Happy Canada Day, <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Canucks fans</a>! And welcome to CanucksArmy's 2025 Free Agency live blog!

After an incredibly disappointing 2024-25 season, the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/">Vancouver Canucks</a>' front office has redemption on their minds as they try to return the team to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2026.

According to CapWages, the Canucks have approximately $4.172 million to work with in free agency, but with two key holes to fill. One is the presence of Brock Boeser, who's all but guaranteed to leave Vancouver after nine tumultuous seasons. While the team around him struggled to put wins on the board, Boeser overcame injuries and adversity off the ice to become one of the Canucks' most reliable scoring forwards.

The other spot to fill is that of Pius Suter's, who's coming off a career-high 46-point season for the Canucks last year. Suter's roles as Vancouver's third line centre and first-unit penalty killer are going to be extremely difficult to replace in the free agent market without paying a premium. Especially for a franchise that missed the playoffs and was a story for all the wrong reasons in 2024-25.

The options left for the Canucks are already far and few between, after using over $5 million of cap space acquiring Evander Kane from the Oilers as more and more players have come off the board. For all the aforementioned reasons, the Canucks' sales pitch for potential free agents isn't exactly a winning one, and will likely make them the second or third choice for most players as a landing spot.

Will the Canucks be able to grab any players from the Canada Day bargain bin? Will they convince Suter or Boeser to return at the 11th hour? We'll find out the answers to those questions and more when free agency officially opens today at 9 a.m. Pacific.
<h2>11:30 AM</h2>
Meanwhile in the former Canucks department, Utah is having a Mammoth day.

https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1940114023279972752

Schmidt's a casualty of the Panthers not having enough cap space for all their champions, but Schmidt gets his payday on a team desparately trying to win now in Utah.
<h2>11:12 AM</h2>
As the deals slow down a bit, we expect to hear from Canucks GM Patrik Allvin at around noon today. We'll be posting clips from that availability on our socials.
<h2>11:00 AM</h2>
Brandon Tanev is making his way around the NHL like Mike Sillinger.

https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1940106852965978622
<h2>10:53 AM</h2>
One of the most crucial parts of the Abbotsford Canucks championship runs is heading a little closer to home.

https://twitter.com/renlavoietva/status/1940106110637150225

Sammy Blais has earned another NHL opportunity and the Canadiens are the perfect team to give it to him. His physical play will help create space for a younger, more dynamic Habs squad, and he'll get the reps in Montreal that the Canucks couldn't offer. Good for Sammy.
<h2>10:42 AM</h2>
Another former Canuck is off the board, as Ethan Bear joins the Islanders.

https://twitter.com/PuckPedia/status/1940102731760545862
<h2>10:30 AM</h2>
The goalie market isn't the hottest right now, but the Islanders are the first to make a move after Jake Allen stayed in Jersey.

https://twitter.com/KevinWeekes/status/1940100100203884555

Ilya Sorokin has the Islanders starting job on lock, but Rittich's gonna play a key role preserving him for a team that wants to get back into the playoff hunt with Matthew Schaefer as their newest weapon.
<h2>10:10 AM</h2>
https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1940094946238710030

The Bruins response to losing out on the Boeser sweepstakes? Sign his mortal enemy.

Tanner Jeannot is going to a Boston team in the middle of a serious retool after trading Brad Marchand, but they still consider themselves competitive in the East. Jeannot is a depth piece to that puzzle, but at five years he's going to be in for the long haul.
<h2>9:54 AM</h2>
In all the commotion of Boeser returning, the rest of the league's been quietly getting stuff done.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1940092484857528490

The Rangers are pretty desparate to not miss the playoffs again after betting the farm on a squad led by J.T. Miller. Gavrikov is a boost to their blue line, but they're backing up the Brinks truck to get him and hoping the team will bounce back to President's Trophy form with him now.

https://twitter.com/NHLNetwork/status/1940091619480674577

The Oilers also lost Corey Perry to the Kings earlier, which combined with Brown should leave them the room for a Brock Boeser si- oh, wait. Never mind!
<h2>9:38 AM</h2>
https://twitter.com/imacSportsnet/status/1940087276819947762

I'm legitamately too stunned for words, a problem for someone who writes for a living.

