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Guillaume Brisebois

Snapshots: Calgary Event Centre, Marlies, Canucks

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The new arena development in Calgary has hit a snag, as Tom Ross of 660 News reports. Kate Thompson, CEO of the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation released a statement about budget issues:

At this early stage in the project, there is a difference in the current budget estimate and the program requirements for the facility. Given the significance and importance of the project, the parties have jointly agreed to pause the project team to allow time to resolve these challenges. The decision to take this pause is the responsible and prudent approach to ensure we find the best solutions to move the project forward successfully, without incurring any additional costs on the project while these discussions progress.

Construction on the new arena development was expected to begin in August after the city of Calgary and the Flames agreed to split the cost in 2019. Ross reports it was due to open in 2024, but does not speculate on what kind of delay this pause will cause. Eric Francis of Sportsnet offers some clarification from a source who says “the arena isn’t in jeopardy.” The Flames have been playing in the Saddledome (currently the Scotiabank Saddledome) since 1983.

  • The Toronto Marlies have shut down their operations for the time being and three games have been postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. Matches on April 15, 18 and 21 have been postponed, though no make-up dates have been determined at this point. The Marlies are 10-11-1 through the first 22 games of the season and have lost their last three. It is not yet clear if the entire minor league roster will be unavailable for call-up to the Toronto Maple Leafs—as was the case during other AHL outbreaks this season—or if the protocol is just affecting a select few.
  • The Vancouver Canucks are operating as though their season will resume later this week and today recalled two players from the AHL. Guillaume Brisebois and Arturs Silovs have been recalled to the taxi squad. The Canucks had 16 players still on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list yesterday, though that number is expected to continue to decrease as players finish their mandated quarantine and test negative. The team is scheduled to play on Friday against the Edmonton Oilers.

Vancouver Canucks Re-Sign Guillaume Brisebois

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The Vancouver Canucks are steadily working through their remaining restricted free agents, this time signing one of their minor league defensemen. Guillaume Brisebois has signed a new one-year, two-way contract with the Canucks, though the financial details have not yet been released. Brisebois was not eligible for salary arbitration this offseason.

Brisebois, 23, was a third-round selection of the Canucks back in 2015 but has played just eight games at the NHL level to this point. Instead, the 6’3″ defenseman has spent the last three seasons almost exclusively in the minor leagues with the Utica Comets, where his offensive game never really did develop. Though he’s still valuable depth, it doesn’t look like he’ll ever become a full-time NHL roster player at this point.

The contract for Brisebois leaves just two restricted free agents remaining for GM Jim Benning; Justin Bailey and Jalen Chatfield. Both were actually eligible to file for salary arbitration but decided against it.

Pacific Notes: Oilers, Talbot, Suomela, Canucks

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The Oilers intend to see what the free agent market looks like for goaltending before making a decision on Mike Smith, GM Ken Holland told NHL.com’s Tim Campbell.  Smith had just a .902 SV% in 39 games this season which is below average for a backup, let alone someone that was brought in to push incumbent Mikko Koskinen for playing time.  However, cap space is limited for Edmonton with less than $9MM in cap room and quite a few free agents to contend with beyond Smith.  Accordingly, they may need to shop at the lower end of the market to save some money and the fact that the 38-year-old is eligible to sign an incentive-laden deal may be appealing to give them a bit more financial flexibility to work with.  A decision on that appears as if it will occur on or after October 9th.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • The Flames have yet to present an offer to pending UFA Cam Talbot, the goalie revealed to Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson. The 33-year-old has indicated an interest to remain with Calgary, as long as he’s not in a backup position.  This past season, that was his role as he made just 22 starts while David Rittich made the other 48 despite Talbot having the better numbers.  The tables flipped in the playoffs, however, as Talbot made all 10 starts and played well, posting a 2.42 GAA with a .924 SV%.  A full-fledged starting job may be hard to come by but a platoon position is certainly attainable if he gets to the open market.
  • Sharks center Antti Suomela has started skating with HIFK, the SM-liiga team announced. At this time, he’s only skating with them to stay in shape for next season but as their press release indicates, that could change once he gets a deal done with San Jose.  The pending restricted free agent had a goal and six assists in 20 NHL games this season while chipping in with five goals and four helpers in 14 AHL contests.  If a deal is reached soon, he could join the growing list of players suiting up overseas on loan agreements.
  • The Canucks are expected to tender qualifying offers to AHL players Justin Bailey, Jalen Chatfield, and Guillaume Brisebois, reports Rick Dhaliwal of TSN 1040 and The Athletic (Twitter links). Bailey had a career year in the minors with Utica, collecting 28 goals in just 53 games, good for fourth league-wide.  The 25-year-old has 65 career games of NHL experience and is eligible for salary arbitration.  Meanwhile, Chatfield wrapped up his entry-level deal this past season and had four assists in 48 games.  He was recalled on five separate occasions in 2019-20 but didn’t see any NHL action.  As for Brisebois, he played in 48 games with Utica this past season, picking up four goals and 11 assists.  He didn’t get into any NHL games in 2019-20 but does have eight games of experience from the 2018-19 campaign.

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