With training camp just around the corner, the Vancouver Canucks look to be pretty much set with the players they will be inviting to Penticton. The free agency market is thinning out, though some moves are still being made around the league to fill out spots. Tyson Barrie recently inked a PTO with the Calgary Flames for a chance to crack their roster in the 2024-25 season.

There are still a couple of names on the market that could be worth looking at for some added competition in training camp. So out of the players who still find themselves out of a contract in September, who could be some options for the Canucks to sign to a PTO?

It’s been a hard fall for the 24-year-old defenceman after a solid rookie season in 2022-23. Calen Addison posted 29 points in 62 games that year and looked to be a young part of that Minnesota Wild defence going into the future. But, the very next season, he was dumped to the San Jose Sharks for Adam Raska and a 5th-round pick.

Granted, there are reasons why the Wild shipped him off. For one, the offensive defenceman wasn’t exactly good at the defensive side of things, having a penchant for taking risks on the back end. It didn’t help matters that Minnesota decided to go another direction on their powerplay deployment, leaving Addison off of a unit that would bring the most out of his skill set. He was a boon for a Sharks team that was desperate to have a puck-moving defenceman, but getting that deployment would probably not be coming on a better team.

Given his warts, it’s very likely that Addison wouldn’t be a fit in Tocchet’s defensively-minded system on the back end. But, at the same time, he’s a young defenceman that has put up production in the NHL. Without inking him to a contract, it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to bring him in on a PTO and see if he can mesh with anyone in the lineup, especially given the lack of mobile puck-movers currently in the bottom pairing. Maybe playing under Tocchet could help Addison ensure that he’s moving the puck to the right team.

Kailer Yamamoto has been removed from playing alongside Connor McDavid for a couple of seasons. It seems that the former 2017 first-rounder will never reach the heights that the Edmonton Oilers drafted him for, playing primarily on the Kraken’s fourth line last year after being traded in the Klim Kostin deal. With the reduction of the role came a drop off in his point production, as the small winger was unable to get the looks that he needed.

It’s not that he’s a liability. Yamamoto plays with a good motor, has hands and speed, and is willing to get into the corners. The biggest knock on him is that he stands at 5’8, and as of right now, looks like he will only produce if he fit onto a scoring line. That’s not going to happen in Vancouver, especially considering the many middle six wingers who were signed early on in free agency and will audition for those roles.

But perhaps Yamamoto could reinvent himself as a checking winger. He certainly has the tools to do so and could be a nice get as a tweener forward who would likely pass through waivers. Having him at camp on the PTO would add to an already loaded competition for the bottom six winger spots, but Yamamoto has more proven production than most of the options. It wouldn’t be a bad look to see if he could add anything to the roster.

At 25 years old, Gustav Lindstrom still is relatively young for a defenceman. He’s bounced around the NHL already though and has played for three organizations. Interestingly enough, Lindstrom hasn’t featured much in AHL action, already accumulating 174 NHL games to just 62 in the minors.

He won’t be adding too much offensively for any team that he joins. Lindstrom’s career high in points came in 2021-22 with 13 points in 63 with the Red Wings. Not bad, certainly, especially given that he plays a solid, defensively responsible style in his own end. He upholds the defence in defenceman, and that’s pretty darn good in this day and age. And, considering that Lindstrom played on some rough teams in the form of Montreal and Anaheim, it’s a compliment that he was as low event as he was.

To not take up a contract spot and with the results that he has been producing in the NHL, having Lindstrom on an invite to camp and preseason feels like a pretty nice bet to have. At the very worst, you’re simply just cutting your losses on a defenceman that doesn’t work out. There are promising signs to Lindstrom too, and perhaps it could parlay itself into a good value move for more defensive depth for the Canucks.