Vancouver Canucks' top two free agents targets have been revealed

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Cooper Godin
June 28, 2024 (10:50)

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An insider has shared the Canucks' top two free agent targets with the window set to open on Monday afternoon.

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin has been hands down the busiest man in hockey over the last couple of weeks. Since June 19th, Allvin has signed Filip Hronek, Mark Friedman, Linus Karlsson, Cole McWard, Dakota Joshua and Tyler Myers.

He also managed to find a trade partner for Ilya Mikheyev - the Chicago Blackhawks, without having to retain too much salary over the next couple of seasons. Allvin also sent the signing rights to Sam Lafferty and a 2027 second round pick to Chicago in the deal.

Now that Allvin has got the majority of his in-house work done, he can turn his attention to the free agent market, which will open in less than 72 hours.

On Thursday, Rick Dhaliwal from Donnie & Dhali and TSN's Darren Dreger both shared that forward Jake Guentzel and defenceman Chris Tanev are targets for the Vancouver Canucks in free agency. Dhaliwal took it a step further saying that Guentzel and Tanev are 1-2 on Vancouver's list of who they'd like to add.

"Chris Tanev is still very much on the Vancouver radar if he hits July 1st.

Guentzel and Tanev 1-2 on Canucks list" Dhaliwal said.

"Lebrun reporting Canes made Guentzel new offer today that he's thinking about.

Dreger also linking both Guentzel and Tanev to Canucks as options.

(Insider Trading)"

Tanev, 34, spent the first ten seasons of his NHL career in Vancouver before signing with Calgary as a free agent in 2019. This past season, he was dealt from Calgary to the Dallas Stars, helping the latter reach the Western Conference Final.

In 75 games between the Flames and Stars, Tanev had 19 points (two goals, 17 assists), 24 penalty minutes and was a plus-22. He went on to add two assists in 19 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

As for Jake Guentzel, he's someone the Canucks have had their eye on dating back to before the trade deadline in early March. In 67 games this season with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes, the Omaha, Nebraska native had 77 points (30 goals, 47 assists), 22 penalty minutes and was a plus-25. He added nine points in 11 playoff contests.

With the free agent market opening in a matter of days, it's going to be interesting to watch Patrik Allvin and see what he's able to get done in order to improve the roster for the 2024-25 campaign.