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Canucks' Alex Edler tests free agency; Abbotsford announces coaching staff |
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Just like that, there is so much going on.
This morning's breaking news — after we heard earlier this week that the Canucks had extended offers to impending UFAs Travis Hamonic and Alex Edler, it's being reported Friday morning that Edler is on his way to free agency.
According to Dhaliwal, Edler's agent Mark Stowe says the Canucks' offer was "not offensive," but it was a decision that Alex made.
I suppose it's still possible that he'll end up re-signing after seeing what else is out there. But as a life-long Canuck who has always prioritized staying here — and with the Sedins now back in the fold — I'm certainly surprised.
Personally, I have mixed emotions. I didn't want the Canucks to overpay to bring Edler back, especially when they have some rising talent on the left side that needs to play. But he's the best defenseman in franchise history. And I'm a little worried that we'll see him get recognition as a valuable veteran when he lands on a new team.
I guess I'll be watching to see how he fares in comparison to Duncan Keith. Keith is three years older — Friday is his 38th birthday. And yes, while Keith's trophy case is much fuller than Edler's, the Oilers were willing to surrender assets *and* assume his full cap hit of $5.5 million a year.
Edler was making $6 million on his last two-year deal with the Canucks. It'll be interesting to see where he lands and how much he gets. Teams seem to be more willing to spend this summer than they were last year, but the cap ceiling still precludes most of them from really opening the vault, except in extraordinary cases.
Of course, Seattle is one team that has plenty of cap space, and plenty of roster spots open. And the Kraken can court impending UFAs and RFAs that are left unprotected. They have an exclusive interview window that opens Sunday. If they agree to terms with any free agents, they can submit the contracts to the league on Wednesday morning, at the same time they submit their official list of expansion draft selections.
More immediately, Friday was the last day for players to be put on waivers for buyout purposes ahead of Saturday's roster freeze. The three players who were bought out this week — Suter, Parise and Yandle — all had no-movement clauses, so they didn't require waivers. So I believe that it would still be possible for teams to buy out a player with an NMC on Saturday morning if they choose, before they submit their final protected list at 2 p.m. PT.
Yandle turns 35 in September, while Suter is 36. While their buyout money will give them ongoing financial security, and their skill sets are all somewhat different, they're also both left-shots like Edler and Keith, and will be added competition for Edler for the open 'veteran defenseman' slots around the league.
Trades and signings are also still possible up till 9 a.m. PT on Saturday. We saw the Avalanche ship defenseman Ryan Graves to New Jersey on Thursday night, rather than lose him to Seattle. I wonder if we'll see more moves over the next 24 hours, as the clock ticks down to midnight.
I am grateful that the black-and-white nature of this Edler news overshadows all the rumours that were swirling around the Canucks on Thursday — that Brock Boeser's on the market and that the Canucks are interested in signing impending UFAs Zach Hyman and Jaden Schwartz.
I won't devote much brainpower to the Boeser situation right now. It's an annual offseason ritual, right?
The Hyman situation makes me sigh. After he has built himself up from a bottom-six forward into a reliable, two-way, do-anything winger, all the talk was about how some team would overpay for him in free agency because the Leafs couldn't afford to keep him.
Step right up, Jim Benning.
I suspect it's true that the Canucks have inquired, after the Leafs gave permission for other clubs to enter discussions to see how the market looks — similar to what the Hurricanes have done with Dougie Hamilton. I don't believe the same is true with Schwartz. So that this point, I'm assuming that any conversation around him is conjecture.
And, of course, there's the Canucks' limited cap space. They won't be able to reel in any big fish unless they get some money off their books. And even if they're able to trade Nate Schmidt, that opens up another slot on the blue line that will cost money to fill.
For now, I'm happy to wait and see on these conversations, and let the expansion draft dominate the dialogue for the next several days.
Finally, more news to follow up on Wednesday's Abbotsford Canucks announcement. The club officially announced its full coaching staff on Friday morning.
(Their Twitter feed is also now up and running, by the way...)
As expected, head coach Trent Cull, associate coach Gary Agnew and goalie coach Curtis Sanford are all making the move from Utica. New additions are assistant coach Jeff Ulmer and video coach Ian Beckenstein.
Ulmer is a 44-year-old from Regina, a right winger in his playing days. Undrafted, he spent four years at the University of North Dakota and had a 21-game cup of coffee with the New York Rangers in the 2000-01 season, scoring three goals.
He continued to play until the 2017-18 season, with stops including the IHL, AHL, Canadian National Team and all over Europe — Finland, England, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark — even a year with Modo in Ornskoldsvik.
After hanging up his skates, he spent two years with the Arizona Coyotes in a player development role. This will be his first coaching position.
Cull is speaking to the local media via Zoom on Friday morning.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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