The on-ice portion of the Vancouver Canucks development camp kicks off on Monday, once again at Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island.
The team conducted a couple of days of dry-land training and activities before the boys hopped on the ferry this morning.
Friday was fitness testing:
On Saturday, it was team-building exercises:
The on-ice practice sessions at Shawnigan Lake are free and open to the public.
Click here for the complete schedule, which starts with workouts on Monday and Tuesday from 9:15 a.m. till noon.
Click here for the full roster, which includes 10 defensemen, 19 forwards and four goaltenders.
The most high-profile names at camp this year include goaltender Thatcher Demko, who starts his pro career this fall, 2015 first-rounder Brock Boeser, who returns to North Dakota for another season after winning the NCAA championship and this year's No. 5 pick, World Junior gold medalist and Memorial Cup champion Olli Juolevi.
The Canucks' two other college free-agent signings, defenseman Troy Stecher and goalie Michael Garteig, are actually both making their second appearances at the Canucks' development camp. Both were also participants in 2014, while they were in school.
Big Mackenze Stewart, who's listed as a defenseman, and little Curtis Valk, who's now officially a free agent after an injury-plagued season split between Utica and the ECHL Kalamazoo Wings, are each attending their third development camp—as is Demko.
In addition to Juolevi, all five of the Canucks' other 2016 draft picks will also be in attendance: William Lockwood, Cole Candella, Jakob Stukel, Rodrigo Abols and Brett McKenzie.
In addition to Boeser, the Canucks' other six picks from the 2015 draft class are also on hand: defensemen Guillaume Brisbois, Carl Neill and Tate Olson and forwards Dmitry Zhukenov, Adam Gaudette and Lukas Jasek.
The only players from the 2014 draft class are Demko and Stewart. Jake Virtanen and Nikita Tryamkin are now pros and Jared McCann and Gustav Forsling have been traded. Only Kyle Pettit is off the pro radar. The big Erie Otters center, selected in the sixth round, was not signed by the Canucks before last month's deadline and was not selected by another team in the 2016 draft, so he is now a free agent.
I'll look more closely at some of the less well-known players as the week goes on.
Free-Agent Watch Continues
Saturday was a quiet day on the free-agent front around the league, with only a few signings. Jason Demers was the biggest name to land when he signed a five-year contract with a cap hit of $4.5 million with the Florida Panthers.
The other interesting Canucks-related news out of Florida was their acquisition of free-agent goaltender James Reimer on Friday—on a five-year deal with a cap hit of $3.4 million. The Panthers also traded for Reto Berra on June 27, giving them three NHL-level goalies.
Early word is that this is an insurance policy for the Panthers, as Roberto Luongo quietly had hip surgery at the end of his season.
At 37, Luongo is currently the oldest active goalie in the NHL. He has six years remaining on that contract he signed in Vancouver—the one that could trigger big cap-recapture penalties if he retires, but wouldn't hurt Vancouver badly at all if he became another player to slide onto the career-ending long-term injured reserve list, following in the footsteps of players like Chris Pronger and Mattias Ohlund.
For the most part, Luongo has been extremely durable in his career, but it usually gets tougher for players to come back from injuries and surgeries as they get older. Maybe Roberto is drinking some of Jaromir Jagr's anti-aging potion. It'll be interesting to see how he comes back from this surgery, and whether the net in Florida turns into a 1A/1B situation like we saw with Luongo and Schneider...and Eddie Lack...here in Vancouver.
The signing also sets up an interesting expansion draft situation in Florida. The Panthers will only be able to protect one of Reimer or Luongo—and Luongo has only a no-trade clause, not the no-move that would make it a requirement that he's protected. I imagine the Panthers will see how this season unfolds before making what promises to be an intriguing decision.
Back to the Canucks: currently,
General Fanager shows the team with 22 NHL players signed for next season, at a cap hit of $68.8 million. That leaves a $4.2 million cushion, with Andrey Pedan as the only NHL-level RFA left to be signed.
The NHL roster, as it stands, does not include Philip Larsen—who is pencilled in as the Canucks' new power-play quarterback—or Anton Rodin, who is also expected to slot into the big club. Or new acquisition Jayson Megna, who's on a one-way deal.
Of the 2015-16 Canucks who became UFAs, so far Dan Hamhuis and Adam Cracknell (both Dallas) and Yannick Weber (Nashville) have found new homes. Utica Defenseman Taylor Fedun also signed a two-way deal with Buffalo, Alex Friesen signed with St. Louis and goaltender Joe Cannata inked a deal with Wasington. That leaves Radim Vrbata, Chris Higgins, Brandon Prust, Linden Vey, Matt Bartkowski, Ronalds Kenins and Blair Jones all still on the market for the time being.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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