Unrestricted free agency is going to look and feel a bit different this year.
First of all, there isn’t much in the way of talent bound for the open market, and even more names are likely to disappear from the various UFA lists between now and July 1. Secondly, virtually everybody has $15 million or more in available cap space to spend.
Gone are the days when cap space alone would be the most important factor shaping unrestricted free agency. Now, player preference and open auctions are more likely to determine outcomes.
For the rebuilding Vancouver Canucks, free agency is still a critical avenue for adding talent, even if the club’s ambition to qualify for the playoffs will take a back seat over the near term.
In a world with rising cap space, after all, teams are unlikely to pay rebuilding sides to take on their undesirable assets the way they used to. If Vancouver is going to accumulate the assets this rebuild requires, then it’ll have to find new ways to create exchange value, and the open market is going to be a key — if thorny — avenue to mine.
With this in mind, having broken down some trade candidates that would fit in with the Canucks’ rebuilding posture earlier this week, let’s spotlight 15 UFAs (and a bonus consideration) for the Canucks to consider when the market opens.
Sign any credible NHL-level UFA still unsigned by July 5
Some of the players bound for the open market on July 1 will have to wait to secure their NHL opportunity. Some of those players will be very good, and some of them are probably even on this list.
And while they wait, their cost and bargaining power will recede. Their potential utility, however, will not.
Last summer, the Canucks opted out of the Jack Roslovic sweepstakes in August, but Vancouver would’ve been much better off signing the skilled veteran winger, who ended up being productive for the Edmonton Oilers.
This summer, value has to be everything for the Canucks. There are no perfect targets, no particular needs.
There is simply the question of: “Who can we sign, and for what amount, that can potentially turn into a useful trade asset for us?”
And the best way to answer that question, more reliable than any underlying metric or scout’s opinion, is to simply scan the list of available unrestricted free agents on July 5, and go about making the cleanest, most affordable bet still available.
1. Ryan Shea, LHD, Pittsburgh Penguins
Shea enjoyed a breakout campaign with the Penguins as a 29-year-old this season, highlighted by 35 points and a ridiculous plus-30 rating that you just know some NHL general manager out there is itching to pull out their owner’s chequebook to buy.
Boxcars aside, Shea is a sharp two-way defender. Though his production was inflated, partly by bounces and partly by playing with Kris Letang, his underlying form was legitimately good both with and without his star partner.
I think he has the opportunity to pay off something like a Sean Walker-level $3.6-$4 million contract over a multiyear term, and so long as the bidding doesn’t get too silly, he should be a top free-agent target for a lot of teams, even including the Canucks, given the exchange value that reliable defenders tend to hold. Doubly so if Vancouver subtracts further from its blue-line group.
2. Beck Malenstyn, RW, Buffalo Sabres
Malenstyn is a top-end skater with local ties who plays smash-mouth, in-your-face hockey. What else do you need to know?
The 28-year-old hails from Delta, B.C., and would bring some desperately needed toughness and speed to the Canucks lineup. He’s not the most skilled offensive player, but he’s defensively reliable and a solid penalty killer.
If Vancouver could keep the term down, overpaying for Malenstyn on a short-term deal would be a sharp way to entertain the fans, acquire a solid person and create future asset value during the rebuild.
3. A.J. Greer, RW, Florida Panthers
Greer might be one of the league’s most underrated players.
The 29-year-old winger is legitimately excellent defensively, he’s physical and he scored 17 goals this season, putting together a late-career offensive breakout in a platform year for the Panthers.
Greer is unlikely to be an every-season 15-goal scorer on his next contract, but what he’s sure to do is play physical hockey and solid defence. And even if his goal totals were inflated by a shooting percentage binge, it’s worth noting that Greer is legitimately good and has often seemed like a player who could do more if given a larger opportunity. Then, when he was finally given one, he did more with it.
At 6-foot-3 and nearly 225 pounds, Greer would be a jumbo-sized addition to Vancouver’s top-nine forward group, and despite his age, he’s one of the most straightforward value plays available on the open market, provided the Canucks manage the term (and overpay on the salary) to land him.
