It’s the time of year where young free agents become hot commodities. Last week, I profiled a bunch of CHL and NCAA free agents that the Canucks should target, but didn’t do any possible European free agents mostly because there is no way to know which players would want to make the leap. 

So given that we are not privy to all the details, we have to wait for  leaks of players generating interest. Those have been slowly coming out from the insiders, and one of them caught my eye particularly tonight:

When looking at the Canucks system, it’s clear that they could use some more defensive prospects and Swedish defenceman Linus Hultstrom fits exactly into that mould. Hultstrom had put up 12 goals and 19 assists in 52 games this season, but took the next step in playoffs with three goals and nine assists in 8 games. He had 33 points (10-23-33) in 48 games last season.

Here is a scouting report of Hultstrom from Joe Curtis at Elite Prospects:

The Swedish native is 5’11” and currently weighs 181 pounds.

When looking at comparables, 15.4% went onto becoming NHL regulars. That may not sound like a high number, but Hultstrom’s has been consistent over the last two years and appears to have taken the next step in these playoffs, thus would be a worthwhile gamble for any team.

Whomever signs him, because he is in his ’23 year old’ season would be limited to a two year entry level contract. Which is actually a good thing, you could get a two year look at him and see how his game translates.  He would be just under 25 when the ELC is done and you would know exactly what you are getting.

These dice rolls are exactly what the Canucks should be doing. It costs them nothing in assets, but also ensures to add players in the age group they are targeting. I would rather see the Canucks take risks on players in their early twenties for Utica instead of signing journeyman AHL players to fill out the roster.

He is also right-handed, which is something the Canucks system could desperately use.

We will know soon enough where Hultstrom will go.