Free Agent Focus: Vancouver Canucks
Free agency is just a week away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Canucks.
Key Restricted Free Agents
D Pierre-Olivier Joseph – Brought in to add cost-controlled depth to the blue line, Joseph never found his footing in his first season with Vancouver. The 26-year-old left-shot defenseman was limited to 31 games by injuries and inconsistency, managing just six points and a minus-16 rating while averaging a touch over 13 minutes a night. He retains some appeal as a mobile depth option on a cheap ticket, but with the Canucks turning the page and prioritizing younger players, he is no better than a borderline qualifying-offer candidate, and the team could just as easily let him walk.
Other RFAs: F Nils Aman, F Chase Stillman, F Jayden Grubbe, F Danila Klimovich
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Evander Kane – A year that began with the storyline of a hometown return ended in disappointment for both player and team. The Vancouver native, acquired from Edmonton for a fourth-round pick, was supposed to bring scoring and snarl to the middle six but instead posted his fewest goals in a full season since 2014-15, finishing with 13 goals, 31 points, and a minus-20 rating across 71 games for a club that cratered around him. The 34-year-old still brings physicality and a veteran edge, and was floated as a trade candidate before injuries intervened, but on an expiring contract and with the Canucks committed to youth, a reunion looks highly unlikely. Expect Kane to test the market.
F Teddy Blueger – One of the few veterans to hold his value through a lost season, Blueger remained a quietly effective two-way center even as injuries cost him most of the year. The 31-year-old Latvian was limited to 35 games but tied his career high with nine goals and added eight assists, a near-40-point pace, while continuing to anchor what had been one of the league’s better penalty kills before the roster was gutted. He has said he would like to stay, and was valued enough my the Canucks that they couldn’t find a worthwhile deadline return for him, but with the club ready to hand bottom-six minutes to younger players, his future is uncertain. A cheap, short-term re-sign is possible, though he may well find a better opportunity elsewhere.
D Derek Forbort – Forbort’s second season in Vancouver was essentially a write-off, as a hip injury limited the veteran to just two games. When healthy the year before, the 34-year-old left-shot defenseman had been a genuine asset, almost single-handedly lifting the Canucks’ penalty kill into a top-three unit, but a lost campaign at this stage of his career makes a return to a rebuilding team hard to envision. Coming off an expiring $2MM deal and reportedly set to test free agency, Forbort will likely move on.
Other UFAs: F Curtis Douglas, F Joe Labate, D Guillaume Brisebois
Projected Cap Space
The Canucks enter the summer in unfamiliar territory: at the start of a full rebuild. After a dismal 58-point season, the worst record in the NHL and a League-worst minus-100 goal differential, Vancouver tore the operation down to the studs. The watershed move came in December, when the club traded captain and former Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes to Minnesota for Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium, and a 2026 first-round pick, and the selloff continued with Conor Garland, Tyler Myers and Kiefer Sherwood all shipped out for futures. The front office was overhauled just as thoroughly: GM Patrik Allvin and coach Adam Foote were fired, president Jim Rutherford is stepping aside after this month’s draft, and franchise icons Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin were installed as co-presidents, with Ryan Johnson hired as general manager and Manny Malhotra promoted from the AHL as the new head coach. Per PuckPedia, the Canucks project to carry roughly $21MM in space against the $104MM ceiling, but Johnson has been explicit that this rebuild will be built through the draft and trades rather than free-agent splashes; the room is more useful as a tool to absorb salary and pry assets from cap-strapped clubs than to chase July 1 names. The bigger prize comes at the draft, where Vancouver holds the No. 3 overall pick and a franchise-record haul of selections, and where Malhotra’s son Caleb, a top-ranked center, looms as a possibility. With veterans such as Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, Filip Hronek, and Thatcher Demko still drawing interest, the front office’s reshaping of the roster is only getting started.
Salary cap information via PuckPedia.
2026-27 Performance Bonus and 35+ Candidates
As NHL front offices gear up for free agency, managing the salary cap demands a delicate balance between risk and reward. While performance bonuses are often linked to elite rookies on entry-level contracts, the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) adds two additional avenues for performance-based incentives: injury comeback deals and contracts for 35-year-old or older veterans. These mechanisms enable teams to secure impactful players with low base salary cap hits, effectively deferring financial obligations until later.
