Patrik Allvin heads into his second summer as general manager of the Vancouver Canucks in a very different position than his first.
His team outperformed expectations and was one game away from advancing to the Western Conference Final. They were one of the NHL’s best teams all year long and now Allvin needs to make sure they can take that jump to becoming a top contender.
The general manager has some clear priorities for what he wants to add to the roster this summer.
“Yeah, a top-six winger would be nice,” Allvin stated today. “I think we need to add some speed, but again, [I’m going to] meet with my staff here and see what we have in-house. I’m sure a lot of players in Abbotsford took big steps here.”
“We’ll continue here over the next couple weeks and see what we have in terms of free agency and the players who are going to stay here or how much cap space we have left.”
It’s no surprise that a top-six winger is high on Allvin’s wishlist. There were rumours that the Canucks were targeting a top-six forward at the trade deadline, although no deal came to fruition.
“With access to more assets and money, I would’ve definitely added a top-six forward, but we didn’t have that opportunity,” said Allvin about the team’s moves at the deadline. “I think that’s something we’re going to look at here to see what part of our lineup we need to improve on. We still have a lot of younger players that are knocking on the door and, with a good summer, should be ready to take a big step.”
The team had to miscast Ilya Mikheyev as a top-six winger down the stretch this year as they lacked suitable options. It was part of the reason why they struggled to score much in the playoffs.
Some of the big-name wingers who are unrestricted free agents this summer include Sam Reinhart, Jonathan Marchessault, Tyler Toffoli, Jake Guentzel, and Teuvo Teräväinen.
The Canucks have a history with Toffoli and have been linked to Guentzel in the past.
Free agency opens on July 1, and the Canucks will be players with more than $20 million in cap space, although some of that will go to re-signing players with expiring contracts.