If you missed it, Ben Kuzma does a nice job of breaking down the impact of Ryan Kesler's new contract as it reflects on the Canucks in
this story for
The Province.
He reminds us that the Canucks made out considerably better with the return Jim Benning collected than Anaheim's original 2014 trade-deadline offer of Emerson Etem and two second-rounders—especially with Etem having flatlined in his development last season and only earning a one-year, two-way contract worth $850,000 with the New York Rangers after having been flipped, along with a second rounder, for more established RFA Carl Hagelin. Hagelin has yet to sign with the Ducks but he'll cost more than Etem did: his salary last season was $2.4 million.
What the Canucks did get for Kesler was center Nick Bonino, defenseman Luca Sbisa, the first-round draft pick that became Jared McCann and the 2014 third-rounder that they flipped for Derek Dorsett. Vancouver also gave up a 2015 third-rounder, which is part of what created the abyss in this year's draft picks along with the second-rounder that was traded for Sven Baertschi.
Knowing now what kind of financial commitment was required for the Ducks to keep Kesler, and how if he'd stayed in Vancouver the Canucks might now have been facing the prospect of potentially losing him for little or nothing at the end of next season as a UFA, here's how Kuzma sums up the deal:
Was is a great return? No. Was it a bad return? No. It was a fair return and the needle will move in a more positive direction if Bonino and Sbisa don’t trend in the wrong direction.
Bonino took a step backwards in production last season, dropping from 49 points with the Ducks in 2013-14 to 39 points in his first year with the Canucks. Though he logged an average of 1:52 of power-play time per game, he scored just five power-play points all season.
If Bo Horvat steps up into the second-line center job next season as many of us expect, that could leave Bonino in a role on the third line that suits him better.
As for Sbisa—and Dorsett—we'll have to see whether or not they can do enough to quiet the naysayers who have been skewering their contract extensions ever since they were signed back in April.
Sbisa's new contract got a couple more interesting comparables this week. He's signed for the next three years at a cap hit of $3.6 million, which is only $150,000 a season less than what two-time Stanley Cup champion Johnny Oduya will get for the next two seasons under his new deal with the Dallas Stars.
Here's the big difference between those two players: Sbisa is 25 and Oduya is 33. After playing through an upper-body injury during the late stages of the playoffs, Oduya's at a point in his career where his body could start to break down.
At the other end of the spectrum, Sbisa's being out-earned by Edmonton's Justin Schultz, who signed a one-year, $3.9 million deal on Wednesday to avoid going to arbitration.
Like Sbisa, Schultz is 25. His deal was based on his qualifying offer—he earned $3.675 million last season. He has yet to realize the potential that made him a coveted unrestricted free agent during the summer of 2012 after he left the University of Wisconsin. It'll be interesting to see how he and Sbisa compare against each other over the course of next season.
Once More Around the Waiver Wire
It has been great to see the Canucks community dig into the issue of waiver eligibility this week after I took my first pass at it.
Yesterday, I linked to
this graphically-excellent blog post from Jeremy Davis at OneCanuck. At that time, he had listed Ronalds Kenins as being waiver exempt, but had Alex Grenier on the list of players who would require waivers.
After I questioned Grenier's status in the blog, Davis tweeted me later in the day to say that he had amended his post. He now believes that Grenier's four games with the Chicago Wolves in 2012-13 do not burn a year of his exemption, so he will be waiver exempt next season.
Josh from Canucks Army has also now weighed in
here, with further corroboration.
Alex Grenier is a tricky case, but it is verified with the league that he is waivers exempted. Grenier finished his season in the QMJHL. He spent the next year half in Austria and then half in the ECHL. He did play 4 games in the AHL (January and April) but this was before he signed his ELC with the Canucks in May of 2013.
As Grenier signed as a 22 year-old he has 3 years of waiver-exemption. He has not yet met his professional games played in the NHL (as he has 0) and he only has 2 years of professional-years played. This means he is exempted from waivers and despite all the positive talk from Benning, I would not be surprised to see him start the year in Utica as well.
Josh agrees that Ronalds Kenins will also be waiver exempt for next season, though he appears to overlook the fact that since he signed his contract when he was 22, Kenins only gets 70 NHL games before his exemption is repealed, meaning his status could change partway through 2015-16.
I do agree with Josh's key point, however—despite his one-way contract, Kenins could start the season in Utica in order to make room for a nine-game trial for junior-eligible prospects Jake Virtanen and/or Jared McCann.
Baertschi Negotations Continue
To wrap up today, some news on the negotiations for Vancouver's one remaining restricted free agent, Sven Baertschi:
This is a bit strange to me. Given that we'd heard that Baertschi had been playing contractual hardball with the Calgary Flames before he was traded, I'm not surprised to hear that his agent is looking for a multi-year deal—likely on a one-way contract.
But Vancouver currently has $2.8 million in available cap space for next season. I can't see how that wouldn't be enough to get a Baertschi deal done.
Furthermore, teams are allowed to go over the cap during the summer. The only date that matters is the opening day of the regular season, when all 30 teams must be cap compliant—with their totals including the salaries of players on injured reserve.
So, I can only take this report with a grain of salt. I think the only real takeaway here is that, for whatever reason, we won't hear an announcement of Baertschi's new deal until later in the summer.
Unless Benning has more moves up his sleeve? For instance, has Cody Franson's price dropped enough to make him a potentially attractive option for next season?
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