A few Canucks RFAs did not receive qualifying offers:
• Joseph Cramarossa
• Mike Zalewski
• Michael Garteig
Those three players all now become unrestricted free agents—free to sign with any team.
Other big names around the league who were not qualified included former first-overall draft pick Nail Yakupov, Colorado Avalanche former first-rounder Mikhail Grigorenko and Calgary Flames winger Alex Chiasson.
Brett Connolly wan't qualified by Washington, but signed a new deal with the team on Monday. I presume this strategy has something to do with arbitration rights, because he went from $850,000 in 2016-17 to a new two-year deal at $1.5 million per season.
The other big news from Monday was Dallas acquiring defenseman Marc Methot from Vegas in exchange for a second-round draft pick and goalie prospect Dylan Ferguson, who was selected in the seventh round at the draft last weekend. That's a pretty reasonable price point for the Stars to get that top-four defenseman they've been looking for. That, plus Dallas' announcement that Antti Niemi is being bought out, officially squelches any possibility that the Canucks would make a deal where Chris Tanev would go to the Stars and Vancouver would take one of Dallas' goalie contracts back in return, along with a quality asset.
Also on the topic of Canucks defensemen:
Look for #Vegas@GoldenKnights to continue to push to move Alexei Emelin and Luca Sbisa. The other 8/9 D on roster are likely to stay.
LeBrun's tweets explain that any player traded before the expansion draft cannot be traded back to his old team before January 1. But players claimed in the expansion draft itself can be reacquired, as long as the league is satisfied that there wasn't some kind of pre-existing deal that was designed to circumvent the rules of the expansion draft.
That's why we heard lots of talk about Ottawa trying to re-acquire Marc Methot on Monday, before the deal was completed with Dallas.
As focused as the Canucks are these days about keeping their picks, I don't imagine that Jim Benning would trade to get Sbisa back when there are plenty of UFA defensemen on the market. If Sbisa ends up on waivers, though, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him return.
There was some talk on Monday that Yakupov would be interested in joining Vancouver but Rick Dhaliwal is reporting that as of Tuesday morning, the Canucks had not made any contact with his agent Igor Larionov.
However...speaking of ex-Oilers...
Been told for the 2nd straight summer, the #Canucks are expressing interest in Sam Gagner.
Gagner had a career high 50 points last season with Columbus, where he was deployed almost exclusively as a power-play specialist. He'll definitely be in line for a raise from the $650,000 'prove it' contract that he signed last year.
Another quick note from Monday—British Columbia will have two representatives in this year's Hockey Hall of Fame class! Congrats to North Vancouver's Paul Kariya and to Mark Recchi of Kamloops. They'll be inducted along with Teemu Selanne, Dave Andreychuk, Daniel Goyette and, in the builder category, coach Clare Drake and Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs.
Now, here's my next draft profile:
Pick 95 - Jack Rathbone - D - 5'10" 172 pounds - Born June 9, 1999, West Roxbury, MA
The Canucks' fourth-round pick this year is a defenseman from the Boston area who played high school hockey last season at Dexter School in Brookline, Massachusetts—where John F. Kennedy went to school.
With a late birthday, he has one more year of high school remaining, then plans to attend Harvard starting in the fall of 2018. He's sticking close to home so he can spend another year with his autistic younger brother.
Good luck Jack, a Van pick: West Roxbury NHL prospect Jack Rathbone has priorities in right place | Boston Herald https://t.co/bjJVRikP9q
This article runs down his on-ice skillset as well:
His coach at Dexter, Dan Donato, believes that if Rathbone was 6-foot-2 instead of 5-foot-10, there would be little doubt that he’d be a first-rounder, his puck-moving and skating skills are that good. Still, regardless of size, it’s a skill set that’s in high demand these days in the evolving NHL.
Bob McKenzie had Rathbone ranked 78th on his list. He was listed at No. 57 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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