If a team ends the fiscal year with earned bonuses exceeding their remaining cap space, the excess funds are carried over into the next league year as a direct salary cap penalty. This can significantly impact teams near the cap limit or heavily relying on LTIR. PuckPedia has detailed the upcoming free agents who qualify for these specialized incentive structures for the 2026-27 season.
To qualify for a performance-bonus-eligible contract via the injury route, a player must have 400 or more career games and have spent 100 or more days on Injured Reserve during the previous season. This structure allows franchises to take low-risk gambles on proven assets, while the financial incentives toward active roster availability and durability rather than pure scoring production.
Six players fit this criteria heading into free agency, including Derek Forbort (VAN), Alexander Kerfoot (UTA) Patrik Laine (MON), Petr Mrazek (ANA), Matt Murray (SEA), and Tomas Nosek (FLA).
For a team looking for top-six offensive upside, a player like Laine could be highly coveted on a bonus-laden deal, while teams seeking goaltending depth or penalty-killing options could turn to turn to Mrazek, Forbort, or Nosek under this low-risk umbrella.
Contracts signed by players who will be 35 or older by July 1 of the contract year are also eligible for performance bonuses on one-year deals. Front offices frequently use these to protect against sudden age-related decline, tying mid-six-figure bonuses to basic longevity milestones—such as reaching 10, 40, or 60 games played—or team-oriented postseason success.
The upcoming free agent class has an extensive group of veteran forwards eligible for this structure, including Jamie Benn (DAL), Evgenii Dadonov (NJD), Nicolas Deslauriers (CAR), Lars Eller (OTT), Nick Foligno (MIN), Claude Giroux (OTT), Luke Glendening (PHI), Erik Haula (NSH), Adam Henrique (EDM), Marcus Johansson (MIN), Patrick Kane (DET), Anders Lee (NYI), Gustav Nyquist (WPG), Alex Ovechkin (WSH), David Perron (OTT), Corey Perry (TBL), Ryan Reaves (SJ), Reilly Smith (VGS), Jonathan Toews (WPG), Garrett Wilson (PHI), James van Riemsdyk (DET), and Mats Zuccarello (MIN).
The blue line also features a robust market of eligible 35+ defensemen who can weaponize these flexible agreements. This group includes Zach Bogosian (MIN), Brent Burns (COL), John Carlson (ANA), Ian Cole (UTA), Radko Gudas (ANA), Travis Hamonic (DET), Nick Jensen (OTT), Nick Leddy (SJ), Jeff Petry (MIN), Luke Schenn (BUF), and Brendan Smith (CBJ).
Contending teams could use performance bonuses to maximize rosters with high-profile franchise icons like Ovechkin, Benn, Giroux, and Kane eligible for a flexible, low-base-salary structure. However, general managers must be cautious. A player hitting a games-played milestone in late March could trigger a cap overage, restricting cap space at the trade deadline or forcing a painful penalty on the 2027-28 books.
Canucks Notes: Demko, Forbort, Johnson
Vancouver Canucks netminder Thatcher Demko told the media today, including Thomas Drance of The Athletic, that his hip surgery “is going to address everything [he has] dealt with in the past” as it relates to injuries. Demko has missed significant time over the last few years as the result of lingering injury issues, particularly regarding his hips. The 30-year-old has been limited to just 43 games played across the last two seasons. Demko’s persistently inconsistent availability over the last two years prompted Vancouver to invest in No. 2 netminder Kevin Lankinen, who secured a $4.5MM AAV contract extension from the club that runs through 2029-30.
Lankinen, 30, played in 51 games last season and got into 47 this year, with each mark leading the team. Heading into next season, the hope will be that what Demko has told the media comes to fruition, and he’s able to get into a regular starter’s workload of games for the first time since 2023-24. That year, Demko played in 51 games and posted a .918 save percentage. A .918 save percentage would be enough to lead the NHL in the statistic among goalies with at least 50 games played. If the Canucks can get a healthy Demko back on the ice, it would likely be a significant boost to the team’s hopes of remaining competitive on a nightly basis through their rebuild.
