Forget finding the next Dakota Joshua.

How about finding the next Pius Suter?

Like most teams around the National Hockey League, the Vancouver Canucks made the majority of their offseason signings when free agency opened on July 1st.

But where the Canucks differ from some teams is that they’ve left themselves some cap space to play with. Now, they could do any number of things with that cap space, and most of it revolves around Tucker Poolman’s $2.5 cap hit. For an in-depth look at the Canucks’ current salary cap picture, click here.

As the lede suggests, today, we’re going to be exploring one particular avenue the Canucks could explore with their remaining cap space: another late free agency signing, a la Pius Suter.

Last week, our own Stephan Roget examined options out there to address the Canucks’ “one remaining need”: a puck-moving depth defenceman. His findings were that beyond Oliver Kylington, who comes with some major question marks and an apparent desire to sign a deal with term, the pickings are quite slim. Names like Tyson Barrie, John Klingberg, Alex Goligoski, and Ryan Suter found their way onto that list, and to be frank, none of those names really intrigue this author unless they’re coming in on a professional tryout contract. And of course, we’re too far out from training camp to be looking at PTO candidates.

Let’s establish what we’re looking for when trying to find the next Pius Suter — i.e. the next great later in free agency signing.

We’re looking for a player who, like Suter, likely thought there would be more interest in their services on July 1st. Their ask was likely a bit higher than teams were willing to go, and at some point, they realized that if they wanted to play the upcoming season, they were going to have to take one of the offers given to them. In particular, to join a situation where they’d be able to create some value for themselves and hopefully cash in the next time they hit free agency.

We’ve only been through one of the two years on Pius Suter’s contract with the Canucks, but it’s safe to say that playing the wing in a contending team’s top six and doing it sufficiently plus showing you can play centre as well would mean that Suter will be in line for a noticeable raise when he hits free agency next summer. Mission accomplished for Suter on that one, and because of the value deal the Canucks signed him to, mission accomplished for Vancouver as well.

Is there a Suter-like signing out there for the Canucks to make at this juncture? Let’s dive in.

Daniel Sprong – RW

The first name that stands out when you look at free agents still on the board is without a doubt Daniel Sprong. The 27-year-old is a former Penguin, meaning he should probably the favourite on this list for the Canucks to sign.

Sprong scored 18 goals with the Detroit Red Wings last season, adding 25 assists in 76 games played. The season before that, however, was a career year for Sprong, as he tallied 21 goals and 25 assists through 66 games with the Seattle Kraken.

That career year and decent scoring likely leave Sprong looking for a “show-me” deal, and he could certainly build his value out in Vancouver. That being said, the Canucks’ forward group looks pretty full at this juncture, so it would have to be quite the discount — think Nate Schmidt at $800,000 in Florida for the sole purpose of rebuilding his value — for the Canucks to extend an offer to Sprong.

Dominik Kubalik – LW

Not a former Penguin, but a former 20 goal scorer. In fact, if you go back to his first season in North American pro hockey with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019-20, you’ll see that Dominik Kubalik has scored 30 goals in the NHL before.

At 28 years old and still unsigned, that goal scoring upside alone should make him an intriguing high-value add for the Canucks, who hope to generate more offence next season. The Czech winger is in desperate need of a fresh start, as he put up just 11 goals and four assists through 74 games with the eternally rebuilding Ottawa Senators last season.

The Canucks’ forward corps looks relatively set, but as we know, nothing is set in stone in the NHL, and if Kubalik is signed as a depth addition, he could flourish in Vancouver.

Oliver Kylington – LD

Oliver Kylington appeared in just 33 games with the Calgary Flames last season, and didn’t appear in a single game the season before that. Kylington left the team due to “personal reasons” and later opened up about his mental health struggles.

Nonetheless, Kylington and the Flames couldn’t come to an agreement on a contract, as it was reported Kylington and his camp were looking for term on a deal the retooling Flames simply weren’t willing to sign. Now a free agent, Kylington is the top remaining defensive free agent.

His price tag would likely be too rich for the Canucks, but if it continues to drop and Kylington turns his attention to showing the league what kind of player he can be, a low-risk — for the team, that is — contract with the Canucks could make sense for both sides.

Honourable mentions: Jakob Silfverberg (F), Calen Addison (D), Alex Nylander (F)

Given the options above, it may very well be more impactful for the 2024-25 Canucks to accrue cap space ahead of the trade deadline — something you can’t do if you’re “above” the cap thanks to LTIR money — as opposed to opening the year in LTIR with one of these players.

That being said, cap-clearing moves can happen in an instant (especially with this management regime in charge), so adding one of these players late doesn’t necessarily have to mean the Canucks punt on the idea of accruing cap space.

At the end of the day, looking for the next Pius Suter is a complicated task, and it might be one that the Canucks don’t complete until late August. It might even be one that the club simply decides isn’t worth their while given the options currently out there.

Who do you think might have the potential to be the next Pius Suter for the Canucks?