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Hamhuis, Vrbata will not sign extensions this summer

Columbus Blue Jackets v Vancouver Canucks

Columbus Blue Jackets v Vancouver Canucks

Jeff Vinnick

With many predicting the Vancouver Canucks will be hard-pressed to get back to the playoffs next season, will defenseman Dan Hamhuis and winger Radim Vrbata be up for grabs at the 2016 trade deadline?

As of today, it’s certainly possible. GM Jim Benning has confirmed that both veterans -- the former a 2014 Olympic gold-medal winner with Team Canada, the latter an NHL all-star last year -- will enter next season as pending unrestricted free agents.

“We’re going to go into the season and see how it goes,” Benning said, per The Province. “We’ve touched base with their agents a little, but we’ll see how it plays out.”

The Canucks have other pending UFAs -- Yannick Weber, Brandon Prust, and Matt Bartkowski -- that could fetch them draft picks or prospects at the deadline. Alex Burrows, Chris Higgins, Jannik Hansen, and Nick Bonino could all theoretically be moved too. Such is the outlook in Vancouver that some are wondering if the Sedins should be traded.

As Benning said, it will all depend on “how it plays out.”