Are the Vancouver Canucks on the edge of landing a premier first-line winger?
The rumour mill between the reigning Pacific Division champions and Jake Guentzel has kicked back into high gear.
It seems very likely the pending free agent leaves the Carolina Hurricanes to test the open market on July 1, potentially setting up a connection with the Canucks.
“I still think it’s too soon to proclaim a winner on this but I do think the Canucks do look at it in a very real way,” said Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman about the Guentzel sweepstakes on the Jeff Marek Show today. “I don’t think it’s easy for them to do… I don’t think it’s impossible.”
“Do I think they’re looking into it? Absolutely, absolutely I do. Look, it’s Rutherford, man; he’s aggressive; of course he’s going to look into it.”
Guentzel is a legit top-line winger and would fill the team’s most pressing need. He scored 30 goals and 77 points last season and has two career 40-goal seasons. He would give Elias Pettersson a proven high-end linemate.
The 29-year-old shares an agent with current current Canucks winger Brock Boeser.
“I think Guentzel, the Canucks are going to give it one heck of a shot to try and get this guy,” added CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal on the Donnie & Dhali show today.
The Canucks almost landed the scoring winger earlier in the year before the trade deadline. While they eventually lost out to the Hurricanes, this is a player they’ve shown interest in in the past and clearly think is a fit.
The interest seems to be mutual per other reports that came out today.
“Of the teams that were after him at the deadline, his preference, or at least one of his preferences, was Vancouver,” said Sportsnet’s Satiar Shah on the Halford and Brough show this morning.
“I think he would’ve preferred Vancouver over a few destinations, perhaps even the one he ended up in Carolina. Not to say he hated in there, but out of the places he could’ve gone, Vancouver was very high on the list.”
The Hurricanes have reportedly made Guentzel’s rights available for a mid-round draft pick. This would allow the acquiring team to sign him for eight years compared to the maximum seven years allowed for a typical unrestricted free agent joining a new team. It would also give the acquiring team exclusive negotiating rights until July 1.
While Guentzel will cost a lot, likely more than $9 million per season, the Canucks will have some cap space to spend, especially considering it sounds like they’re giving up on re-signing Elias Lindholm. This means that they could fit another big deal onto their books.