Now that the draft is in the books, teams around the NHL have just a few more orders of business to attend to before the summer break kicks in.
Today's the first day of the free-agent dialogue period, when teams can start speaking to the players that are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents on July 1 and get a feel for who might fit their needs. The sides aren't supposed to talk about contract details, but they can make some pretty elaborate pitches. (Correction) Alex Goligoski was flown into Phoenix and wined and dined last year before he decided to sign on with the Coyotes, but Arizona had traded a fifth-round pick for his negotiating rights back on June 16. We haven't seen any similar moves so far this year with a top free agent.
Last year, the Canucks signed top-tier UFA Loui Eriksson on July 1. They also inked forwards Jayson Megna, Michael Chaput and Borna Rendulic, as well as bringing defensemen Philip Larsen and Chad Billins back from Europe.
Of course, Eriksson is still here for five more years and Megna has been re-signed for next season. Chaput is currently an RFA, while Rendulic is a pending UFA who's not expected to be re-signed. Larsen and Billins have both returned to Europe.
Monday is the deadline to issue qualifying offers to potential restricted free agents in order to retain their rights. Here are the RFAs currently on the Canucks list:
• Brendan Gaunce
• Bo Horvat
• Joseph Cramarossa (arbitration rights)
• Reid Boucher (arbitration rights)
• Michael Chaput (arbitration rights)
• Joseph LaBate (arbitration rights)
• Evan McEneny
• Mike Zalewski (arbitration rights)
• Michael Garteig (arbitration rights)
Now, back to the draft. I'll take a closer look at the Canucks' second-round picks today, then continue to analyze the rest of the picks from the draft as the week rolls on.
Pick 33 - Kole Lind - RW - 6'1" 185 pounds - Born October 16, 1998, Shaunavon, SK
We have to like a prairie kid that comes from Hayley Wickenheiser's hometown, right?
Lind is a variation on the WHL's epidemic of players named Cole and Cale. His spelling feels a little Kardashian-ish to me (shudder) but by all reports, he's a good kid.
Lind was ranked 23rd among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting—a slight drop from 21 in the mid-term ranks.
In early May, Canucks Army prepared a handy chart showing where potential first-rounders were ranked by various scouting services and draft-oriented media outlets.
At that point, Lind averaged out to No. 30—McKeen's had him ranked highest, at 20 and Future Considerations had him the lowest, at 48.
When Canucks Army did another update just before the draft, Lind's average had moved to No. 28 even though McKeen's had soured on him, moving him to 34. Now, the highest ranking came from Sports Illustrated at No. 19 and the lowest was Craig Button of TSN, who had him at 54.
SI also had Elias Pettersson at No. 3, FYI—his highest rank. They compare Pettersson to Filip Forsberg—that works! And they compare Lind to Justin Williams, as a scoring winger with good hands and an excellent release.
Lind scored 30 goals and 87 points in his second full season with the Kelowna Rockets last year—second on the team in goals and first in points. Jeff Marek of Sportsnet describes Lind as an "offensively minded winger (that) led a stacked Kelowna team in scoring at 17. More of a playmaker than shooter, but still found the back of the net 30 times this season."
Lind actually turned 18 last October—he's one of the older players in this draft.
In 2014-15, Lind played six regular-season and seven playoff games with a Rockets team that won the WHL championship. Kelowna has reached the Western Conference Final in the last two years but hasn't taken another title while Lind has been there. Still, the team has a strong winning culture.
Lind's offense is as prolific as some of the top players in the WHL.
And a closer look at Lind's time with the Rockets, from last December:
Pick 55 - Jonah Gadjovich - LW - 6'1" 199 pounds - Born October 12, 1998, Whitby, Ontario
With the second-round pick that Canucks received from Columbus when the Blue Jackets signed John Tortorella, the Canucks picked another older player with an October birthday, one that Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet ranked No. 8 on his list of players with wildly improved draft rankings in a late April article.
Ranked 60th among North American skaters at mid-term, then 39th in Central Scouting's final rankings, Cosentino said Gadjovich has "a deadly shot, will go to the net and is not afraid to bring the lunchpail to the job site."
Gadjovich played his third OHL season with the Owen Sound Attack in 2016-17, and saw his point totals increase from 14 goals, 24 points and a minus-seven to a team-leading 46 goals, a total of 74 points and an impressive plus-35.
By the way, Owen Sound's leading scorer was undersized Finnish 19-year-old Petrus Palmu, who the Canucks scooped up in the sixth round. I'll talk more about him later this week.
According to Canucks Army, Gadjovich dropped from 51 to 56 in their final consolidated rankings. Bob McKenzie had him 46th, and clearly has a soft spot for him.
Whitby kids always get a mention. VAN takes Jonah Gadjovich from Owen Sound. Big, great goal scorer, just needs to pick up a step.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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