Vancouver Canucks Re-Sign Jake Virtanen
The Vancouver Canucks will continue to try and coax a top-six player out of young Jake Virtanen, signing him today to a two-year contract. The deal carries an average annual value of $1.25MM, giving them a chance for a real bargain if he can reach his potential. Virtanen will still be a restricted free agent at the end of the deal, but now will have even more pressure to be a full-time part of the NHL team.
Selected sixth overall in 2014, Virtanen has lagged behind the development of several of his draft contemporaries including William Nylander (8th), Nikolaj Ehlers (9th), and Dylan Larkin (15th). While those players have already made huge impacts on their NHL clubs, Virtanen has only just put in his first season without spending any time in the AHL. In 75 games during the 2017-18 season, he recorded 10 goals and 20 points a total he’ll obviously have to improve on if he’s to be part of the solution in Vancouver going forward. With other prospects like Elias Pettersson and Adam Gaudette coming quickly to take big roles on the team, Virtanen has to find a niche somewhere in the lineup where he can thrive. GM Jim Benning believes he can, releasing this statement on his young forward:
We’re pleased to sign Jake to an extension. He adds physical presence and speed to our line-up and can help create offensive chances when going hard to the net. We look forward to seeing Jake take the next step in his game and consistently contribute to the team’s success.
Virtanen, 21, could be a huge piece of a Vancouver team that has a very talented young group coming through the ranks. If he can find his game and live up to his draft status that $1.25MM will be an incredible value. If not, it will be a difficult arbitration process going forward and one that might end up with him being forced to continue his career elsewhere. For now, we’ll have to wait and see how he plays this season and if he can be the kind of power winger they were hoping for.
Canucks Remain Undecided On Where Quinn Hughes Will Play; Contract Talks Progressing For Jake Virtanen
While it was expected that the Canucks would make a quick decision on whether or not to turn top draft pick Quinn Hughes pro next season, it appears that the team hasn’t decided whether that’s the best move for him just yet. In an interview with TSN 1040 (audio link), GM Jim Benning stated that he remains in conversations with Hughes’ family advisor in an effort to determine what’s best for his long-term development. He also acknowledged the current logjam on their back end but indicated that if he was to attend training camp and play well enough to earn a roster spot that they would make a move to make room for him. For him to attend camp, he’d have to be signed to an entry-level deal which would put an end to his NCAA eligibility although he would be able to play in the AHL.
- The Canucks have only one restricted free agent remaining in winger Jake Virtanen. From the same interview, Benning mentioned that the team remains in discussions with his agent Kevin Epp and classifies the talks as “going good”. Given Virtanen’s inconsistency over the past couple of seasons, it’s likely that Vancouver will be pushing for him to sign a short-term contract. The 21-year-old had ten goals and ten assists in 75 games last season. He had a qualifying offer of roughly $875K but that expired back on July 15th.
Pacific Notes: McDavid, Dahlen, Foo
The Edmonton Oilers depend a lot on the play of superstar Connor McDavid, but what exactly should his role be when it comes to special teams? The 21-year-old center obviously is playing on the power play, but is also receiving quite a few minutes killing penalties, 89 to be exact, which puts him at 125th in the league in penalty killing minutes. That’s a very average number compared to other offensive stars like Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar who played 178 minutes, but obviously not as many as Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, who played 21 minutes killing penalties.
The Edmonton Journal’s David Staples suggests the team might be better off using him to do nothing but score and avoiding penalty minutes as they have several players who can take those minutes away from him, including Kyle Brodziak, Tobias Rieder, Ryan Strome and Jujhar Khaira. Staples also points out that McDavid is only an average penalty killer, which is another reason not to waste his talents on it.
However, the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins disagrees, suggesting that taking McDavid out of the game for two straight minutes is a long time to be without your star, especially if its a game with lots of penalties. Being involved with the flow of the game is critical for any player, so sitting McDavid could truly throw him off.
- It looks like Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Dahlen will be in a good position when training camp rolls around. The speedy wing has little experience playing in North America (six games), but despite the general belief that he is ticketed for Utica of the AHL, Dahlen has a chance to be a darkhorse to make the Canucks roster, according to The Athletic’s Mike Halford (subscription required). With the team expected to be immersed in position battles from goaltending through forwards, Dahlen is one guy who might surprise everyone, because the team desperately needs speed and offense, two skills that Dahlen has an abundance in.
