On Friday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal debated which of the Vancouver Canucks’ three UFAs-Brock Boeser, Pius Suter, and Derek Forbort should be re-signed at market value.

Harm raised an important question: Is Boeser, at twice the cap hit, twice as valuable as Suter?

“Boeser is a better player, but I’m not convinced he’s twice as valuable,” said Harm. “I believe Suter can be a high-teens goal scorer consistently — not a 25-goal guy, he’s on a shooting percentage bender right now — but he’s shown a baseline at around the 15-goal mark as his floor. And when you give him an expanded role like he’s had this year, even if his shooting percentage regresses, he could be close to a 20-goal guy on top of strong defensive value and excellent penalty killing, which has been a major asset for this team.

“Even his versatility to not only play centre but top-six wing — let’s not forget last year, Suter was by far the best wing option that JT Miller and Boeser had. When that trio was together, they controlled something ludicrous like 61% of shots and chances, and when any other winger was in that spot, the results were middling. It’s not just that Suter can play centre on your third line, but if you’re in a scenario where your centre situation looks strong, Suter can give you help on the top-six wing as a complementary guy.”

Quads argued that the difficulty of replacing Boeser should be a key consideration, though neither Suter nor Boeser are easily replaced.

“The way I see it is, how are they going to replace each of these guys if they don’t go with signing them?” he asked. “If they didn’t get Dakota Joshua done, it was clear Kiefer Sherwood was Plan B, but they got both done anyway so it was all good.

“If they don’t sign Suter, can they go find another guy like him? I think maybe. Can they find another Brock Boeser? That’s where it starts to get dicey — finding a scoring winger that meshes in well with the dressing room to go find that on the open market. Everyone wants Sam Bennett, and I’d love to see it, but everyone wants him, and a lot of teams are going to bid. I worry a bit when it comes to replacing Boeser — if I had to pick one, I’d still go with Suter, but I give some thought to the Boeser situation.”

Harm acknowledged Boeser’s offensive importance but warned about committing to a long-term deal.

“The difficulty of finding top-six wingers, especially on a team like the Canucks, who even with Boeser in the lineup are desperate for more top-six offensive weapons — that’s concerning. It’s not going to be easy to replace Brock,” Harm said. “But does that mean the Canucks should sign a contract that probably isn’t going to age well?

“I don’t love the idea of, in a post-JT Miller world, when you don’t know what centre Boeser has definite chemistry with, giving him eight million over seven years. It feels like the kind of contract that’s going to bite you in the ass.”

Harm also emphasized that Suter’s skillset isn’t easy to replicate.

“For Suter, I don’t think it’s going to be easy to replace his skillset,” he said. “You’re not going to find a guy who can give you 20 goals, can play centre and wing in your top nine, is a first-unit PK guy for $2 million. Good luck. I know they got lucky finding Suter initially, and I’m not convinced they’ll be able to find a player who can give you 80-90 percent of Suter’s value at half the cost.”