Are the Vancouver Canucks Saying Goodbye to These Top RFA's This Offseason Or Will They Pay What They Deserve

The restricted free agent market is going to be interesting to monitor heading into the summer, with many believing that we could see an offer sheet or two, following the St. Louis Blues successfully landing Phillip Broberg and Dylan Holloway that way last year.

While the Vancouver Canucks likely won't have to worry about any of their restricted free agents being the target of an offer sheet by another NHL franchise, Patrik Allvin is going to be busy trying to get them locked up to contracts for the 2025-26 season.

Ahead of the opening of the National Hockey League's free agent window in just 16 days, AFP Analytics has released their contract projections for every single player that's set to become either an unrestricted or restricted free agent this summer.

Among the players they released projections for are four members of the Vancouver Canucks organization who will become restricted free agents on July 1st - Aatu Raty, Max Sasson, Arshdeep Bains and NIkita Tolopilo.

Aatu Raty has had a tough Calder Cup Playoffs to this point and hasn't played since Game 2 of their Western Conference Final series against the Dallas Stars.

Despite that, Raty had a really strong regular season in the AHL, for a second consecutive year, along with a good showing in the NHL, appearing in 33 games for Vancouver where he had 11 points.

Raty will more than likely be pushing for an opening night roster spot in training camp in three month and according to AFP Analytics, he's in line for a one-year contract worth $1.04 million USD.

Max Sasson and Arshdeep Bains are two players who will also become RFAs in under three weeks and suited up for games in the National Hockey League this season, with the former registering seven points in 29 games, while the latter had one goal in 13 contests.

AFP Analytics projects that Max Sasson and Arshdeep Bains will both get one-year deals with the Vancouver Canucks with AAVs of $950,000 and $810,000, respectively.

Finally, that brings us to goaltender Nikita Tolopilo, who hasn't seen much action since the end of the regular season thanks to the strong play of Arturs Silovs in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Tolopilo has a good chance at landing the starting role with the Abbotsford Canucks next season, if, and it's a big if, Patrik Allvin trades either Thatcher Demko or Arturs Silovs this summer, the latter of which might land them a better return according to former goaltender John Garrett.

The Minsk, Belarus native is projected to get a one-year contract from the Vancouver Canucks worth $910,000 USD, which would be a drop of $40,000 compared to his salary from the last two seasons.

Given that the Vancouver Canucks will submit qualifying offers to all four of these pending RFAs, Patrik Allvin and the management group don't need to be in a rush to get these guys signed by July 1st, allowing them to focus their efforts on landing a second line centerman and potentially even a top-six winger.