The lack of game-breaking talent and depth in unrestricted free agency did little to dent the silliness and excitement that surrounded the NHL’s annual July 1 frenzy.While the total spent on the open market declined in comparison with last year, the shift in the marketplace, the volume of trades, the creative, predatory offer sheets, and the drama that surrounded any number of star players angling for trades still made for a fascinating day.This is a day on the hockey calendar famous for tectonic mistakes, and Wednesday was no different.For the Canucks, however, it was an unusual day; July 1 this year was defined more by discipline, creativity and a coherent sense of long-term planning priorities.Vancouver was still active. The club signed three NHL player contracts and a pair of two-way deals, totalling about $15 million in commitments, and executed a trade with the New York Rangers. By Canucks standards, however, this year felt restrained and thoughtful in a very refreshing way.As we think through the news and analyze what it all means, we wanted to pick out some Canucks winners and losers based on what we’ve seen so far.Ryan JohnsonRyan Johnson had made a positive impression on fans with his public commentary since taking over as general manager in late May, but until this past week, all we really had to go off were words and intentions.Between the draft, the Brendan Gallagher trade and a series of signings and one genuinely creative trade on July 1, those words were made tangible as Johnson began to put his stamp on this rebuild.Perhaps most importantly for Johnson, his moves and actions matched his previous commentary.Johnson promised patience, and he delivered with a trade that acquired a draft pick four drafts from now (and it could convey five NHL Draft classes from now).Johnson promised that his version of the Canucks would be composed of high-character individuals, and he went about bringing in the likes of noted good dudes like Gallagher, Jamie Oleksiak and Luke Schenn.And Johnson promised that while the Canucks wouldn’t necessarily be all in to win in the short-term, they’d attempt to make sure that the environment prevented the young developing players in the organization from getting “kicked in the teeth.” And then Johnson went about making sure that even as he subtracted from the roster — trading Nils Höglander to Nashville, and Marcus Pettersson to New York — he brought in credible, roughly comparable veterans in their stead, while pocketing future value in the process.From a standing start, Johnson ran the gauntlet of his first silly season as Canucks GM, and largely delivered coherently on a series of transactions that matched both his stated vision for the franchise and a reasonable path forward into this rebuilding era.Luke SchennSchenn makes his offseason home in British Columbia and has been repatriated — for a third tour of duty — by the Canucks.The deal Schenn inked with Vancouver on Wednesday is, astoundingly, the eighth one-way contract of his career. And as impressively, after a five-year stretch in which Schenn earned less than $1 million per season and hung around the NHL as a depth contributor, this deal will mark the fourth year in a row in which Schenn has earned $2 million or more.To attain this level of longevity in the NHL is a stunning accomplishment. It speaks both to Schenn’s status as an absolute unit as an athlete, but also to his quality as a human being.You don’t hang around the league for this long and be this consistently in-demand as a non-star player if you’re not the type of person that teams want around. You like to see good people do well in any walk of life, and Schenn emerges from free agency as a major winner.Marcus PetterssonObviously, it didn’t work out for Pettersson in Vancouver; the trade that brought him to Canada’s West Coast was a poor one for the franchise, and his Canucks tenure wasn’t a long one.Pettersson, however, couldn’t have carried himself with a greater level of competitive integrity and class. Even on his way out, as Johnson made sure to explain, there was no sense that he lacked patience for this Vancouver rebuilding project.“He was very on board with what we were going to do,” Johnson told the media on Wednesday, when asked if the Pettersson trade was at all motivated by how the player himself felt about the club’s direction. “The process and the impact that he could have on some younger players of being a part of this and the changing of the environment. So that was a discussion that needed to be had, but at the end of the day, I think for a player like Marcus, the team obviously desiring him. He’s got a chance to go win and win now. I think it’s a win for us but also for him and his career and where he’s at too.”Pettersson will now join a Rangers team that isn’t especially imposing, but is coached by Mike Sullivan, for whom Pettersson spent years logging big minutes in Pittsburgh, in a world-class city and on a team that will at least be trying to compete for a playoff spot.