Tuesday: Bob McKenzie of TSN tweets that the two sides are on track to complete the deal this week, explaining it will be a multi-year contract. McKenzie speculates that the deal will be around three years and $4MM per season, though the exact numbers are still being hammered out.
Monday: Though there has been trade speculation swirling around Vancouver Canucks defenseman Erik Gudbranson for much of the season, GM Jim Benning has also been clear that he would explore an extension with the pending unrestricted free agent. Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 now reports that those negotiations are going well, stating that they are “getting closer” to signing an extension.
The 26-year old is scheduled to be one of the youngest players on the open market this summer, but has several questions surrounding his game moving forward. While the league continues to get smaller, faster and more skilled, Gudbranson remains as a throwback of sorts to a more physical brand of hockey. The defensive defenseman has just 53 points in 380 career NHL games, but is a force on the ice and is a key penalty killer for the Canucks.
With rumors surrounding Chris Tanev’s future in Vancouver, the Canucks could be looking for Gudbranson to stay on as that defensive presence. Even if Tanev isn’t traded, the team is clearly happy with the contribution Gudbranson can make, and don’t want to just give him away at the deadline.
Rumor on the Radio (TSN 1040) in Vancouver is 4x4mil
WTF are they thinking? This is a bottom pairing, slow skating, offensively limited, injury prone (2 major ones, last 2 years), pylon
How do you really feel?
Angry that the Canucks might sign the guy
Wouldn’t be too bad of a deal at 4 x 4 mil. considering he apparently turned down 4 x 4.5 mil before being traded to the Nucks.. The Nucks really need a physical presence on D, someone to clear the front of the net, and make smart defensive plays. All those things Gudbranson brings to the table when he is healthy and not dealing with back issues. He’s not going to bring much offensively, or get much (if any) PP time. I thought he played well last game with Edler. The Hutton/Gudbranson experiment just hasn’t worked out for the team IMO.
He doesn’t clear the front of the net. Hardly anyone does these days. He’s more often out of position instead of pushing guys around.
Hutton has been even worse than him. Pairing them together has been a disaster.
He’s absolute junk. No defending this, just stop.