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Minor Transactions: 08/13/21

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The NHL free agent market may seem like it slowing down, but the list of unsigned UFA’s remains impressive and there are still plenty of RFA’s in need of new deals as well. With only so many roster spots to go around, there will continue to be frequent minor moves made as NHL hopefuls shift their sights to the AHL and Europe. Keep up with those transactions right here:

  • Defenseman Ashton Sautner is back with the Vancouver Canucks, sort of. The 27-year-old is staying in the organization, signing one-year deal with Vancouver’s new AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Sautner has been with the organization his whole career, initially signing as an undrafted free agent in 2015. While he has played 23 NHL games in his career, Sautner has not done enough at either level to show that he has the upside to be a regular at the top level. That doesn’t mean that he won’t one day get back on an NHL contract, but for the coming season he will stick with Abbotsford as a veteran leader in their inaugural season.
  • Another player heading from Vancouver to Abbotsford is forward Tristen Nielsen, except this signing comes from the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. The Giants’ leading goal scorer this past season, Neilsen has signed a two-year deal, Abbotsford announced. The junior product is just 21 and has shown recent signs of offensive growth. The Canucks hope that a short-term minor league investment will turn into an NHL prospect down the road.
  • Completing the Abbotsford trifecta is forward Jarid Lukosevicius, who the team announced has signed a one-year contract. Lukosevicious joins the Canucks after spending the past two seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins to begin his pro career. A college standout at the University of Denver, Lukosevicius is a hard-working, two-way forward who is still looking to establish a scoring touch in the pros.
  • Once considered an up-and-coming NHL goalie prospect, Ryan Bednard will spend this season on an AHL deal as he tries to get his career back on track. The Hershey Bears have announced a one-year pact with the 24-year-old netminder. A seventh-round flier of the Florida Panthers in 2015, Bednard left college early after posting stunning numbers at Bowling Green State University. He entered the pros with high expectations in 2019, but immediately ran into trouble in the AHL. Two years later, Bednard has mostly played in the ECHL in his young pro career with good-not-great numbers. While he has shown improvement, it wasn’t enough for Florida to extend him a qualifying offer this summer. He joins the Washington Capitals organization looking for a fresh start.
  • A highly-regard draft pick and the centerpiece of the Jeff Skinner trade return, much was expected of Cliff Pu’s pro career. After three abysmal seasons split between the AHL and ECHL, it doesn’t seem like that will come to fruition for Pu. After playing for five different teams over three years with results at any level, Pu will make the jump to Europe next season in search of a new opportunity. The Vienna Capitals of the IceHL have announced a one-year deal with Pu, who despite his struggles will be an exciting addition for the team. Perhaps the 23-year-old can rediscover his scoring touch as a centerpiece player in Austria and work his way back to North America in the future.

Vancouver Canucks Sign Guillaume Brisebois

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The Vancouver Canucks have signed Guillaume Brisebois to a one-year, two-way contract. The young defenseman was eligible for salary arbitration but chose not to file.

Brisebois, 24, played just one game for the Canucks this season, spending most of the year on the taxi squad or in the minor leagues. The 2015 third-round pick has just nine NHL appearances under his belt and has yet to record a single point.

He’ll be entering the 2021-22 season with a long list of defensemen ahead of him on the Canucks depth chart too, after the team made several additions this offseason. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tucker Poolman, Luke Schenn and Brad Hunt have all been brought aboard, while Travis Hamonic was re-signed. In all likelihood, Brisebois is ticketed for the AHL, where he’ll be part of the first season in Abbotsford.

The AHL Canucks are actually putting together quite a unit for their first season, bringing in several veteran minor league talents to make sure they’re competitive right away. Brisebois will only add to that level of talent, and wait for an injury or two to open up room on the NHL roster.

Pettersson Confident Deal Will Get Done, Wants To Play For Winning Team

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  • Elias Pettersson is another restricted free agent without a contract, but he doesn’t seem too worried about it. The Vancouver Canucks forward spoke to Uffe Bodin of Hockeysverige and explained that though the two sides are not in agreement on a deal yet, he’s confident they will find a solution. Pettersson also clearly indicated that he wants to be on a winning team, meaning if they want to keep him long-term, the Canucks better start making the playoffs more often.

