Today is the deadline for teams to tender Qualifying Offers to their pending restricted free agents, and after the deadline passed at 5 p.m. New York time (2 p.m. local time), we now know which young signed players the Canucks intend on keeping around, and which they intend to let go.

The Canucks had a pile of RFA’s following the conclusion of the season. They have since signed defencemen Erik Gudbranson and Andrey Pedan to one year contracts, with 10 more being nsorted out today.

Shout out to News 1130’s Rick Dhaliwal who tweeted out most of this info long before the Canucks did.

I’m guessing this one was a pretty easy decision, given that Bo Horvat was the team’s leading scorer last season, potting 20 goals goals and 52 while playing 81 games. Though he went into a prolonged goal slump near the end of the season, Horvat spent much of the 2016 calendar year producing like a first line centre, giving the Canucks (and fans) hope that he can take up that mantle from the Sedins at least until the next true number one centre (?) arrives.

The next step here is to get Horvat signed to a real contract, since he certainly won’t be playing at the rate of his qualifying offer. Something closer to the $4-6 million range with multi-year term is likely in the works. Whatever it is, we’ll just hope it happens soon. Canucks fans don’t like seeing their future captain in limbo, vulnerable to an offer sheet (you know, if collusion weren’t a thing).

After two solid years in the American League, Brendan Gaunce played his first full season with the Canucks in 2016-17, appearing in 57 contests. Gaunce tallied just five assists in his rookie season, and much was made about the fact that he failed to score a single goal. Still, there was some worry that Vegas might try to pluck him during the expansion draft, though they ended up going with Luca Sbisa instead.

The reason that we were briefly fearful of losing Gaunce is that he had pretty spectacular underlying numbers last season. Gaunce led all Canucks players in Corsi-For percentange (51.3%, minimum 15 games played) and Corsi-Against per 60 (49.1), and his CF%relTM, which compares how he did compared to when other teammates were put with the same lineups, was a +5.2%, which trailed only Henrik Sedin.

Gaunce’s AHL production (34 goals, 79 points in 149 games) suggests that he has a lot more to give offensively, even if he tops out as a 10-15 goal scorer, his defensive acumen and versatility (he plays both centre and wing) make him a valuable depth player, especially given his age.

Picked up on waivers from the New Jersey Devils in early January, Reid Boucher was a healthy scratch for 13 of the first 14 games that he was on the roster, including the infamous night that Anton Rodin sat on the bench playing zero minutes after re-injuring his knee the previous night.

When he wasn’t being mishandled by the now-former coaching staff, Boucher was a solid middle six contributor. In 27 games with the Canucks, he put up five goals and seven points, despite averaging just 12:11 on a terrible team whose coach was initially extremely resistant to give him meaningful minutes or power play time. During and after the season, most of the talk surrounding Boucher from Canucks management had to do with what kind of shape he was in, rather than the success he had on the ice whenever he was put into a position to succeed.

It’s good to see that they’ve chosen to bring Boucher back, as they can use all the goal scoring help than can get.

We all know the story of Nikita Tryamkin by now. The towering Russian defender captured our imaginations and then broke our hearts when he returned to the KHL in what has been described as a “family decision”. Now that Tryamkin has been qualified, the Canucks will retain his rights until July 1st, 2022, leaving plenty of time for the big Russian, who now has a three-year contract with his hometown team, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, to return to the Canucks. Likely, if it happens at all, it’ll happen when the Canucks are a bit better of a team than the one that Tryamkin suffered with last season.

Voted Utica’s most improved player this past season, McEneny went from a routine healthy scratch to a minute munching all-situations defender under Travis Green and defensive coach Nolan Baumgartner. He finished the season with eight goals and 23 points in 67 – made all the more impressive by the fact that 22 of those points came in his final 32 games. The massive strides in his play led the Canucks to call him up in February (during the mumps epidemic) and give him his NHL debut.

With Green and Baumgartner moving up to the NHL next season, it may give McEneny a chance to make the club as a sixth or seventh defenceman, or at least be a viable call up option if (or when) injuries occur.

Signed to be a leader in Utica and provide call up depth to the big club, Michael Chaput ended up spending the vast majority of his season in the NHL, scoring four goals and nine points in 68 games. He found chemistry with Brendan Gaunce, and together with Jack Skille, they formed one of the league’s better fourth lines in terms of shot differential. They didn’t score many goals, but they certainly didn’t allow very many either.

Chaput, who scored 13 points in 10 games under Travis Green while in Utica, could provide useful depth again next season, though ideally he should be primarily an AHL player. Certainly at the very least he won’t be getting any more time on the top line with the Sedins.

Joseph LaBate, drafted in the fourth round (101st overall) in 2011, made a great impression in Canucks training camp after a solid AHL rookie campaign in 2015-16. LaBate showed the toughness he’s been known for, while also displaying a finishing touch and some impressive setup passes that led people to see him as a darkhorse to make the team out of camp. He didn’t, and when he was called up later in the year, he didn’t show many of the same qualities that had attracted the masses back in September/October.

Still, he’s just 24 years old, and could provide some injury depth for the Canucks, even if it’s strictly in the bottom six.

Picked up on waivers from the Anaheim Ducks towards the end of last season, Joseph Cramarossa played in 10 games for the Canucks and frankly, he wasn’t very good. He didn’t produce any points, and had a team-worst 37.8% Corsi-For percentage, which is alarmingly poor. It wasn’t just with the Canucks that he struggled either, as he operated with a 40.8 CF% during his 49 games in Anaheim as well. Though he’s still young at 24, Cramarossa is eminently replaceable.

Mike Zalewski’s time with the Canucks has been a series of ups and downs. Undrafted, he was signed by the Canucks at the end of the 2013-14 season. After a mediocre first season in the AHL, the Canucks neglected to qualify him. He then signed an AHL deal and had an excellent sophomore season in Utica, leading to the Canucks giving him a call up – which of course necessitated them signing him to a contract first. He was re-signed to an NHL deal for the 2016-17 season, but fought through injuries for much of the year, and his production took a big step back in the American League. Now, Zalewski has once again not been qualified by the Canucks. He will be able to sign an AHL deal if he wishes, and who knows, maybe he’ll work his way back up to an NHL contract again. I wouldn’t think it likely, but stranger things have happened I suppose.

Signed as an NCAA free agent just over a year ago, local boy Michael Garteig had an iffy rookie professional season split between AHL Utica and ECHL Alaska. At the age of 25, he was always going to be a long shot, though the fact that he was one of only two goaltending prospects in the Canucks system was working for him. After the Canucks picked up Michael DiPietro 64th overall at the 2017 Entry Draft, Garteig doesn’t even have that to lean on.

With the Canucks goaltending situation still up in the air (they’re working on signing Ryan Miller but as of yet have not been successful, and Richard Bachman is still under contract), it’s possible that the Canucks extend an AHL offer to Garteig and keep him as depth at the position. After all, DiPietro will remain in the OHL and the chances of Miller and Markstrom both remaining healthy all season are pretty slim.