- NHL.com’s Aaron Vickers writes that Calgary Flames prospect Spencer Foo has high expectations to challenge for a depth role with the team this season. Foo, who the team signed last season out of Union College, is coming off a solid campaign with the Stockton Heat of the AHL where he posted 20 goals and 39 points in 62 games and then scored two goals in four games with the Flames at the end of the season. Foo hopes to win a depth role spot in training camp over a number of prospects and veterans, including Austin Czarnik, Dillon Dube, Andrew Mangiapane, Troy Brouwer, Curtis Lazar and Garnet Hathaway. “My goal was never to come in and be a bubble player, be a 13th forward,” Foo said. “I want to come in and make an impact. So at the end of the day, whatever (other) players are here, it doesn’t matter. I want to solidify my own spot.”
Vancouver Has Limited Trade Options Defensively
With Vancouver still not having yet decided whether or not to sign top pick Quinn Hughes for next season, Postmedia’s Jason Botchford suggests there is some pressure on the Canucks to clear up their logjam on the back end to help pave a path for the youngster to play in the NHL in 2018-19. However, he points out that their trade options are limited due to no-trade clauses, players underachieving last season, or inflated contracts. Their best trade chip may be Troy Stecher but dealing him opens up a hole on the right side while Hughes is a left-shot player. Accordingly, someone like Derrick Pouliot (who is on an affordable $1.1MM deal) could be the most realistic trade option they have although the return for him likely wouldn’t be particularly substantial.
Troy Stecher Signs Two-Year Contract With Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks had two restricted free agents left to sign this summer, Jake Virtanen and Troy Stecher. The latter was eligible to file for player-elected salary arbitration, and had a hearing scheduled for July 29th with an arbitrator in Toronto. That meeting will never happen though, as Stecher has signed a two-year contract with the Canucks that will carry an average annual value of $2.325MM. GM Jim Benning had this to say about his young defenseman:
Troy Stecher is an important part of our team. He’s a talented two-way defenseman who competes every shift. Troy has a willingness to always improve his game and is an example of a young player committed to being a professional.
Coming out of the University of North Dakota in 2016, it didn’t take long for the undrafted defenseman to make a name for himself in Vancouver. As a rookie in 2016-17 he recorded 24 points in 71 games, the best mark of any Vancouver defenseman. He also logged 20 minutes a night that season, and though that dropped slightly in 2017-18 he’s still obviously a big part of the team going forward. With more veteran players like Alexander Edler and Chris Tanev getting closer to unrestricted free agency, Stecher will likely take his place alongside Olli Juolevi, Quinn Hughes and other up-and-coming Vancouver defensemen.
Just 24 years old, Stecher will still be a restricted free agent at the end of this contract and looking for a long-term deal. At that point he will have four years of NHL action under his belt and just one year of RFA status remaining, leaving the Canucks to make a decision on whether he fits into their plans going forward. For now though he should continue to take on more and more responsibility for Vancouver as they transition their young players into more prominent roles. For a team who just a few years ago looked like it was floundering without much of a direction, Vancouver has built up quite the young core to move forward with and Stecher is a big part of that.
Amazingly, Stecher’s $2.325MM cap hit actually makes him the sixth-highest paid defenseman on the Canucks roster, a good value for the production he brings on the ice. Though his point total dropped to just 11 this season after being removed from the powerplay unit, he still posted good possession statistics and proved he could be a fine option on a second or third pairing in the NHL. One could expect that offensive production to rebound somewhat, but for such a relatively inexpensive contract it doesn’t even have to.
The Case For A Tristan Jarry Offer Sheet
The art of the offer sheet is all but dead in the NHL. As The Athletic’s Craig Custance writes, there have only been eight offer sheets in the salary cap era, all but one have been matched, and none have been signed since 2013. It remains a shadowy threat for every GM looking to lock up his young restricted free agents, but at this point is more myth than reality. Custance even conducted a poll of nine GM’s that implied a feeling across the league that no offer sheets are coming this off-season. Even with attractive targets like the cap-strapped Detroit Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin, the Calgary Flames’ newly-acquired Noah Hanifin, and a key piece of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ young core, William Nylander, none of the GM’s could see a realistic spot where making an offer would be worth the effort as the team would always be able to match.
