After a 24-point season and two huge game-winning goals in the playoffs, Zack Kassian signed a new three-year deal with Edmonton earlier this week, with a cap hit of $1.95 million per season. Now he's back in the same division as his old nemesis Sam Gagner.
After a 50-point season with Columbus in 2016-17, Gagner signed a three-year deal with Vancouver on Saturday that carries an annual cap hit of $3.15 million per season.
I'm very excited to become part of the @Canucks. It's a great hockey city and my family can't wait to be back in Canada! 🇨🇦
We've talked about Gagner many times as he shuffled around the league over the last couple of years. He has good speed and strong offensive instincts, but isn't the best two-way player you'll find, and he tends to be streaky.
When he's good streaky, he does things like earning eight points in one game against Chicago:
When he's bad streaky, he'll disappear for long stretches.
Gagner averaged just 13:43 of ice time per game in Columbus last season, but his 18 goals tied his career high because he shot more than he ever has before. Hopefully that's a mindset that he can bring with him to Vancouver now that he has played his way back to some job security.
I had forgotten that Chris Tanev played with Sam when they were growing up in the Toronto area. Sam's dad, former NHLer Dave Gagner, had coached Tanev and let the Canucks know to keep an eye on him once he finally started growing—and Dave now works as part of Sam's management team along with Jeff Jackson, who also reps Connor McDavid. Funnily enough, Zack Kassian is also a client of Orr Hockey Group.
I found this train of thought to be intriguing. Tyler Dellow suggests that where an agent can really earn his money is by putting his client in positions where he can succeed.
Jackson would seem to have done that with Gagner too. He's a flawed player who can do valuable things in the right spot. Jackson found him..
I wonder if Dave Gagner's influence is part of what kept Sam's career afloat when it looked, for a time, like he had played his way out of the league?
Gagner also has a pre-existing relationship with Vancouver's second-biggest signing on Saturday. Like Gagner, Michael Del Zotto is a 27-year-old former first-round draft pick from the Toronto area. The two played together on the 2015-16 Philadelphia Flyers.
— Michael Del Zotto (@MichaelDelZotto) July 1, 2017
Del Zotto's deal is for two years, at a cap hit of $3 million—so he is cheaper than Luca Sbisa. He's known as a good skater and a good power-play guy, and has cracked the 10-goal plateau twice in his career.
Michael Del Zotto: "The biggest thing was opportunity - to play and play a lot and get back into the offensive role I didn't have in PHI." https://t.co/BtNVdL9idI
From what I've seen of Del Zotto, he seems to have a bit of a tough time keeping his coach's trust over the long term. It'll be interesting to see if he can play big minutes under Travis Green.
Gagner and Del Zotto together should certainly add some punch to the Canucks dismal power play next season!
The third former first-rounder added by the Canucks is Alexander Burmistrov. Chosen eighth overall in 2010, the 6'1", 180-pound Russian fell from favour in Winnipeg last season. Interestingly, when he was traded from the Jets to the Arizona Coyotes around Christmastime, Burmistrov was stuck here in Vancouver for several weeks while he waited for his U.S. work visa to come through.
I wonder if he decided he liked Vancouver while he was killing time here in town?
Once he did join the Coyotes in January, he put up 14 points in 26 games in an increased role—he averaged just 11 minutes a game with the Jets during the first half of the season, but that number increased to 15:24 with the Coyotes. Four of his five goals also came on the power play.
For only $900,000, Burmistrov's a very low-risk acquisition. He has enough talent that he might have a shot at becoming one of next season's best bargains.
Another unexpected signing was defenseman Patrick Wiercioch, formerly of the Ottawa Senators. He's a local boy, from Burnaby, who played with the Burnaby Express of the BCHL before getting drafted in the second round out of the USHL in 2008. He's also big, at 6'5", and has a decent shot, but was not qualified by Ottawa after he completed his three-year contract with a $2 million cap hit at the end of the 2015-16 season. He spent last season with the struggling Colorado Avalanche.
Wiercioch's deal is for one year, with a modest cap hit of $650,000.
Finally, in moves that we were expecting, the Canucks also added goaltender Anders Nilsson for two years at a cap hit of $2.5 million per season and re-signed Anton Rodin for one more year at $700,000—a cut from the $950,000 that he was paid as he struggled with his injuries last year.
Rodin on his knee : "It's feeling better and better everyday and I should be ready for camp." #Canucks
Here's hoping Rodin won't suffer any more setbacks. He was impressive when we saw him live during preseason last year. If he's healthy, that would also add a serious boost to the Canucks scoring.
After all those signings, the Canucks now have 13 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders under contract according to CapFriendly, not counting restricted free-agent forwards Bo Horvat, Brendan Gaunce, Reid Boucher and Michael Chaput. In one morning, the Canucks did an impressive job of shoring up their depth with players who should be able to contribute at the NHL level.
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