Vancouver Canucks Sign Olli Juolevi

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It wasn’t so long ago that Olli Juolevi was the fifth-overall pick in the NHL draft. Now, after finally showing he can play at the NHL level, he has signed a one-year contract worth the league minimum of $750K with the Vancouver Canucks. Canucks GM Jim Benning released a short statement on the deal:

Last season was an important step in Olli’s development as an everyday NHL defenceman. We’re glad to have him signed and look forward to his game progressing further next season.

Now 23, Juolevi actually made his NHL debut in last year’s bubble playoffs, playing one game on the Canucks’ run. This year he suited up 23 times for the team, recording two goals and three points in limited minutes. He hasn’t developed as quickly as the Canucks hoped—especially compared to some of the defensemen taken after him in 2016, like Mikhail Sergachev and Charlie McAvoy—but there’s still hope that Juolevi can be a valuable member of the Canucks blueline moving forward.

There will be plenty of competition this time around, after the Canucks brought in Brad Hunt and Luke Schenn as veteran depth options, but there is still a path to playing time for Juolevi. The fact that he’s on a league-minimum deal will only help his cause as Vancouver tries to navigate a tricky salary cap situation.

Though they have $13.3MM left in cap space, the Canucks still have to sign Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, not to mention an arbitration hearing coming up with Jason Dickinson. Things will get tight in a hurry, meaning cheap options like Juolevi could come in handy if he can prove he’s able to hold down a regular spot on the bottom-pair.

Canucks Acquire Spencer Martin

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The Canucks have acquired some extra goaltending depth, announcing the acquisition of Spencer Martin from the Lightning in exchange for future considerations.  There was no mention of what the future consideration could be or what is required for it to transfer.

The 26-year-old signed a one-year contract with Tampa Bay with a cap hit of $800K in the NHL and $105K in the minors back in May but now won’t play a single game under that deal for them.  He spent last season with their AHL affiliate in Syracuse, posting a 7-5-2 record with a 2.83 GAA and a .907 SV% in 15 games.  His only NHL action came in three NHL appearances with Colorado back in 2017.

Tampa Bay had a bit of a logjam between the pipes after they signed Maxime Lagace at the beginning of free agency on Wednesday.  He joins youngsters Hugo Alnefelt and Amir Miftakhov in their system so there was no room for Martin to play.  He’ll have a better shot of seeing playing time in Vancouver as he’ll likely team up with Michael DiPietro in AHL Abbotsford with Arturs Silovs likely heading for the ECHL.

Vancouver Canucks Ink Nic Petan

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The Vancouver Canucks have added a nice depth piece up front in forward Nic Petan. Petan has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the minimum $750K NHL salary and a substantial $450K AHL salary, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The slippery winger has not been a regular player in the NHL for a few years, but has 136 games of experience, stellar AHL numbers, and at 26 still has room to improve.

Petan, a 2013 second-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets, always seemed like a talented prospect who was on the verge of a breakthrough, but it never came. Petan showed flashes of ability, even recording 13 points in 54 games for the Jets in his best NHL season, but could never hold down an NHL job. When he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2018, the hopes was that his style of play and the Leafs’ need for affordable help would be an ideal match, but it resulted only in less opportunity and fewer results.

Will Vancouver finally be the right fit for Petan? It still seems like the skilled forward has more to offer than has been seen in the NHL thus far. His AHL production is incredibly strong and he plays a slick, play-making style that should create offense no matter what level he is at. With a number of talented shooters and net front disruptors on the Canucks, perhaps Petan will be able to put his strengths to work in his new home and surprise everyone as an impact player. If not, he’s a nice depth piece all the same at a minimum salary.

