday. “We were really happy to get guys who were a lot higher on our list than where we picked them.”
It was a good week for the Canucks. They need another one when free agency opens.
“Creating that flexibility. . . leading up towards Monday gives us a chance to be in the market for some potential players out there,” Allvin said. “That being said, you never know what’s going to happen July 1, and even leading up to it. We’ve all seen the list of players potentially hitting the market. But they might be just a phone call away from their clubs and they’re off that list. We’re definitely looking at options to improve our team and get better.”
Salary cap space: $14.54 million (including LTIR options)
Dead cap space: $3.06 million
Roster size: 19/23
Salary committed to forwards: $41.55 million
Salary committed to defence: $22.9 million
Salary committed to goalies: $5.95 million
POTENTIAL UFA TARGETS
Jake Guentzel, 29, LW
Guentzel has been linked in reports to the Canucks and Rutherford, his former boss in Pittsburgh, for so long it would be negligent not to include him on this list until the Lightning actually sign the winger as Steve Stamkos’ replacement. Vancouver would love to have Guentzel – but so would a lot of other teams and Rutherford and Allvin are neither inclined nor financially positioned to write a blank check for anyone. Guentzel to Vancouver has never been a slam dunk. Still, he would be a great fit with centre Elias Pettersson, the same way he was a great fit with Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh and Sebastian Aho in Carolina.
Tyler Toffoli, 32, RW
Briefly a Canuck in 2020 before they foolishly let him leave in free agency, Toffoli is another winger who comes with a 30-goal guarantee (for now). But three years older than Guentzel, he is both cheaper and riskier. His offensive flash isn’t as bright as Guentzel’s, but Toffoli is a detailed, experienced pro who brings an overall game that is often underrated. He scored 34 times last season with New Jersey and Winnipeg and 33 times the year before in Calgary. He could be a Plan B should the bidding get out of hand on Guentzel – at least until the bidding gets out of hand on Toffoli.
Teuvo Teravainen, 29, LW
The Finnish winger comes with a lesser guarantee – at least 20 goals instead of 30 – but is still an excellent two-way player who helps the power play and the penalty kill, and profiles as the kind of smart, diligent forward who would work well under Tocchet and alongside Pettersson. And for a Canuck team with legitimate playoff ambition, Teravainen’s 90 post-season games with Carolina and Chicago should not be overlooked as a buying point. Teravainen is still expensive, but perhaps better value than some of the more illustrious free agents.
Jake DeBrusk, 27, LW
In seven seasons in Boston, DeBrusk never quite became the formidable top-line power forward he was projected to be. But he is big, strong, fast and gets to the net. He also demonstrated in the playoffs this spring that he has the ability to elevate and make an impact. Again, for a Canucks team looking as much at next May as they are October, this is important. DeBrusk is a wildcard on this list (or maybe the wildest card), but he is also one of the younger free agents available, he has averaged 24 goals over the last three seasons and, after years of recurring injuries, was healthy this past campaign. A strong, middle-six option.
Brenden Dillon, 33, D
The Surrey, B.C., native has always loved coming back to Vancouver for road games, so he may be willing to work with the Canucks on his salary, especially if it comes with enough term for Dillon to finish his career in his home province. He is not Zadorov, the unique specimen on defence the Canucks are trying to replace. But Dillon is six-foot-four and 225 pounds, can skate and pass and kill penalties and, like Zadorov, is good-guy tough and will stand up for teammates.
Joel Edmundson, 31, D
Another big body whose relative mobility and hockey IQ have allowed him to adapt, the six-foot-five Edmundson fits the Canucks’ template as a defenceman with heft who can keep opponents away from the net. He is strictly a third-pairing guy, but difficult to play against and potentially a first-unit penalty killer. He may also be a relative bargain in free agency. Or not. He has 82 playoff games on his resume and a Stanley Cup win with St. Louis in 2019.