The Canucks development camp wraps up today with the Summer Showcase game at Rogers Arena.
The game will feature one period at 5-on-5, one period of 4-on-4, and one period of 3-on-3. It should be fun to watch, especially as the skill players get their chance to shine.
Game time is 6 p.m. The event is open to season-ticket holders. Other fans have been invited to watch from The Sportsbar or online via the Canucks Facebook page.
For me, the most interesting interview to come out of Wednesday's sessions is this Joey Kenward chat with new Utica Comets head coach Trent Cull.
I'm impressed. He seems well-spoken, honest and very grounded in terms of how he wants to map out a plan for the prospects without getting too far ahead of himself based on what he's seeing at summer practice sessions.
The Canucks also announced on Thursday that they've hired Darryl Seward as their new video coach, after we learned last week that Ben Cooper had parted ways with the team.
Seward is a 44-year-old Newfoundland native, who spent the last two years as video coach with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL—so he was part of that Calder Cup-winning group in 2016. He started his career as an assistant video coach with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL.
After Wednesday's on-ice session, the prospects headed out into the community for the afternoon.
At the Boys and Girls Club:
...and at BC Children's Hospital:
Wednesday was also the deadline for NHL players to file for salary arbitration for 2017. CapFriendly has the list of the 30 players filed around the league, including the Vancouver Canucks Reid Boucher and Michael Chaput.
Joseph LaBate was also eligible to file for arbitration, but chose not to do so.
Arbitration is a bit like offer sheets—a negotiation tool that exists, but is barely ever used in practice. Arbitration hearings can be quite damaging to the relationships between players and organizations, as the club is essentially required to outline all of a player's weaknesses in order to build a case for offering the lowest-possible cap hit.
Typically, arbitration-eligible players come to terms on new deals with their teams before the hearings, which are scheduled to begin on July 20 this year.
For Boucher and Chaput, the advantage of filing is that it improves their chances of getting a one-way contract for next season.
Boucher, 23, earned $715,000 at the NHL level last season on the one-year contract that he originally signed with the New Jersey Devils. He was on waivers three times last season and did play five games in the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals, where his salary was $70,000.
Chaput, 25, had a $600,000 salary at the NHL level but had a much richer deal in the AHL—officially, $225,000 but with $350,000 actually guaranteed at the minor-league level, according to CapFriendly. That tells us that Chaput was originally signed with the intention of using him in Utica last season but as it turned out, he played just 10 AHL games before being recalled by the Canucks one month into the season. He stayed with the big club for the rest of the year.
Ryan Biech at Canucks Army includes all the legal details from the CBA surrounding arbitration. One other key point—teams cannot walk away from arbitration awards unless then come down at more than $3.5 million.
With their histories, Boucher and Chaput will both come in well below that number, so they will remain Canucks property going into next season. Even if they get one-way contracts, that doesn't mean that the team can't send them down to Utica if they get beat out for roster spots on the big club at training camp—they'll just earn a little more money while they're in the minors. Both Boucher and Chaput would need to clear waivers in order to be sent to Utica.
Expect to see both players settle with the Canucks ahead of their arbitration hearings.
I don't think this will come into play, but because the Canucks have had players file for arbitration, it opens another buyout window. It opens three days after the final arbitration case is settled, lasts for 48 hours, and can be used on up to three players. There's also a minimum average annual value of more than $2.75 million for contracts of players who are eligible for buyouts in this situation, so the Canucks don't appear to have any logical candidates.
One other player personnel note to wrap up today:
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