By: Trent Leith / July 2, 2024 Silly Season officially opened on Monday, July 1st and the Vancouver Canucks were not immediately active on the market. As all the biggest names came off the board like Jake Guentzel and Steven Stamkos, Canucks fans were left wondering if Jim Rutherford and Patrick Allvin would make any moves to improve the team.
Then the Canucks started breaking some news.
Jake DeBrusk – Seven Years, $5.5M
The first of four moves was also the biggest of the four. Jake DeBrusk at $5.5M for seven years.
Jake DeBrusk will be a good fit to play with either Miller or Pettersson moving into next season. DeBrusk can score on the powerplay and play on the penalty kill. He has a single-season high of 27 goals and 50 points for the Boston Bruins.
At first, the deal looked like it might be longer than it should be for a player of DeBrusk’s calibre. But with the market trending the way it was, it was clear that the term would have to be there to land the player. With comparable players going for similar terms and higher AAV despite being older, the DeBrusk contract quickly started to look like a safe bet. Players like Chandler Stephenson who got seven years at $6.3M, Elias Lindholm who went to the Bruins for seven years at $7.75M or Tyler Toffoli who got $6M for four years make this deal immediately more palatable.
Debrusk reportedly has a three-year NMC, and a 15-team NTC for the remainder of the deal.
Danton Heinen – Two Years, $2.24M
Danton Heinen is a middle-six winger who can play up and down the Canucks like up in a similar way guys like Pius Sutter had for the Canucks last year. Heinen is a 29-year-old complimentary piece that can be a staple on the penalty kill for the Canucks.
Heinen is coming off his most productive season since 2017-18 with 36 points and 17 goals. Heinen is a strong 5-on-5 player with 31 of his 36 points last season coming at even strength.
Kiefer Sherwood – Two Years, $1.5M
Kiefer Sherwood might ring some bells for Canucks fans as they just played him and the Nashville Predators in the first round of the playoffs this year. Sherwood recorded a career-high in hits last season with 234, which is about 3.5 a game across his 68 games played.
Sherwood is not known for penalty killing, or for being on the powerplay but is the perfect bottom-of-the-lineup piece that will help with the depth-scoring issues the Canucks had in the second half of the season. Sherwood had a career-high 10 G and 27 points with the Nashville Predators in 2023-24.
Derek Forbort – One Year, $1.5M
Derek Forbort is the Ian Cole replacement. Both profile as defence first, penalty killers to play in the 5-6 spot on the back end. Where Ian Cole Demanded over double the cost of Forbort, they are quite comparable players.
Forbort is a 32-year-old left-shot defender. This is a shrewd move from the Canucks front office to shore up the back end and to make sure they remain large as Rick Tocchet seems to prefer. The former Boston Bruin is 6’4, 208 lbs and should be a great fit alongside a player like Tyler Myers or Noah Juulsen.
Vincent Desharnais – Two Years, $2M
The last signing of the day came in the form of right-shot Vincent Desharnais for two years. Desharnais was also a player that the Canucks recently played in the playoffs. the 6’6″ 216 lbs defender is 28 years old and only has 114 NHL games under his belt. However, Desharnais is not someone who will chip in offensively, with only one goal and 15 assists in his time in the NHL.
Desharnais is another strong penalty killer, though his puck-moving skills are lacking. The Canucks seemed to prioritize defensive hockey and size vs. offence and puck-moving this season. With the signing of Desharnais, it appears as though the Canucks will have to hope that Hronek can drive his own pair to spread out some of the offence from the defenders.
Smaller Moves
Nate Smith is a signing mostly for the AHL, but some depth that may challenge for some playing time in Vancouver. Nate Smith has only played 14 games in the NHL totaling 4 points. In the AHL he has played 124 games collecting 58 points.
Nate Smith is a right-shot centreman who is only 25 years old and gives the Canucks a low-risk bet to find a much-needed right-shot centreman.
Jiří Patera signed to be the Canucks third-string goaltender will be in Vancouver/Abbotsford for two years. Patera is a 25-year-old who has an AHL record of 37-40-6. Patera has appeared in eight NHL games for the Vegas Golden Knights with a 3-3-1 record and a 0.902 sv%.
Patera’s signing implies the Canucks didn’t find a veteran goalie on the market that they liked that would displace Šilovs from the backup position next season.
Out The Door
Four notable free agents left to sign with other teams on Monday morning.
Nakita Zadorov signed a massive deal in Boston at $5M for six years. Going with Zadorov is another recently acquired player, Elias Lindholm who signed a $7.75M seven-year deal. Lindholm was long rumoured to be on Boston’s radar. Lindholm was likely to play a third-line role in Vancouver should he have re-signed, but in Boston, Lindholm will be the topline centre immediately.
Also moving out was Ian Cole going to Utah HC who is paying him $3.1M for one year. While a single year doesn’t carry a lot of risk, especially for a team like Utah with seemingly endless cap room, it is more than the Canucks would have paid for him.
The last notable FA to leave on Monday morning was Casey DeSmith who signed for three years at $1M per. DeSmith will be backstopping Jake Ottinger for the foreseeable future. A re-signing in Vancouver was never likely with DeSmith likely looking for more games and Artūrs Šilovs looking to take the backup job this season.