Colton Sissons had eight points in 22 playoff games for Vegas this season. (James Guillory / Imagn Images)
4. Colton Sissons, C, Vegas Golden Knights
Sissons, fresh off a strong showing for the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final, is an ideal free-agent target for a Canucks team that’s going to need a dependable penalty-killing ace and faceoff specialist while blooding young centres like Braeden Cootes during the next handful of rebuilding seasons.
The North Vancouver, B.C., native is right-handed and plays an effective, responsible physical style of hockey, which lends him the sort of stable exchange value that the Canucks should be prioritizing in shopping for UFAs. He should be a priority target for the Canucks to sign to an expensive two-year deal, with an eye toward flipping him down the line.
5. Kevin Stenlund, C, Utah Mammoth
Stenlund is a big, right-handed centre who wins draws, plays physical hockey, and though he’s actually a pretty solid finisher, brings next to nothing to the table offensively.
Because of his traits, reliability and his championship experience with Florida, however, Stenlund is a reasonable bet for the Canucks in the same vein as Sissons.
That combination of stable exchange value and experience contributing to a winning environment — knowledge he could impart to his younger teammates during the rebuild — should make him an appealing target to the Canucks when the market opens.
6. Troy Stecher, RHD, Toronto Maple Leafs
It’s hard to think of a Canucks skater over the past seven years who wore the sweater with as much pride as Stecher did.
The Richmond, B.C., native never should’ve been permitted to leave as a free agent during those chaotic days in the fall of 2021. Since then, Stecher has continued to play in the NHL, absolutely crushing it whenever an organization overlooks his height for long enough to give him the opportunity to play regularly.
Perhaps the Canucks should rectify their unforced error from five years ago and bring back a high-character right-handed defender capable of helping to insulate Vancouver’s younger defenders while managing deceptively strong defensive results.
7. Jeffrey Viel, LW, Anaheim Ducks
Viel, 29, was one heck of a pro-scouting find by the Ducks.
Acquired in a nondescript trade with the Boston Bruins in January, Viel morphed into a serious bottom-six contributor in Anaheim. He played physical hockey, chipped in some supporting offence and elevated his game in the postseason.
Viel is a strong skater and a wide-bodied bottom-six forward who plays with an edge. And he has enough skill to help drive the offence in the bottom six. Among the options available to teams in a lean free-agent market, Viel stands out as a worthwhile bet on a late bloomer with some supporting offensive juice.
8. Ville Heinola, LHD, Winnipeg Jets
Heinola represent the sort of bet that should be a priority for a rebuilding franchise.
The 25-year-old, who was a first-round pick in 2019, is a slick puck mover with solid NHL-level skating ability. But he’s not a dominant point producer and never broke through to earn a regular opportunity with the Jets, which is why he’s poised to hit the open market at such a young age.
In all likelihood, Heinola is an undersized two-way defender and is left-handed to boot, which makes him somewhat difficult to project from a rebuilding exchange value perspective. Every time I’ve watched him play, though, he’s impressed me.
Heinola is coming off a gold medal win with Finland at the World Championship, and may attract some attention from contender-level teams (he feels like a classic Panthers profile bet, given that organization’s love of rolling the dice on reclamation project defenders who were selected with legitimate draft capital), but the Canucks should be jockeying to get a shot to buy this particular lottery ticket.
9. Valtteri Puustinen, RW, Colorado Avalanche
Every time I watch Puustinen play, I’m impressed. The 5-foot-11 puck-dominant right winger is a buzzsaw-type undersized forward with a never-ending motor. He’s not skilled enough to be a top-level NHL playmaker, but he gives an honest effort and has been solidly productive in 66 NHL games over the past three seasons, producing at a 30-point-per-82-game clip in limited minutes with virtually no power-play time. He’s also generally managed neutral five-on-five impacts, which is solid given that he’s usually played down a lineup.
Puustinen could be a fun add for a rebuilding Canucks side, especially if the club unloads wing depth over the next two weeks.