Vegas Golden Knights Sign Sven Baertschi

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After spending almost all of the past two season buried in the AHL by the Vancouver Canucks, Sven Baertschi is looking for a fresh start and a shot at an NHL lineup spot. He has found a taker in a Canucks division rival, the Vegas Golden Knights. The team has announced a one-year, two-way contract worth the minimum $750K. While unassuming at first glance, Baertschi’s natural skill combined with Vegas’ limited cap space makes this a fascinating reclamation project to follow.

Once an up-and-coming NHL scorer with 92 points in 190 games over a three-year span with the Canucks, Baertschi’s play began to slip two years ago and Vancouver did not hesitate to bury his contract in the minors. However, there is still a chance that he can re-discover his scoring touch on a talented Golden Knights team and hold on to a roster spot. At a minimum salary, the could make him a dangerous discount player for the team.

If not, Baertschi will at least be a veteran leader in the AHL for Vegas and a call-up option. Simply staying in North America despite interest back overseas is a testament to Baertschi’s commitment to continue playing at the highest level, even if an NHL role is not guaranteed.

Travis Hamonic Re-Signing In Vancouver

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The Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that the Vancouver Canucks will be bringing back defenseman Travis Hamonic. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman says it’s a two-year deal worth $3MM per season.

This always seemed like the most likely outcome for Hamonic, who has previously expressed a desire to play in western Canada and who fit in very nicely in Vancouver this past season. With the defense around him changing dramatically, Hamonic will be one of the few veteran holdovers on the Canucks blue line and with multi-year security should step further into a leadership role for the club.

More so, the 30-year-old showed this year that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. Always a dependable two-way defender with the New York Islanders, Hamonic’s offense fizzled out during his time in Calgary. However, he recorded ten points in just 38 games with Vancouver this season, an 82-game pace of 22 points which would have been higher than any season he spent with the Flames. Hamonic was also solid defensively, contributing to the penalty kill and finishing second on the team in blocked shots while cutting down on his turnovers. The Canucks did not ask Hamonic to play major minutes this past season and that could continue, but he will still be able to make an impact for the team in key situations.

Tucker Poolman Signs With Vancouver Canucks

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The Vancouver Canucks are bringing in defenseman Tucker Poolman. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Poolman has signed a four-year, $10MM deal with the club, moving on after four seasons with the Winnipeg Jets to begin his NHL career.

This may be one of the more surprising contracts of the day thus far, as Poolman has been viewed as little more than a depth option in his short pro career. A standout at the University of North Dakota, Poolman was a major point producer in the NCAA but it helped that he played until he was 24. In four years since, he has just 19 points in 120 games and struggled to earn an elevated role in Winnipeg. He spent an entire season exclusively in the AHL and has never played more than 57 NHL games in a season.

The Canucks see something in the 28-year-old though. Poolman has good size and contributes in all three zones, but to this point has not excelled at any one aspect. The team seems willing to commit long term and put him in a concrete starting role in hopes that he can take than next step given more responsibility.

Brandon Sutter Expected To Re-Sign In Vancouver

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Per TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Vancouver Canucks forward Brandon Sutter is expected to re-sign with the team when free agency opens. McKenzie expects a one-year deal for the veteran forward. The Athletic’s Thomas Drance reports that the deal is worth $1.125MM.

Sutter’s a seasoned veteran, but he’s seriously struggled to stay healthy. The last time Sutter played a full season was 2016-17 where he played in 81 contests. Since that season, Sutter’s topped 10 goals and 20 points just once in a single season. He had a bit of a goal-scoring rebound last season, potting nine markers in 43 games, but tallied only three assists for 12 points. He’s also seen his ice time steadily deteriorate over recent years, now largely serving in a third- or fourth-line role.

A veteran of 770 NHL games, Sutter will return to a Vancouver Canucks forward core that’s been rejuvenated this offseason. With some free agent turnover in depth spots, both Conor Garland and Jason Dickinson will be injected into the Canucks’ offense. And with Dickinson’s acquisition, Sutter will either serve as a right-winger for Dickinson on the third line or as the team’s fourth-line center. Sutter’s health could be a rather key piece for a Canucks roster that’s fighting to get back into the playoff picture.

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