Other notes from British Columbia:
- Canucks defenseman Derek Forbort shed some light on the injury that sidelined him for all but two games of the 2025-26 season today, telling the media, including David Quadrelli of CanucksArmy, that he had surgery to fix a labral tear in his hip, and has since been rehabbing. The 34-year-old, when asked about the future of his playing career, said he would “like to try and maybe grind out a couple more [NHL seasons] depending how it feels.” The 6’4″ blueliner is a veteran of 552 NHL contests and has been a Canuck for the last two years, but is set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer.
- Vancouver’s president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford told the media today that assistant general manager Ryan Johnson was not asked to interview with other NHL clubs, denying a previous report that had indicated that the Nashville Predators requested to interview Johnson and were denied permission. Johnson is presumably a leading candidate to replace Patrik Allvin, who was fired earlier today, as Canucks GM. Johnson has served as GM of the Canucks’ AHL affiliates since 2017-18, and won the first Calder Cup in Abbotsford Canucks franchise history last season.
Canucks Injury Notes: Blueger, Garland, Hoglander, Forbort
It has been a tough season for Canucks center Teddy Blueger. He missed the start of the season with a lower-body injury, came back, and had the injury flare up again in his second game. Now, things don’t appear to be going well in his recovery. Speaking with reporters today (video link), head coach Adam Foote indicated that Blueger has suffered a setback and will be shut down for at least a few days. The hope is that he will be able to resume skating after that. In his first two seasons with Vancouver, the 31-year-old has put up 28 and 26 points while notching a career-high 104 hits in 2024-25 as well. With their center depth being thinned out at the moment, they were hoping that Blueger would be able to come in and play soon but that won’t be the case.
Other news from Vancouver:
- On the good news front, Conor Garland’s absence will wind up being just one game. After missing Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury, Foote noted that the 29-year-old will return on Thursday against Dallas. Garland is off to a good start to his season with five goals and eight assists in 17 games, a point-per-game rate that, if maintained, would be the best of his career. He’s also averaging nearly 20 minutes per night which is also a personal best, coming in ahead of the career-high 18:39 set last season.
- Foote also shared an update on winger Nils Hoglander. Out since the preseason due to lower-body surgery, he was initially expected to miss eight to ten weeks. It appears he’s still on that trajectory but the recovery time now appears to be on the back end of that scale. After a career year in 2023-24 that saw him record 24 goals and 36 points, his production dropped last season to just eight goals and 25 points and with the time he’s missed this season, he might be hard-pressed to match that total in 2025-26.
- Lastly, regarding defenseman Derek Forbort, Foote said that “I think, the last couple years. When you get into the midsection stuff, whatever it is, I think they want to start from scratch and fix it.” The veteran has only played in two games this season due to the injury and Foote’s comments suggest that a return isn’t imminent.
Canucks Recall Tom Willander, Place Victor Mancini On IR
Oct. 28: Willander has officially been recalled with Mancini being placed on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 26 as the corresponding transaction, the team announced. Mancini has been ruled out for the next three games as a result and will be eligible for activation against the Predators on Nov. 3. The Canucks also increased their spending flexibility by moving defenseman Derek Forbort to long-term injured reserve. Forbort was already on IR and has not played since Vancouver’s second game of the season back on Oct. 11 due to an undisclosed injury. An LTIR replacement requires 24 days missed, so he’ll be eligible to return on Nov. 5 against the Blackhawks.
Oct. 27: Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK shared this evening that the Vancouver Canucks are calling up top defensive prospect Tom Willander. The 20-year-old had been assigned to the AHL just two days ago, but now is back on the big club. The transaction may signal that he could be called up, as Willander had just been with the Canucks for salary purposes and has not actually debuted yet.
Since being sent down, Willander appeared in one game with Abbotsford (AHL), adding an assist, now up to two points in his first 5 North American professional games. Drafted 11th overall in the 2023 draft by Vancouver, Willander is widely considered the club’s No. 1 prospect and one of the top defensive prospects in the league.
Despite having limited professional experience so far, the Swede spent the past two seasons starring for Boston University in the NCAA, becoming acquainted with the North American game. Before his time in college, Willander made two appearances for Rögle BK of the SHL as a teenager.