Boeser is staying on a deal that will pay him $7.25 million for the next seven years, more than fair value for the best pure goal scorer the Canucks have had this decade. The odds of him coming back seemed dead as recently as this morning, and at the last minute the Canucks ponied up the missing dough and term.

Sure, the Canucks will definitely have to ship some depth guys out to make room for any other new pieces, but that's future Allvin and Rutherford's problem. Today is a day for celebration. Boeser belongs in Canucks uniform, and he'll remain in one from here into the distant future.
<h2>9:27 AM</h2>
This is not a drill.

https://twitter.com/DhaliwalSports/status/1940084815900111212

Brock Boeser, thought LONG GONE, is staying with the Vancouver Canucks.
<h2>9:24 AM</h2>
The signings are taking their time, but the Stars have announced their new head coach with a Canucks connection.

https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/1940081730322669967

&nbsp;
<h2>9:15 AM</h2>
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1940080789485478370

The Flyers have taken a former Canuck, now they take a potential Canuck target off the board.

At $5.4 million for one season, it's a fair bet for a team like the Flyers to make. The Canucks simply couldn't match that number under their current cap constraints, and they're arguably better off spending that money elsewhere.
<h2>9:10 AM</h2>
The biggest domino to drop in the free agent market will be Nikolaj Ehlers, but that's not likely to come today.

https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1940080287225962769
<h2>9:02 AM</h2>
The Canuck you most feared was gone has officially left.

https://twitter.com/DhaliwalSports/status/1940078464549495054

https://twitter.com/DhaliwalSports/status/1940078711254167865

Juulsen will be reunited with Rick Tocchet on the Flyers, and will get plenty of opportunities in Philly because of that history. It makes sense for both sides that Juulsen would move on from the Canucks after four roller coaster seasons.
<h2>9:00 AM Pacific</h2>
The light's are out, and away we go! The official free agency season has started now, and we'll wait for all the deals to start rolling in. Make sure to refresh this page often throughout the day.

https://twitter.com/NHLRumourReport/status/1940076449245081735
<h2>8:45 AM</h2>
A few little trades are on the way before the league opens for business at noon, including a former Canuck.

https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1940073019894112590

https://twitter.com/ByScottPowers/status/1940074471085285528
<h2>8:35 AM</h2>
https://twitter.com/irfgaffar/status/1940070219181113549

The Oilers are clearing cap space for... something. Arvidsson's cap hit of $4 million comes off the books, and they're getting closer to a Boeser-esque number, if that concerns you.
<h2>8:30 AM</h2>
https://twitter.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1940068077867016255

We have another goalie signing, this time in New Jersey where the Devils are giving Jake Allen a shocking five-year deal.

Once again, giving term to a goalie who'll be backing up Jacob Markstrom is an odd call. Markstorm has some injury history to deal with like Demko, and Allen's cap hit is certainly lower. But it still creates a 'no room for error situation' if things don't pan out for the 35 year old in net.
<h2>8:00 AM - Demko and Garland extensions official</h2>
We've got our first big Canucks signings of the day, and they keep a pair of core players in Vancouver.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1940047754782457997

On the surface, re-signing Thatcher Demko makes perfect sense. Demko's been the Canucks' backbone for the last half decade, and the team has fully relied on him on a number of occassions to keep from hitting rock bottom. When he's healthy, he's far and away one of the best goalies in the NHL. But with his injury history, how many games he'll actually play is always going to be a question mark.

It also bears wondering why the team chose to give Kevin Lankinen a five-year contract in February before extending Demko.  It was one thing when it looked like Lankinen would be inheriting the starting role from Demko after this season. Now they have a backup goaltender with a lot of term, which will create a logjam in net that no goalie - not even Arturs Silovs - will be breaking through anytime soon.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1940047785925173354

Conor Garland has been one of the Canucks most productive players of the last half decade, so it's obvious why they'd want to keep him long term. Six years at $6 million AAV might seem like a lot now, but as the salary cap rises it'll look like more and more of a steal.

The Canucks still have major work to do today, but locking up two major pieces for the foreseeable future is a nice start.

Be sure to keep checking back here throughout the day for updates. Also tune into the Daily Faceoff Free Agency Special below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPhu0QsoQ1I

Vancouver Canucks 2025 NHL Free Agency live blog

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