What about thinking outside the box and not looking at the top targets but at the team most unlikely to match? The Pittsburgh Penguins are not getting any sympathy from teams around the league. Winners of two of the last three Stanley Cups, a playoff team every year since 2007, and home to the best player in the league, the Penguins have had a great run and it’s unlikely to end any time soon. While many teams fear the backlash associated with poaching young players through offer sheets, Pittsburgh is perhaps the only team in the league that could come under attack and no one else would mind. The Penguins have also put themselves in a position that makes them easy prey. CapFriendly currently estimates that the team has just $745K in cap space heading into next season. Even if Jimmy Hayes fails to break camp or Zach Aston-Reese is sent down – the only foreseeable options, the Pens are still left with no more than $1.5MM in space and will need room to maneuver during the season.
Pittsburgh has just one restricted free agent left to re-sign: 23-year-old goaltender Tristan Jarry. Jarry has not been considered an offer sheet threat for a couple of reasons. The first is simply that he has yet to prove that he is a true NHL-caliber goalie. Jarry was a star at the junior level with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings and was drafted in the second round by the Penguins in 2013. His first two pro seasons were spent entirely in the AHL, expect for one spot start in Pittsburgh, and he made the transition look easy, posting strong numbers through 78 combined games. Last season was a deviation from that smooth upward trajectory. The departure of Marc-Andre Fleury left Jarry as the primary backup to starter Matt Murray and the NHL level proved to be a little more difficult. Jarry had an up-and-down season with streaks of both good and bad play. He also struggled when he was returned to the AHL in favor of Casey DeSmith or briefly Antti Niemi. However, at the end of the season Jarry’s line of a .908 save percentage, 2.77 goals against average, and .609 quality start percentage in 26 NHL appearance was more than respectable for his first year in the bigs. Has he proven without a doubt that he can be an NHL regular or reliable backup? No, but the potential is there.
The other reason that Jarry would seem to be a strange offer sheet target is that he is waiver-exempt. Jarry is too young and inexperienced to have lost his waiver protection. This means that a team could hypothetically offer far above market value and multiple years and the Penguins could simply match it and stash Jarry in the minors without a second thought. The only problem is that Pittsburgh especially could not leave Jarry in the AHL for a whole season, nevertheless multiple. Since Murray became a fixture in net for the Penguins in 2015-16, he has made 111 appearances in three seasons with no more than 49 games in any year. In that same time, the Penguins have used six other goaltenders. Excluding Fleury, who was the starter in Murray’s first season and split time with him the following year, Jarry, DeSmith, Niemi, Mike Condon and Jeff Zatkoff have had to make 59 appearances over the past three years – more than half of Murray’s games played. Pittsburgh’s injury-prone starter clearly needs multiple quality options behind him until he can prove himself over a full season. DeSmith, who admittedly outplayed fellow rookie Jarry last season but in 12 fewer starts, may struggle to even backup Murray this season, nevertheless replace him for short stretches with untested minor league journeyman John Muse – the only other Penguins goalie – as the backup. The Penguins need a third-string goalie who costs as close the minimum against the cap as possible. If Jarry was to sign an offer sheet for even $1.5MM AAV, Pittsburgh would struggle to move that contract back and forth or keep him on the roster all year long. A team with ample cap space and a well-off ownership group could easily improve on that offer as well. Only moving out salary or injured reserve space would conceivably allow the Penguins to keep Jarry at that price or more.
At the end of the day, an offer with just the right amount of salary and term would be hard for the Penguins to match in their current state. Sure, they could simply sign a proven veteran free agent to a minimum deal and move on, but losing a promising young netminder would be a blow. On the other side of the table, it would only cost a team at most a third-round pick – the compensation for any deal with an AAV under $2.03MM – to land a young, high-ceiling goalie who is still waiver-exempt. If Jarry excels at the NHL level, they made a great deal; if he struggles, he can be sent to the AHL risk-free for further development and may still turn out be a great deal. The rest of the league would hardly mind seeing Pittsburgh and wheeler-dealer GM Jim Rutherford baffled by an offer sheet as well. It seems to be a win-win. Will it happen?
Snapshots: KHL, Steelheads, Buchberger
According to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express, Philip Holm has signed with the Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo of the KHL, ending his North American career before it ever really took off. After signing last summer with the Vancouver Canucks, Holm played in one NHL game and was eventually traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Brendan Leipsic. Given no NHL playing time in Vegas, he’s decided to go to the KHL where he should receive plenty of minutes and be able to show off his offensive upside. Holm was given a qualifying offer meaning the Golden Knights will retain his rights.
