With news that veteran defenceman Alex Edler appears to be headed to test the market, a huge question comes to the forefront of fans minds.

The management group has spoken many times about how changes needed to be made but with less than two weeks until July 1st, the questions are now being asked with regularity.

So, let’s take a look at the ways the Canucks can improve their blueline this summer.

The Canucks have been linked to a few of the available defencemen this summer including Shayne Gotisbehere and Nikita Zaitsev.

One of those would be a fantastic addition to the group but would cost quite a bit while the other is a player that the organization hopes to buy low on.  In terms of Gotisbehere, that is the exact type of player that the Canucks should be looking at adding but it comes down to the cost. The organization lacks tangible assets that can be compiled to acquire him.

You’d have to think that at least a first round pick would be heading to Philadelphia to get any sort of deal. That means the 10th overall selection or the 2020 1st round pick – which means that the prospect pipeline would have a hole in it. The Canucks have been able to insert the likes of Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Quinn Hughes (just to name a few) but if they deal the 2019 1st, there isn’t really a high-end prospect ready to step into the lineup in the near future. There are some intriguing prospects like Tyler Madden, Olli Juolevi, and Jett Woo but they are come with question marks and are still quite young.

For Zaitsev, there is a considerable risk with his term and cap hit. Given that, there is a line of where the cost to acquire him may outweigh the risk of his contract. Once it gets to that point, the Canucks might be best served to look in another direction.

There are probably a couple of other defencemen, like Colin Miller, that would also be worth trading for. But it’s trying to figure out what pieces the Canucks can move without hurting their roster too much.

It appears that the organization will be aggressive in adding a defenceman, or two, via free agency.

They have been linked to Jake Gardiner, Tyler Myers, and Erik Karlsson.

With Karlsson is off the market and Edler likely testing the market, it seems logical that the Canucks will turn their focus on Myers and Gardiner.

The benefit of adding either is that there wouldn’t be any impact to the Canucks asset base but the issue will be the AAV and term that it will take to get either to sign. The Canucks have cap space but that doesn’t mean they need to burn it all to add someone.

Generally, these are the types of contracts that can hurt in two to three years, look no further than Loui Eriksson.

Given the asset issues I mentioned above, the organization is stuck here and it means that they will have the desire to be aggressive.

The Canucks made some interesting additions via the NCAA to close out last season in Josh Teves and Brogan Rafferty.

Both will need some time in the AHL to start next season but they could be intriguing options for the team going forward. Rafferty would probably have the edge as the right-side defenceman with an edge.

Olli Juolevi is coming off surgery that made him miss most of this past season, so I am sure the Canucks hope to get him into the lineup sooner rather than later, it’s hard to predict what will happen with him.

Otherwise, the organization can promote defencemen like Ashton Sautner and Guillaume Brisebois into the 7-8 defencemen on the roster.

Given where the team is right now, you can understand why they might be aggressive on the trade and free agent front. The players that they could promote likely aren’t ready to handle full-time roles and the team needs to take positive strides in 2019-20.

The best route is likely looking at buy low options that teams will need to shed to get under the cap. This will allow the organization to get players at a cheaper cost and then insert them into roles that could see them succeed. Adding one of Myers or Gardiner won’t kill the teams cap structure but you have to be careful there.

It will be an interesting two weeks.