If you've been away from the hockey world over the holiday weekend, just a few small details to report that are tangentially related to the Vancouver Canucks.
Sam Gagner is off the market. He spoke with the Canucks but elected to join the Columbus Blue Jackets:
Tyson Barrie is also off the market, for now. Of all the players who filed for arbitration, he's the only one whose case went to a hearing. Even then, Barrie's camp and the Colorado Avalanche management team found middle ground they could agree on for a longer-term deal before the arbitrator's ruling came down.
Barrie turned 25 last week, so the deal will take him through age 28, meaning the Avalanche bought one extra year of free agency. Of course, now that he's locked up, Barrie could still be traded. According to
General Fanager, it looks like the Avs' roster is basically now set for next season: they've got 13 forwards, 8 defencemen, two goalies and less than a million dollars in available cap space, but there are still rumblings that Joe Sakic could be looking to deal.
So, all the arbitration cases have now been settled, which opens the second window for buyout waivers for teams that had players file for arbitration. The Arizona Coyotes have used the window today to put Antoine Vermette on waivers—unexpected, after they brought him back for two years following his Stanley Cup win with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015.
This buyout window is quite short—just 48 hours—and has already passed for most teams, as it opens three days after they settle their last arbitration case. As far as I can see, Colorado is the only other team that would still have the opportunity to buy out a player if they so desired.
Back in Vancouver, the Canucks organization was represented by Fin and by Emerson Etem at Sunday's Pride Parade in the West End.
It's great to see Etem out representing so enthusiastically. He was also on hand for the Canucks' draft party in June, and has spent most of his summer here in Vancouver as he awaits the birth of his first child.
Meanwhile, Alex Burrows has spent most of his summer at the pool with his young family in Montreal.
Meanwhile, it sounds like summer's biggest craze has captured the attention of at least a couple of Canucks players:
Meanwhile, the World Junior Development Camp Rosters are getting together in preparation for this year's Summer Showcase, which starts Wednesday in Plymouth, Michigan.
Click here for TSN's broadcast schedule, which kicks off Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. with Canada vs. Finland.
Click here for the Team Canada roster, which includes Canucks' defense prospect Guillaume Brisebois. Brock Boeser will also be playing for Team USA, and Olli Juolevi for Team Finland, so our loyalties will definitely be divided!
One week later, next year's crop of draft hopefuls will start showing their stuff at the Ivan Hlinka tournament for U18 players. That begins August 8 in Breclav, Czech Republic and Bratislava, Slovakia.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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