Five free agents for the Vancouver Canucks to consider as value signings

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The free-agent bargain bin has been a key source of talent for the Vancouver Canucks during the Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin era.

In the summer of 2023, the Canucks signed Pius Suter to a two-year, $3.2 million contract ($1.6 million annual average value) in mid-August. Suter, perpetually undervalued by the industry due to his complete lack of traits, fell through the cracks in unrestricted free agency before the Canucks pounced on the opportunity to sign him to a two-year deal.

The Swiss-born forward went on to produce 75 points in 148 regular-season games across his two Vancouver campaigns. He pitched in everywhere in the lineup (and on the penalty kill) and played top-six minutes during the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, during which he scored the series-winning goal against the Nashville Predators.

Suter might not have seemed like a needle-moving signing on the day the Canucks announced the deal, but he helped them outscore their opponents and win games in a depth role.

Finding real hockey value in the free-agent bargain bin isn’t a simple task for NHL talent evaluators, but it’s a fishing hole that Vancouver has used regularly in recent seasons. Suter is the most prominent example, but the Canucks also signed Kevin Lankinen to a one-year contract in September 2024, and he helped carry them for months on end, ultimately earning a five-year extension from the team.

And, of course, the Canucks have also swung and missed in this marketplace. Daniel Sprong was brought in on an affordable one-year deal to give them a right-handed power-play option and punch up the team’s speed and depth scoring, but he never earned the trust of Canucks coaches and was traded for future considerations after just nine appearances.

This summer, there are very few potential impact players that remain unsigned, but the NHL’s cap system is also awash in unused space. It’s an unusual dynamic given what we’ve become accustomed to observing across the past five years.

As a result, while the flow of signings has slowed significantly, there’s still a chance that some of the top remaining names on the market will be able to demand more than the league minimum — veteran winger Jeff Skinner, for example, signed on July 11 with the San Jose Sharks and still netted a $3 million contract — despite their apparent lack of leverage.

From what I can gather in discussing offseason plans with senior team sources, there are a couple of names the Canucks are still monitoring in unrestricted free agency. They, however, are capped out and would need to first send out cap dollars in order to consider rolling the dice on a value unrestricted free agent.

Based on what I’m hearing, the Canucks are more than open to that possibility. In fact, they’re actively exploring their options to do just that on the trade market.

We’ll see where this goes, but in the meantime, let’s look over some of the free agents that remain unsigned and could add some depth to Vancouver’s forward group as value adds in the second wave of unrestricted free agency.

Jack Roslovic

Jack Roslovic is the biggest name that remains unsigned, and that’s somewhat surprising given his profile.

He’s a 28-year-old right-handed forward who is coming off a 39-point season with the Carolina Hurricanes, with the versatility to pitch in at both centre and on the wing, and whose faceoff win rate spiked last season. Roslovic has produced at least 30 points in five consecutive seasons, is a high-end skater and has appeared in 25 playoff games across the past two seasons.

Vancouver has had interest in Roslovic in the past, dating back to his days with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Canucks also expected to be priced out on Roslovic heading into free agency, as we previously reported, which suggests strongly that they may be as surprised as we are that Roslovic remains unsigned as of July 16.

Vancouver could use a centre-capable forward, especially in the wake of Suter’s departure for the St. Louis Blues this summer. Even if Roslovic is best used on the wing, he’d give the Canucks an additional right-handed power-play option and an additional player who can at least pitch in at centre.

There’s an argument to be made that Roslovic would just flat out be an upgrade for Vancouver in a top-nine role. The Athletic’s in-house Net Rating model, views Roslovic as a third-line calibre forward. In fact, the Net Rating model would project Roslovic to be the eighth-most valuable forward on the roster if he were to join the Canucks today.

Given his evident fit from a stylistic standpoint and his ability to help the club patch over their significant centre needs, if the Canucks were able to find a way to shed a cap liability (or two) and then turn around and land Roslovic on an affordable one- or two-year contract, that would represent a very nice maneuver for Vancouver.