A smooth-skating right-hander at 6’1”, Willander’s ability in his own end could be NHL-ready. The offense may take some time, but not many have his acumen at this stage of their careers, with his quickness and agility. Vancouver could call on Willander for his awaited debut, partly out of necessity. With Quinn Hughes out day-to-day and Victor Mancini also banged up, the team is particularly depleted on the back-end as they prepare to host the Rangers tomorrow night.
Although it may seem like a forgone conclusion given the circumstances, fans will watch closely for updates on whether the prospect will make his debut tomorrow.
Canucks Issue Several Injury Updates
Following his acquisition of Lukas Reichel from Chicago on Friday, Canucks GM Patrik Allvin met with the media (video link). While the trade itself was the focus of the scrum, Allvin also provided several updates on the status of some of their injured players.
Center Filip Chytil has been making progress as he works through his upper-body injury. While the team won’t confirm it, Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province relays that the belief is that the 26-year-old has indeed suffered another concussion which is believed to be his sixth. Allvin noted that Chytil still has to go through protocol and hasn’t been cleared yet. That said, the fact they’re not talking about a possible extended absence – something he has endured multiple times – has to be considered a promising sign.
Meanwhile, winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki is expected to miss another two to three weeks with what is believed to be a shoulder injury. The 21-year-old made the team out of training camp after spending most of last season in the minors and had a goal in his first four games after putting up six points in his rookie year in 24 games.
Center Teddy Blueger was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Sunday to open up a roster spot for Reichel, who they hope to have available tonight against Montreal. However, while he’s eligible to return to the lineup as soon as Monday, Allvin relayed that the veteran is going to miss at least a couple of weeks with his undisclosed injury.
Meanwhile, there is also some bad news on the back end. Allvin indicated that defenseman Derek Forbort suffered a setback in his recovery from his undisclosed injury sustained in the second game of the season. Now, he’s listed as out week-to-week.
At the moment, Vancouver has a little over $1MM left in their LTIR pool, per PuckPedia. That doesn’t leave them much flexibility should they have anyone else get injured over the next couple of weeks before some of their injured players start to return to the lineup. Teams can rarely afford injuries but in the case of the Canucks, it’s especially true with no immediate help on the horizon.
Canucks Place Derek Forbort On Injured Reserve
The Vancouver Canucks will be without some defensive depth for at least the first two games of their upcoming road trip. The team announced that they’ve placed Derek Forbort on the injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, retroactive to October 11th.
Forbort’s placement on the IR gives context to youngster Victor Mancini‘s inclusion in the lineup for Monday’s loss against the St. Louis Blues. Mancini went scoreless across 15:24 of action, while the pairing of him and Marcus Pettersson combined for an xGoals% of 38.5% according to MoneyPuck.
Although Forbort is eligible to return for the Canucks game on October 19th against the Washington Capitals, there’s no guarantee he’ll do so. He was particularly ineffective in his first two games before the injury.
Even with little responsibility as a bottom-pairing option, Forbort went without a point to start the year, averaging 13:56 of ice time. He’s already in last place among Vancouver defensemen in CorsiFor% at even strength (29.2%) and helped muster a brutal 15.4% xGoals% alongside Elias Pettersson.
Regardless, the Canucks will likely have him on the roster until the trade deadline, unless they’re willing to expose him on the waiver wire. Although he’s coming off a relatively disappointing campaign in which he scored two goals and 11 points in 54 games with a -7 rating, Vancouver signed Forbort to a one-year, $2MM extension in early June. Assuming Mancini continues producing better than Forbort, albeit in a small sample size, it’s unlikely the Canucks will put him back in the lineup over their road trip.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Derek Forbort To One-Year Deal
The Vancouver Canucks will have some added continuity to their defensive core next season. Vancouver announced they’ve re-signed defenseman Derek Forbort to a one-year, $2MM contract.
Forbort’s new deal won’t have any negative side effects on other defensemen on the roster, but it likely spells the end of Noah Juulsen‘s tenure in British Columbia. The Canucks now have seven defenseman signed through the 2025-26 season, including youngsters like Victor Mancini and Elias Pettersson.