Former Canucks top prospect Nicklas Jensen will also be remaining in the KHL next year, after agreed to use his one-year option with Jokerit. Jensen scored 37 points to lead Jokerit last season, after failing to carve out a role with the New York Rangers in 2016-17. A talented offensive forward who has dominated the AHL at times, Jensen is now 25 and may not get another chance at the NHL level in his career.
- The Dallas Stars have reached a two-year agreement with the Idaho Steelheads to continue their minor league partnership, extending a long affiliation with the ECHL club. The Steelheads have won two Kelly Cups during their partnership with the Stars, and will be looking for another one in 2018-19 after going 44-20-8 last season. One of the most successful ECHL teams (and before that WCHL teams) in history, Dallas will continue to supply them with talented players for at least the next two seasons.
- Kelly Buchberger is the latest New York Islanders assistant coach to find work elsewhere, hired as head coach of the Tri-City Americans of the WHL. When Barry Trotz was brought in as the new head coach of the Islanders it was expected he would bring an entire new staff, and Buchberger has found a nice landing spot as the bench boss of the Americans. Tri-City has been to the WHL playoffs in 14 of the last 15 seasons, though they are still looking for a championship; Buchberger will be asked to take them there.
Pacific Notes: Kovalchuk, Kings, Canucks, Ducks
Los Angeles Kings free agent signee Ilya Kovalchuk finally spoke to the media today after agreeing to sign a three-year, $18.75MM deal with the Kings on June 23. The 35-year-old superstar has now spent the past five years in the KHL, putting up some great numbers and has made it clear that he believes that despite his age, he has three or four good years left in him, according to Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen.
The winger said one of his main reasons for choosing the Kings was because he wanted to play next to a high-end center like Anze Kopitar. Kovalchuk could be a perfect complement to Kopitar. The 35-year-old has been playing some of the best hockey of his career, posting 63 goals in his last two KHL seasons as well as winning MVP for Team Russia in the Olympics this past year.
Kovalchuk also believes he is young for 35, but declined to say that he could put up a 30-goal season next season, according to Helene St. James of the Los Angeles Times. Kovalchuk last posted a 30-goal season in the NHL back in the 2011-12 season when he scored 37.
- Sticking with the Kings, Lisa Dillman of The Athletic (subscription required) does a Q&A with head coach John Stevens, who says that the Kings had no choice, but to place more responsibility on young players on their defense. The team has five veterans to hold down the core of the defense in Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez, Dion Phaneuf and Derek Forbort. However, the team will have to rely on younger players, like Paul Ladue, Daniel Brickley and Kurtis MacDermid to fill out the rest of the roster. “There comes a point in time especially with the [salary] cap where you’ve got so many young guys. You have to make decisions,” Stevens said.
- Jason Brough of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that after assessing the offseason in which the team spent money on multiple bottom-six forwards, the Vancouver Canucks are putting all their success next season on the scoring ability of their young prospects. For one, the team lost three of the team’s top five scorers and now besides Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser, the team will need to get increased scoring output from other forwards, including Elias Pettersson, Sven Baertschi, Nikolay Goldobin, Brendan Leipsic and Jake Virtanen. If they can’t make up for that offense, it should be another long season.
- Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required) looks at the Anaheim Ducks salary cap situation now and in one year from now to see if it will improve. Unfortunately the Ducks will not have much in terms of bad contracts that will come off the books in a year and the team will have to deal with other salary cap challenges instead. The team must deal with the cost of bringing back forwards Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg, who will be unrestricted free agents as well as goaltender John Gibson, who will be a restricted free agent.
Free Agent Profile: Luca Sbisa
With many veteran defensemen continuing to look for work, it might take a while for them to find a home for the upcoming season. With Dan Hamhuis being the top remaining unsigned defenseman on our Top 50 UFA list, not far behind him is Luca Sbisa.
Sbisa is coming off an unusual season. Having been practically written off after a disappointing 2016-17 season with the Vancouver Canucks, the Vegas Golden Knights stepped in and selected the 28-year-old blueliner. While his contract might have been the biggest issue while in Vancouver (he was making $3.6MM for the previous three years), Sbisa proved that he wasn’t good enough to be a top-four defenseman when with Vancouver.
