It’s officially the offseason, which means we’re switching our sights to what’s next for the Vancouver Canucks here at CanucksArmy. 

Today, we’re taking a look at two Canucks who seem very unlikely to be back in Vancouver next year, along with four more that we’re a bit less sure about.

Derek Forbort was gracious enough to meet with the media during Canucks player exit availabilities on Friday. Forbort detailed an incredibly frustrating season that saw him go from day-to-day to undergoing season-ending surgery following multiple setbacks.

“Kind of started before training camp, started having some, some hip issues,” Forbort said. “Was able to get through training camp with a cortisone injection that kind of wore off. Ended up doing like a PRP injection in Toronto, had a pretty bad reaction to that. And then kind of once that calmed down, we were just trying to rehab, rehab, tried a bunch of things, and then it just kind of got to the point where I had to get the labral tear in my hip fixed, and I had surgery for that, and I’ve just been rehabbing now.”

Forbort, who turned 34 in March, is a pending unrestricted free agent after signing a one-year deal worth $2 million with the Canucks last offseason. On the idea of playing next season, Forbort said:

“Yeah, I’d like to try and maybe grind out a couple more [seasons] depending how it feels,” Forbort said. “Just talking to the surgeon, he said it’s gonna solve a lot of the issues that I’ve had the last couple years. So hopefully makes a big difference and [I] can try and continue playing.”

The Canucks’ defence corps doesn’t have many other departures coming up, and with plenty of young talent on the backend looking for playing time — and some more on the way — it seems unlikely that the Canucks will re-sign Forbort this offseason.

Evander Kane got to play in his 1,000th NHL game, got his celebration at home in game 1,001, and didn’t play a game the rest of the season. Kane also no-showed end of season availabilities, and according to Rick Dhaliwal, Kane did his exit meeting with Canucks brass before the club’s final road trip.

It was a disappointing season for Kane, who turns 35 this offseason. He’ll head into free agency after putting up 13 goals and 18 assists in 71 games while posting a career-worst -20 plus-minus rating.

It’s unclear what the future holds for Kane, but it feels pretty safe to say he won’t be back in Vancouver next season.

Here are the players we’d say are around or slightly above a 50% chance of being back in Vancouver next season.

The Canucks looked for a taker for Teddy Blueger ahead of the trade deadline, but no deal ever materialized. Down the stretch, however, Canucks youngsters namedropped Blueger plenty as somebody who was helping keep the vibes high in the room.

Blueger expressed his desire to stay in Vancouver during Friday’s availabilities, and sounded genuinely interested in helping to repair a room that Blueger said “lacked unity” this past season.

As a pending UFA in a weak centre market, there’s a chance Blueger likes what he sees on the open market and elects to sign outside of Vancouver. That’s why he’s on this list, but there wouldn’t be many fans upset about the idea of signing Blueger to a new contract this offseason.

Now here’s a guy who really did himself some favours with his play down the stretch. Douglas’s contributions didn’t really show up on the scoresheet, but ultimately, that’s not what the Canucks plucked him off waivers to do.

The Canucks were upfront in saying that the reason they brought Douglas into the fold was to make the Canucks’ young players feel comfortable with a modern-day enforcer in the lineup. According to Zeev Buium, Douglas accomplished that goal, and from our perspective, seemed very well-liked by his teammates.

“I love Douglas, I love that guy,” Buium said on a recent appearance on Canucks Central. “He’s only been here for a little bit but he’s a great person, he came up to me and said ‘Play your game, feel free out there. If anyone touches you, they’re dead. They don’t do that again’ He’s great.”

That sounds like the kind of guy the Canucks should at least do their best to keep around. Douglas is a UFA, however, and it’s hard to know if there was much interest from teams around the league when Douglas was put on waivers, since the Canucks were at the top of the queue and thus, were the ones who landed Douglas. Did another team have a claim in? Would that team come calling again for Douglas’s services this offseason? We’ll see.

Like most Canucks defencemen, PO Joseph struggled at times this season. But he was signed to play in spot duty as a 6/7th defenceman for the Canucks, and he was fine in that role and provided depth for the organization.

However, Victor Mancini’s re-signing to a two-year contract might make the Canucks more inclined to sign another AHL veteran to fill Joseph’s spot on the depth chart, assuming they’ll keep Mancini on the NHL roster for most of the season. That being said, the reason we’re a bit unsure about Joseph is that he’s an RFA, not a UFA, so the Canucks would have to pass on issuing him a qualifying offer to relinquish his rights.

At some point, you’d think Danila Klimovich would want the Canucks to give him an NHL opportunity. And if he can’t get one in a season when the Canucks were the worst team in hockey and sat dead last for most of the season, will he ever get one?

Klimovich, the Canucks 2nd round pick in 2021, put up 18 goals and 16 assists through 63 games with the Abbotsford Canucks this season, but even at the AHL level, he has yet to prove he’s much more than a decent middle-six option. Klimovich is set to become a restricted free agent, which automatically makes him the most likely name on this list so far that is actually back with the Canucks next season.

But nobody would fault him for wanting a fresh start somewhere else at this point in his career, either.

Which of these Canucks would you like to see back next season? Let us know in the comments section below!

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