hockey operations leadership has been excited for weeks about having the opportunity to be real players when the unrestricted free agent market opens on July 1. Now the market has shifted. Several of the Canucks’ primary targets appear to be signing with their current teams before the club even had an opportunity to pitch them on moving to Vancouver.
Advertisement Setbacks aside, this moment, and this level of purchasing power, has been both hard won and a long time coming for the Canucks. It’s been two and a half years since president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin took the reins of this club, and this is the first time they’ve untangled their cap situation sufficiently to be real buyers on the open market. Regardless of whether Chris Tanev and Jake Guentzel sign before the market opens, regardless of the fact that Vancouver’s resources aren’t unlimited, make no mistake, the Canucks still intend to make a splash.
Going into Monday, the Canucks have roughly $15.5 million in functional cap space available, and five slots left to fill on the 23-man roster — four skaters and a backup goaltender. That’s substantive flexibility.
The club will still have to be careful. They have a multitude of needs up and down the lineup. That the most impactful forward and defender are no longer likely to be part of the bidding is also a factor.
One that necessitates some additional caution. Ahead of free agency, ’s Rick Dhaliwal and Thomas D.