Ideally, the Vancouver Canucks will re-sign Elias Lindholm to remain their third-line center. Unfortunately, it’s looking more and more likely he will price himself out of Vancouver and sign a lucrative long-term deal with another team in free agency. If that happens, general manager Patrik Allvin will find himself in a familiar spot entering the offseason, looking for a third pivot to set up shop behind JT Miller and Elias Pettersson. With that said, there are a couple of solid secondary options that might do what Lindholm did for almost half the cost.
Chandler Stephenson
Arguably the best option between these two names is Vegas Golden Knights Swiss Army knife Chandler Stephenson. Ever since he signed his four-year contract in 2020, he’s been the most budget-friendly forward in the NHL – especially when you look at his stat line of 67 goals and 251 points in 286 games. For that production, he was only getting paid an average annual value (AAV) of $2.75 million. He will almost surely get a massive raise on that number in free agency, but I don’t anticipate the $9 million AAV Lindholm is apparently commanding.
Related: 4 Defencemen the Canucks Should Target in Free Agency
Before Jack Eichel was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in 2021, Stephenson was often the Golden Knights’ top-line center playing with the likes of Mark Stone, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson. Throughout his time in Sin City, he has never dropped below 14 goals and has three 50-plus point seasons under his belt. His faceoff percentage is also quite impressive, averaging a 52.7 percent success rate – topping out at 58.1 percent last season when he had a career-high 65 points. That’s something the Canucks will be looking for to replace Lindholm on both the power play and penalty kill as he was dynamite in the circle clicking at 58.7 percent.
Stephenson has shown that he can play with high-end players, so he could also be an option to play alongside Pettersson when head coach Rick Tocchet wants to change things up. He also fits what Allvin has said he will be looking to add in free agency – speed.
Basically, Stephenson is the perfect replacement for Lindholm, and should cost way less to sign. According to AFPAnalytics, he’s set to earn $5.632 million AAV on a five-year deal, which falls well below the $7 million AAV that the Canucks were prepared to offer Lindholm.
Sean Monahan
For a man who looked like his career was taking a turn for the worse in…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Hockey Writers…