However, after being acquired by Vegas, suddenly Sbisa’s game showed up as the veteran started the season as a top-four defenseman and quickly found himself averaging more than 20 minutes per game. He was paired with Nate Schmidt and was even one of the leaders of the team as he wore an “A” on his sweater. With the team expected initially to move out some of their pending unrestricted free agents at the trade deadline, Sbisa looked to be a potential major trade chip for Vegas. Unfortunately, injuries got the best of Sbisa as the veteran missed chunks of time with numerous injuries and in the end played just 30 games.
By the time Sbisa came back, long after the trade deadline, the 28-year-old saw his playing time shrink as he took a third-pairing role late in the season and into the playoffs. In fact, his demotion seemed to be more of a result that other players played better after Sbisa was injured and because of that, the veteran saw a reduced role — not necessarily because he was playing poorly. Rather than bring him back on a reduced contract, the Golden Knights instead opted to sign veteran Nick Holden to take his place and supposedly never even made an offer to Sbisa.
Regardless, in just those 30 games Sbisa showed some promise if he can prove he can stay healthy. Despite those limited games, Sbisa proved he can provide offense as he tallied 14 points. Shockingly, that’s his second-highest point total in his 10-year career. He did, however, have one of the worst Corsi-For percentage of his career at 43.8 percent, which didn’t help.
Potential Suitors
While an offer could come at any time, many of the veteran defensemen looking for work may have to wait a while as teams assess their strength and weaknesses over the summer. Sbisa has a lot to offer and despite a 10-year career, he is just 28 and should easily be able to handle a third-pairing role with most teams.
There have been some rumors that Sbisa, who spent three years in Vancouver, might be looking to return to the Canucks who are short on depth options at that position, so that is a legitimate possibility. There have also been reports that the Chicago Blackhawks might be interested in bringing Sbisa into their depleted blueline although the same rumor exists for Hamhuis. He might also be a good third-pairing option in Toronto.
Projected Contract
Before free agency, we predicted Sbisa would garner a two-year, $4.2MM contract, but with little interest so far, it would be more likely that Sbisa will have to settle for a one-year deal and be forced to show that he isn’t as injury prone as he was in 2017-18. It’s far more likely a one-year, $1MM deal or just above it is the most likely possibility.
Canucks Have Held Preliminary Extension Discussions With Brock Boeser
The Canucks have been discussing a contract extension with winger Brock Boeser, GM Jim Benning acknowledged to Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma. However, talks have yet to advance past the preliminary stage although Benning expects that to change in the coming weeks, stating that:
“I talked to his agent this past week and we’ll have more time in the next couple of weeks to talk about it internally and then hear from their side. If we’re going to do something, we’d do it then. We’ll see where they’re at and where we’re at and see if something works.”
Boeser has fully recovered from back and wrist injuries that prematurely ended his season. Before being shut down, the 21-year-old was in the midst of a strong year, posting 29 goals and 26 assists in just 62 games to lead Vancouver in scoring which is pretty good for someone in their first professional season.
That lack of overall NHL experience (totalling 71 games which includes a brief post-college stint in 2016-17) makes this a particularly interesting case to follow. Generally, players that are signing early extensions while still on their entry-level deals have two full years of NHL experience under their belts; Boeser has yet to play a full season worth of games.
Despite that, it’s certainly understandable that the Canucks are at least looking into an extension with their young sniper. Boeser has been touted as a top prospect since being drafted in the first round three years ago and had been expected to be a key part of their future. Not many were expecting him to be a top-liner so quickly but it’s reasonable to think that this level of production will continue (if not improve) in the coming years.
As for what Boeser may be looking for, it’s likely that he’ll be looking at teammate Bo Horvat’s six-year, $33MM deal that was signed last September as a baseline. While Horvat had three full NHL seasons under his belt at that time, none of them were as productive as Boeser’s 2017-18 performance. If Boeser is indeed open to signing now, his next contract is probably going to be pretty close to Horvat’s as otherwise, he may as well just play out the 2018-19 campaign and hope to head to restricted free agency with even more leverage for a bigger deal next summer.
With two restricted free agents left to re-sign (including defenseman Troy Stecher who filed for arbitration), this is something that can be put on the backburner for now but a new deal for Boeser will be something to keep an eye on later this summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.