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Vancouver Canucks 2026 NHL free agency live blog
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Lachlan Irvine
Jul 1, 2026, 11:45 EDTUpdated: Jul 1, 2026, 19:12 EDT
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Happy Canada Day, Canucks fans! And welcome to CanucksArmy’s 2026 Free Agency live blog.
The Vancouver Canucks are entering a brand new chapter in franchise history. They have new co-presidents in Daniel and Henrik Sedin, a new GM in Ryan Johnson and a new head coach in Manny Malhotra. After finishing dead last in the NHL in 2025-26, the Canucks arrive at free agency to roster spots on a rebuilding team to fill and approximately $22 million in cap space to work with, according to CapWages.
The Canucks’ new look front office has already been busy. On Monday they dealt Nils Höglander to the Nashville Predators for a third round pick in 2029, and added Vancouver native Brendan Gallagher from the Canadiens for future considerations, after the veteran winger spent the last 14 season in La Belle Province.
With a rebuild in full swing, the Canucks certainly won’t be big game hunting on this July 1. The priorities for this front office will be filling out the depth chart with cheap vets and young players whose best days are still ahead of them, so don’t expect the likes of Anders Lee, Mason Marchment or Rasmus Andersson to find their names in the Canucks’ rumour mill. And with Teddy Blueger also testing the open market, Vancouver has a middle-six spot open for the second year in a row.
Who will the Canucks new management prioritize in their first year on the job? Who will be brought in to mentor the youth like Zeev Buium, Tom Willander and Braeden Cootes? And which current Canucks might find themselves on the trade wire? We’ll find out as the last major day of the 2025-26 NHL calendar begins.
Make sure to keep this tab open and refreshed throughout the day as rumours hit the internet and the biggest signings of the day make their way through NHL Central Registry!

4:00

We have one more signing coming in!
The Canucks are replacing Marcus Pettersson with two years of Jamie Oleksiak at a cost of $5 million per year, and why not? $5 million in a rising cap isn’t much for a qualified depth defender, and he’ll help insulate some of the younger blue liners by eating the on-ice minutes M-Petey and Tyler Myers once took.

2:30

Wow. A huge return for the Canucks, even if 2030 is a ways away. Marcus Pettersson will certainly help the Rangers, but that cost is much higher than I ever thought the Canucks could get. Ryan Johnson is cooking early in his tenure.

2:00

We’ve hit 2 p.m. and most of the biggest signings have already been made, but we’re still waiting on a trade or two. Feel free to keep this page open as we wait to find out what the return on the Marcus Pettersson deal will be, and if the Canucks (or any team) does any more big business today, we will be updating the page throughout the day. Thanks for following along!

1:45

The Sharks went from absolutely crushing the draft to damn near bungling signing season. Between taking on Darnell Nurse’s FULL contract and signing Jacob Trouba for over $8 million a year, this is some galaxy brain choices by the Sharks’ front office.

1:30

This a big loss in the character department, and I’m not just talking about his height. The Canucks lose their one enforcer-type player on the roster, and that’s a hole they’ll want to fill for next year.

1:05

We’ve got something coming.
A Pettersson trade, but maybe not the one you expected. Let’s see what the price was.

1:00

A slightly baffling choice by the Sharks to take on Darnell Nurse’s full contract. We’ll see what the return ends up being.
Elliotte Friedman
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC
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This is how things appear to be unfolding: Nurse to SJ Shakir Mukhamadullin will be part the return There will be no retention by the Oilers We await the final picture

Elliotte Friedman
Elliotte Friedman
@FriedgeHNIC

There is word this afternoon Darnell Nurse has agreed to expand his list of teams he will accept a trade to. San Jose is one to watch. We will see where it goes.

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12:00

We have another few more former Canucks on the move.
Andrei Kuzmenko has put together a tidy little NHL career, and now he gets to play with Sidney Crosby. Good for Kuz.
This one is baffling. Vinny Desharnais is a fine, cheap depth defenseman, but for $4.2 million per season?! I don’t know about that one.

11:50

The Canucks to Leafs pipeline is getting longer, with Teddy Blueger joining Dakota Joshua and Troy Stecher in Toronto.

