We’re nearly a month into free agency and there are plenty of great names still on the board. It’s been an unusually quiet summer where unrestricted free agents are concerned and much of this inaction can be blamed on the stagnating cap and teams ingratiating themselves to analytic based decisions on a larger scale. Stupid contracts are fewer and farther between then ever, leaving teams with few dollars to spend and players left in the wind.

While the Canucks have been relatively busy since seasons end, there really aren’t any more or less openings than when it began. Out with Kevin Bieksa, Shawn Matthias, Brad Richardson and Zack Kassian, in with Brandon Prust and Matt Bartkowski. If anything, one could argue the Canucks have more openings – of course, Sven Baertschi is set to take one of those spots, though. 

With north of $4-million in cap space and just Baertschi to re-sign, the Canucks might have a couple extra dollars to spend. Lets examine a couple of great second-wave targets on the other side of the jump.

Frankly, I don’t imagine the Canucks have much activity left in them this summer. Certainly not in free agency. That said, they can make it work logistically speaking, should they find a target that they deem worthy of the trouble. According to www.WAR-on-ice.com they have an estimated $4.2-million in cap space and five contractual commitments left before they hit the 50-contract limit, though one of these will go to Baertschi.

The situation becomes increasingly flexible as you project another year or two into the future. All this is to say that while the Canucks haven’t the most wiggle room with which to make additions, there is enough for a couple of the last minute variety.

Keeping in mind that the Canucks aren’t exactly rolling in cap space, this will be a trip through the clearance aisle. Usually, this time of year is ripe with market inefficiencies just waiting to get scooped up on the low on a one-year, prove-it deal. Last year, it was Daniel Winnik and David Booth leading the charge. One of those fetched a hefty bounty in draft picks for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, so there’s certainly money to be found here for financially well-off franchises, like the Vancouver Canucks.

Depending on the direction of any one franchise, these players can represent bought draft picks. At the very least, they can add to organizational depth. What’s to lose?

Should the Canucks search elsewhere to find Brad Richardson’s replacement, Fehr could be a more than ideal fit. The veteran center has plus upside in the faceoff circle, posting a 52% from the dot last year with the Washington Capitals. Playing in a defensively slanted role, primarily from the Capitals third-line, Fehr came out in the black by possession metrics and also by penalty differential, for his third consecutive season.

What most might not know about Fehr is that he has a fairly well rounded offensive game to go along with his defensive upside. For the earlier parts of his career, it was expected that Fehr would turn into a winger in the power forward mold, playing on the Capitals second-line. Fehr may have fallen short of those expectations, but he’s still a proficient rate scorer, with the sixth-highest points at even strength on the Capitals and a 1.6 P/60. 

At 38-years of age, Cullen certainly wouldn’t address the Canucks goal of getting younger. That said, the upgrade that Cullen would provide on presumptive fourth-line pivot, Linden Vey, is such that it more than makes up for that with its ability to help them compete now. In a prescribed bottom-six role, Cullen provided the Nashville Predators with efficient secondary scoring last season. With a Corsi For of 53%, last season was also Cullen’s best from a territorial perspective in the BehindTheNet Era. 

Similarly to Fehr, Cullen would also provide the Canucks with a much needed boost in the faceoff circle. Last season saw Cullen post a 54% from the dot in just under 300-faceoffs. While it would be unfair to expect a similar level of production as he posted last season, Cullen is still likely to score at roughly a third-line rate and provide plus upside from his own end. 

Again, Visnovsky doesn’t necessarily help this team get any younger – not by any stretch – but he does advance their short term goal of competing for a playoff spot. Visnovsky’s presence would also help greatly to bring along the Canucks young blueliners, like Adam Clendenning and Frankie Corrado. Paradoxically, though, Visnovsky would be taking away one of their spots, which in and of itself would stagnate their growth. Remember, this is a team that brought Corrado up to the big club for a series of games just to be around the NHL environment. This team values environment as a hugely important part of developing their players and surely Visnovsky has something to contribute in that regard.

Where Visnovsky might prove most useful, though, would be in helping the Canucks power play. The Islanders produced goals at a 5% higher clip with Visnovsky on the ice, with the man advantage. Vancouver’s power play is hardly the waste case it was two seasons ago, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to get better.

The only laziness to emerge from the popular Alexander Semin narratives is from the writers that promulgate that crap, shamelessly, on a year-to-year basis. All the same, I think it would be more than enough to keep the Canucks from taking a flier on the “enigmatic” Russian. 

Despite coming off what many are describing as a poor season, Semin posted his seventh straight campaign with a positive GF%Rel. This, despite suffering a well below average personal and on-ice sh%. By that same token, it’s been three straight years of low on-ice sh%, so this could be a trend moreso than a blip. All the same, Semin in the Radim Vrbata role alongside the Sedins would have the potential to put up gaudy numbers. 

I don’t know what part of Schlemko’s game has gone uncovered in this medium, but I stand by my belief that he is a criminally underrated defender, more than capable of playing in a top-four role on the Canucks. This team should know all-too-well of Schlemko’s capabilities, as he’s spent the majority of his career in the same division and most recently showcased his ability as a key cog in the Flames defense during their first round shellacking of the Canucks.