Kyle Burroughs last played in the NHL for the Kings in 2024-25. (Stephen Brashear / Imagn Images)
10. Kyle Burroughs, RHD, Los Angeles Kings
Burroughs missed much of this season with a knee injury, but is trending to be ready for next season. The affable, local right-handed defender understands what this franchise means, carries himself like it and was signed last time out by current Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson to potentially be Abbotsford’s inaugural captain, with the plan being spoiled when he made Vancouver’s NHL roster outright.
As an organizational depth add, with potential NHL and AHL utility, repatriating a solid player and citizen like Burroughs could be a worthwhile avenue for the Canucks to explore this summer.
11. Ryan Lomberg, LW, Calgary Flames
Lomberg is a classic fourth-line energy winger. He has a big personality, he plays physical hockey and he’s not going to produce much or help drive a line, even in sheltered fourth-line deployment.
Lomberg practises hard, he’s a solid teammate and he’s known as an excellent quote. He’s comfortable handling the sort of media attention and scrutiny that comes with playing in a market like Vancouver.
And he does the rough stuff too that the Canucks are going to need to engage in from time to time, even if only to show their paying customers that they won’t tolerate losing during rough outings on home ice in the years ahead.
12. Dylan Coghlan, RHD, Vegas Golden Knights
Seemingly a mainstay on my annual list of undervalued targets in free agency, Coghlan is a capable puck-moving right-handed defender with size, quality wheels and a blistering slap shot who dominates the AHL, but has never really been able to cement himself as an NHL regular despite always generating quality results whenever he’s called upon.
Perhaps after 13 games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, where he played pretty well for Vegas, this is the summer that Coghlan finally earns an everyday shot with an NHL team. The Duncan, B.C., native would certainly be a worthwhile bet for the Canucks to take on this summer.
13. Declan Carlile, LHD, Tampa Bay Lightning
Carlile was among a group of unheralded defenders drafted into regular duty for a depleted Lightning defence corps this season. While his teammate and fellow unrestricted free agent, Darren Raddysh, put up the goals and will have the longest line of suitors during the free-agent frenzy, I wouldn’t sleep on Carlile’s no-nonsense defensive effectiveness.
Carlile isn’t especially dynamic; in fact, he’s somewhat limited offensively, though he’s skilled enough to contribute to connecting play and self-aware enough not to waste possessions by calling his own number, but he’s rangy and versatile and has solid defensive IQ. He looks to me like a quality option to eat some tough minutes for a rebuilding team, especially if Vancouver further deconstructs its current blue-line group.
14. Nikita Alexandrov, C, Los Angeles Kings
Alexandrov is a 25-year-old natural centre, German-born though he’s represented Russia internationally, with real NHL size and good-enough wheels who’s yet to break through in the NHL.
Over the past four seasons – his age-22 through age-25 campaigns – Alexandrov produced 150 points in 166 AHL appearances with the Ontario Reign and Springfield Thunderbirds, an impressive 0.93 points per game clip that certainly suggests that he has the sort of offensive upside to still develop into a top-nine calibre NHL player. On the other hand, he appeared in 51 games for the Blues as a 22- and 23-year-old, largely struggled to produce and got absolutely waxed in the faceoff dot.
That Alexandrov couldn’t work his way into a Blues lineup that desperately needed a quality depth centre is a red flag, but his AHL scoring profile, size and relative youth still make him an appealing low-risk free agent bet for a rebuilding Canucks team.
It’s probably worth noting too that Alexandrov will be familiar to incoming Abbotsford Canucks general manager Richard Seeley, given his time in Ontario this season.
15. Raphaël Lavoie, RW, Vegas Golden Knights
A hulking 6-foot-4 winger, Lavoie was a second-round pick of the Oilers in 2019, but has yet to establish himself as an NHL player. Now 25, he’s set to hit unrestricted free agency, and could be an interesting last-chance type reclamation project if Vancouver can clear the decks up front.
Despite his significant height, Lavoie is a legitimately fast skater. And he’s been a solidly productive complementary offensive player in the AHL throughout his 20s, scoring at a sufficient rate that he may yet beat the odds in his late 20s and become a regular NHLer.
Maybe he’s just a Justin Bailey-type — a high-end AHL player with exceptional tools given his combination of speed and size — but Lavoie could be worth a look if Vancouver trades some veteran wingers before free agency gets underway.
