Last week, when I ran through the
long list of restricted free agents around the league who had not yet signed their second contracts, one of the players I highlighted was Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Though he was drafted in 2018, the same year as Quinn Hughes, he has played three full seasons to date. Also, being a forward, he's more of a comparable for Elias Pettersson.
On Thursday, the Hurricanes announced that they've signed Svechnikov to a max-term eight-year contract, which carries a cap hit of $7.75 million per season. The contract will run till the end of the 2028-29 season, and covers four years of unrestricted free agency.
I'm taking this AAV as the absolute low bar for Petey's contract.
• He's a centre, while Svechnikov is a winger.
• He has better numbers: 153 points in 165 games, compared to 140 in 205 games for Svechnikov
• Petey also has more goals (65 vs. 59), more power-play goals (22 vs. 10), a better shooting percentage (17.6% vs. 11.4%) and higher average ice time (18:24 vs. 16:07)
• And despite the fact that the Hurricanes have been a better overall team, Pettersson also has a better career plus/minus (+19 vs. +10). And — get this — Petey has more blocked shots (102 vs. 71), more takeaways (88 vs. 86) and fewer giveaways (98 vs. 174), all with 40 fewer games played. The only category where Svechnikov has him beat is in hits, where the 200-pounder has 353 compared to Pettersson's 116.
• Also, Pettersson is a Calder Trophy winner; Svechnikov finished seventh in the 2018-19 season
And finally, the Hurricanes have become known as a club that plays hardball in negotiations. Under owner Tom Dundon, the team has set a financial structure and sticks to it, whether that means losing Dougie Hamilton as an unrestricted free agent or signing Jack Adams winning coach Rod Brind'Amour to a contract that's well below market value. Remember when they conducted their first GM search after Ron Francis left the team, how all the chatter was about how they weren't willing to offer market rates to top GM candidates?
It's not easy to do. But I respect Dundon's sort of 'Moneyball' approach, and the fact that he has built a culture where not just many of the players but also the coach are willing to take less money to stay there.
Bottom line: if Pettersson signed an eight-year deal that's structurally similar to Svechnikov's, his number would be higher. Even if he goes with a shorter team, I suspect it'll be above that $7.75 million threshold.
One other interesting note: the representatives for Pettersson and Hughes, CAA, have just taken on a significant new client.
Sorting out Eichel's situation will certainly demand some energy, and I imagine the agency has already put some time into researching where its new client stands, medically, and what needs to happen with the Sabres and a potential new team in order to make the desired fresh start.
But I don't think that should impact the Pettersson and Hughes negotiations in any significant way. Just like arbitration cases create deadlines that lead to deals getting done, I expect the opening of training camp will be the pressure point here, like it was when Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser signed their second deals.
Speaking of Bo Horvat, he's Thomas Drance's latest guest on the VanCast this week.
There's a written version of the interview up at The Athletic, but I recommend the podcast format if you have 20 minutes or so to listen. Horvat's personality shines through much more, and there's also an ad-supported free version of the podcast available to non-subscribers.
I got a chuckle out of hearing him say that he likes to take out-of-town visitors to Grouse Mountain — then send them up the Grind while he takes the gondola. And I liked hearing the awe in his voice when he described recently meeting up with fellow Londoner Damian Warner, the newly minted gold medalist in the Olympic Decathlon.
And despite being a Canadian captain of a Canadian team, Horvat still carries a healthy dose of humility. He admitted that he's honoured to even hear himself in the conversation for a roster spot if NHL players are able to go to the Olympics in February. And when talking about his willingness to speak out on matters of social justice, he speaks of wanting to do the right thing to facilitate meaningful change, while also downplaying his base of 'followers.'
If you want to hear Horvat with his guard down, go back and listen to his appearance last summer on 'Spittin' Chiclets.' He's more politically correct here, but still comes off as someone with his heart and his priorities in the right place.
To close out today, a couple of quick notes on international play.
I haven't been able to find this anywhere official, but the reliable CanucksAbbyFan2 suggests that our boy Danila Klimovich was cut from Team Belarus for their Olympic Qualifying Tournament this weekend.
Klimovich
is not listed on Belarus' initial roster and does not appear in the stats for either of his team's first two games — the shocking 1-0 loss to Poland or the 5-2 win over Austria.
Now 1-1, they still have a chance to qualify. They'll finish up against 2-0 Slovakia on Sunday. Only the top team from each group will move on to the Olympics.
If you're interested, the games are being livestreamed on the IIHF website.
The U20 Four Nations Cup is also on this weekend, and includes some Canucks prospects.
And finally, Canada's headed into the knockout round as the top seed at the 2021 Women's World Championship, finally on this week in Calgary.
While the U.S. has held the upper hand in the rivalry for the last several years, the Canadians put together a dominant 5-1 win to close out the round robin on Thursday. The victory came without captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who was injured when she took a high shot to the chest area on a 5-on-3 penalty kill earlier in the tournament. Hockey Canada says she is feeling well and was held out of the game as more of a precaution, so hopefully she'll be able to return when the medals are on the line.
The playoff round begins Saturday, with Canada taking on Germany at 4 p.m. PT, while the U.S. faces Japan at 1 p.m. The semifinals will go Monday, with the gold-medal game set for 4:30 p.m. PT on Tuesday.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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