Free Agency Starts, Canucks Go Golfing

The Vancouver Canucks have some strange aversion to free agency. Over the last decade, when July 1 has rolled around, they’ve usually ignored the big targets and signed stick boys for $27.50 and a box of TimBits. There used to be budgetary reasons for their inaction, but that’s far less justifiable in a salary-capped league.

James Mirtle has been doing yeoman’s work detailing what the other 29 clubs have been up to over on the Globe and Mail’s hockey blog, and here’s a big list on TSN’s site.

Happily, the teams in the Canucks’ division haven’t been particularly active. Yes, the Avalance got Ryan Smyth (he’s going to get a merry reception when he plays four times in Edmonton, eh?), but that’s about it. The Flames acquired Owen Nolan, but how much does he have left in the tank? There’s no news from the Oilers and the Wild yet.

Canucks GM has been very savvy since his promotion, so I trust that he’s working on something. The team obviously needs two more twenty-goal scorers, and I don’t seem them in the farm system.