MAJOR | Canucks to lose top prospect: Refusing to sign to hit free agency

When drafting out of the American College, NHL teams gain a more extended period to get their prospects under contract. Conversely, it allows them to outwait that period and head right onto free agency. Some players, such as Adam Fox, could bully their way into a team they liked; others, such as Will Butcher and Jimmy Vesey, went straight to free agency despite being high draft picks. Now, the Canucks may be facing the same situation.

CANUCKS PROSPECT REFUSES TO SIGN: HEADED TO FREE AGENCY

On Hartford and Brough earlier, Rick Dhaliwal dropped a worrying statement regarding the Canucks 5th Round Draft Selection from the 2020 draft, Jacob Truscott. Ever since the Canucks drafted him, Truscott's stock has only risen to the point where he was named captain of one of the best programs in all of collegiate hockey, the University of Michigan.

According to Dhaliwal's report, Truscott would have informed the team that he wouldn't be signing and would be testing the market:




Truscott, 21, is 6'01'' and 185 pounds, a left-handed shot defenceman. Viewed as a defenceman who excels on all 200 feet of the ice, the lack of opportunity in Vancouver is probably what's pushing him to test the market. The Canucks currently have a lot of left-handed shot defencemen.

One thing might play in the Canucks' favour if his stock is as good as they say. Truscott could be used as a trade bait as we get closer to the deadline.