Victor Olofsson

Hailing from Örnsköldsvik, Sweden — the hometown of Henrik and Daniel Sedin — Victor Olofsson is a crafty depth scoring winger who will turn 30 this weekend.

Olofsson was a useful piece for the Vegas Golden Knights last season, even pitching in on their first power-play unit during the playoffs. Of note, he had some especially strong performances against the Canucks last season.

Ultimately, however, it wasn’t the answer for a Golden Knights club that attempted to make it work with fill-in pieces on the wings while relying on their centres to drive the offence last season, and Vegas has now pivoted by bringing in Mitch Marner to flesh out its attack.

While Olofsson would be an interesting potential add for the Canucks, as a player that the Net Rating model views as a solid two-way option capable of providing fringe second-line value, it’s worth noting that the fit isn’t ideal.

Olofsson is a player who’s best suited to threatening in stationary attacking situations and capitalizing by finding the quiet areas of the ice during extended offensive zone shifts. He’s best deployed alongside a playmaking centre at five-on-five, and he’s a legitimate option on the right flank with the man advantage.

The Canucks, however, very clearly would prefer to play a quicker brand of north-south, stress-based hockey, which isn’t an ideal environment for Olofsson, who is both undersized and has below-average skating speed for a scoring winger. Vancouver is lacking in the sorts of playmaking centres capable of maximizing Olofsson’s skills as a finisher, and with Elias Pettersson in the fold, has limited use for a power-play specialist best calibrated to manning the right flank.

Despite those fit concerns, adding Olofsson would still be a meaningful boost for a team that sorely requires additional forward talent.

Max Pacioretty

Max Pacioretty still has some game, especially offensively.

The 36-year-old scoring forward — who, as a younger winger, was once one of the NHL’s most consistent 30-goal scorers, and a lanky, disruptive demon of a forechecker — has obviously lost a step as he’s aged and dealt with a variety of lower-body injuries. The diminishment of Pacioretty’s speed has sapped his two-way value to some extent, but he’s still a clever attacking player and demonstrated in the playoffs, when he had eight points in 11 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs, that he’s still got the stomach to elevate his game in big moments.

The fit issue for the Canucks with Pacioretty in mind is that the veteran forward has a somewhat similar profile to incoming winger Evander Kane, although Kane is obviously a higher-calibre contributor at this stage of their respective careers. Namely, Pacioretty is an offence-first winger with some gaps in his two-way value who struggles to stay out of the penalty box at this stage of his career.

Pacioretty could add some depth to the Canucks’ lineup, but given the Kane addition, he’d feel like something of a redundant piece for this Vancouver team.

Hudson Fasching

Hudson Fasching is a worthwhile depth gamble for a team in need of a fourth-line winger who can defend and skate at a high level.

The 29-year-old stands 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and is long and disruptive as a checking forward. I’m not sure I watched any other forward cut off the top and take time and space away from Quinn Hughes as effectively last season as Fasching did playing for the Islanders, and that’s just about the most difficult defensive assignment that you can task a winger with handling these days.

Fasching has spent at least some time in the AHL in each of the past three seasons, and profiles more like a Quad-A player type than a full-time NHLer. Given that the Canucks are intent on promoting several contributors from the Calder Cup champion Abbotsford Canucks this upcoming season, it isn’t easy to see how Fasching would fit into this Vancouver lineup.

As a depth winger, however, with legitimate two-way ability, Fasching would be an interesting add on a two-way deal.

Klim Kostin

Klim Kostin is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound winger. He’s probably a pure fourth-liner at this stage of his career, and it’s concerning that he wasn’t able to make more of a meal of his opportunity with a moribund San Jose Sharks side last season. Still, he’s an impressive one-shot goal-scoring threat who has typically produced goals at an efficient per-minute clip.

Given that Kostin’s standout trait — absolutely ripping the puck and beating set goaltenders at the NHL level — is one of the most difficult skills to find in hockey, and that Kostin combines that ability with a high motor and a massive frame, he’s a depth forward that’s worth adding to just about any lineup.

(Photo of Jack Roslovic: Katherine Gawlik / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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