11:40

The Canucks take another flier on an AHLer Trey Fix-Wolansky (a terrific name, by the way). Fix-Wolansky scored 55 points for the Hartford Wolf Pack in 72 games and will provide more depth for the Abbotsford system that lost all their veteran scorers last year.
The Oilers are still trying to solve their goalie problems. Devon Levi is certainly an attempt at that.

11:30

Akil Thomas is a solid bet by the Canucks as someone who could play depth minutes in the NHL or take a bigger role in the AHL with Abbotsford. Thomas had 21 AHL points split between the Ontario Reign and Springfield Thunderbirds, but hasn’t played an NHL game since 2024-25 when he skated in 25 with the LA Kings. The opportunities here will be much better.

11:00

Sergei Bobrovsky is off to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 38-year-old goalie is coming off a run in Florida where he won two Stanley Cups, but was replaced with Jacob Markstrom via trade yesterday. The Leafs have potentially solved their goalie issues a few years too late, but maybe he’ll find some magic in Toronto again.

10:55

A big add to the Sharks’ blue line, both literally and metaphorically. The Sharks know their window of competing on Macklin Celebrini’s ELC is limited, so they’re getting as many veterans as they can. The price… is ridiculous.

10:30

Canucks Nation, Dad’s home.
Luke Schenn is back on his third tour of duty with the Canucks, on a cheap deal to provide veteran help for the blue line. Schenn is a fan favourite and a great locker room presence for a team that’s going be dealing with a lot of growing pains next season. Good to have him back.

10:20

We have a Canucks signing!
Cotter is coming off a down year with the Devils, managing just 15 points in 79 games in New Jersey. He’s certainly not going to be a game breaker, but he’ll get more puck touches here and could be a candidate for moving at the trade deadline if he performs well. I like this signing for the Canucks overall.

10:15

Farewell, Klimo. We hardly knew you.

10:10

Normally you don’t see many trades on July 1, but this sure seems like some Hellebuyck trade-proofing by the Jets.

10:00

A couple former Canucks are off to greener pastures.
Term on that contract for Juulsen is two years at a $1.1 million AAV. Someone got the Rick Tocchet boost.
Ilya Mikheyev isn’t the same player he was before he tore his Achilles with the Canucks, but the Bolts clearly think he still has gas in the tank.
We got a big signing out of Vegas as well.
Rasmus Andersson hasn’t entirely lived up to his potential since his trade to the Knights from Calgary, and he struggled during their run to the Final. But the Knights are banking VERY heavily on that being a blip on the radar.

9:45

One of the Canucks biggest targets is off the table. And for HOW MUCH?!
The Hawks are certainly paying a premium to find anybody who wants to fix their team, because nearly $5 million is a LOT for one season of Ian Cole. The Canucks apparently made him an offer according to Rick Dhaliwal, but he chose Chicago.

9:30

One of the biggest free agents is off the board and heading back to the Pacific Division.
The Sharks are just rounding into form, and Marchment gives them a veteran for their middle six to go along with the incredible youthful core they’ve built.
Meanwhile, Marchment’s former team just keeps making baffling decisions.
Bridging a player like Mackie Samoskevich makes little to no sense when the Kraken are having this much trouble assembling a competitive roster. You have to assume this will only cost them in the long run if Samoskevich outplays his deal. They would’ve been better off just locking him in with term right now.

9:20

A couple of Emily Kaplan reports to keep an eye on!
The Kings and Wings are teams that need any and all short term help,

9:00: Market’s open!

The free agent market has officially opened for business, so UFAs are eligible to sign anywhere they want. But the biggest deal so far is the player staying with their own team.
See that eight-year term? Demidov’s contract will be one of the last ones with that number, as the max term for returning players drops to seven years. Getting Demidov signed long term was an important step for the Habs with their Cup contention window just opening. Their next step will be finding the outside pieces required to compete with the Hurricanes and teams like them.

8:30: Trades take the early lead

We already have some moves being made, as the Stars make the room required for a Jason Robertson extension.
Be sure to tune into the Daily Faceoff Free Agency Special as well! Breaking news, instant analysis, and much more all day long!
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