He was as advertised for the Canucks this season. Injuries limited Forbort to 54 games played, yet he still scored two goals and 11 points, making for one of the better point-per-game metrics of his 10-year career. Despite the increased offensive (for his standards), Forbort missed the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Still, if the Canucks could make a move for another right-handed defenseman, Forbort represents a nice defensive option to place next to Tyler Myers in the bottom-pairing. He’s a like-sized blue liner who takes care of the puck in the defensive zone, as evidenced by his 46.4% CorsiFor% at even strength and 90.6% on-ice save percentage at even strength.
Unfortunately, retaining Forbort won’t help what plagued Vancouver this season. The Canucks boasted one of the top penalty kills, and had a respectable goals-against average, but their lethargic offense cost them dearly. Now that the defensive core is settled, the Canucks can spend the rest of the summer re-imagining their forward core.
Canucks Interested In Re-Signing Derek Forbort
The Canucks have held preliminary extension talks with defenseman Derek Forbort, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK reports. The pending unrestricted free agent is coming off surgery on his orbital bone after breaking it in a fight with Wild forward Yakov Trenin, ending his season earlier than planned on April 12.
Forbort, 33, landed a one-year, $1.5MM commitment from Vancouver last summer. He was coming off a three-year deal with the Bruins that ended poorly. His 2023-24 campaign was sidetracked by multiple lower-body injuries and he only made 35 appearances as a result. He didn’t draw into the postseason lineup, either, as Boston reached the second round against the eventual champion Panthers.
A stay-at-home defender only capable of depth minutes at this stage of his career, Forbort struggled with knee issues this year but was able to record 2-9–11 in 54 games with a minus-seven rating. He averaged 17:06 per game with Vancouver, roughly in line with his usage in Boston but technically the lowest deployment of his NHL career since his 14-game rookie trial with the Kings in 2015-16. He contributed 77 blocks and 65 hits and, while his even-strength minutes were limited, was one of the team’s most frequently-used penalty killers alongside Marcus Pettersson, Filip Hronek, and Tyler Myers.
Possession metrics aren’t always the best judge of defensive specialists, given their deployment. That’s true in Forbort’s case, considering he started 62.1% of his shifts in the defensive zone at even strength. His 46.4% Corsi share and 43.4% expected goals share are still underwhelming but not as damning as they would be for a defender deployed in more two-way situations.
Forbort may have earned a small raise on a one or two-year extension since he managed to stay in the lineup for over half the year and was a legitimate factor on the Canucks’ above-average PK (82.6%), but likely not enough to push him much over the $2MM mark against the cap. The Canucks already have $23.6MM committed to their top-four group of Hronek, Myers, Pettersson, and Quinn Hughes next year, and youngsters Victor Mancini and Elias Pettersson (the defenseman) will be in competition for opening-night roles. Re-upping Forbort would presumably mean a lack of activity from Vancouver on the UFA defenseman market this summer unless they pursue an unforeseen trade.
Canucks Expected To Activate Derek Forbort
In addition to getting J.T. Miller back in the fold, the Canucks will also have defenseman Derek Forbort in the lineup tonight against the Panthers, head coach Rick Tocchet told Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650. He’s coming off injured reserve, which the Canucks have the roster space to do without a corresponding move.
Forbort has spent most of his brief time in Vancouver on the injured list. After signing a one-year, $1.5MM deal in free agency, Forbort played three games before taking a leave of absence for personal reasons. He then sustained a knee injury in his return to the lineup on Nov. 2 that did not require surgery but has nonetheless kept him out since. He began skating with the team in a regular jersey earlier this week, per Batchelor, signaling a return was imminent.
The veteran shutdown presence averaged 16:30 per game when in the lineup earlier this season, posting an assist and a -2 rating. Vancouver did control 51.8% of shot attempts with Forbort on the ice at even strength, but his minutes were quantity over quality – they lost the expected goal battle 2.7 to 1.4.
Before signing in Vancouver, the 2010 first-round pick had spent the last three years with the Bruins. His final season in Beantown was nothing to write home about, posting just four assists in 35 games while averaging under 18 minutes per game for the second season in a row. He joined Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen as UFAs who left Boston for Vancouver.
Forbort will play a bottom-pairing role alongside Mark Friedman in his return to the lineup, multiple reports indicate. Erik Brännström and Vincent Desharnais are projected to be healthy scratches.