The Vancouver Canucks opened free agency on Sunday by signing three mid-sized fish.

As expected, the $4.5 million jump in the 2018-19 salary cap left lots of teams with money to spend, which drove up asking prices in the hours leading up to the opening of the market at 9 a.m. PT on July 1. But the Canucks were determined to reel in their top targets.

On Saturday, the word was that Jay Beagle would get something in the range of three years at $2.5 million, while Antoine Roussel would get four at just over $3 million. Beagle's deal spiked, while Roussel's went down a bit.

The final numbers:

Jay Beagle: four years at $12 million; AAV $3 million per season
Antoine Roussel: four years at $12 million; AAV $3 million per season
Tim Schaller: two years at $3.8 million; AAV $1.9 million per season

As I reviewed yesterday, Beagle's coming off a deal that carried a cap hit of $1.75 million and Roussel was earning $2 million. So, both get raises that should give them a fighting chance at buying a decent home in Vancouver.

Beagle arrives with the highest recommendations of his character, fresh off a Stanley Cup win with Washington.

Thrilled for Jay Beagle, who signs a three-year, $12 million deal with VAN. Hockey is loaded with good guys, but none better than Beags, who is a self-made hockey player if there ever was one. I'll miss him and I wish him all the best.

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) July 1, 2018

Beagle chose Vancouver because he wanted to be closer to his hometown of Calgary—this will be his first time playing in the Western Conference after spending his entire career to date in Washington. He will bring leadership to a dressing room that will have a void in that department without the Sedins. I could see him being a go-to guy for the media.

Beagle on going to rebuilding team : "I like the youth in Vancouver, we went through that in D.C. I didn't come here to lose. We will find ways to win. I am here to bring a winning mindset." #Canucks

— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) July 1, 2018

The media should also have some fun with Roussel, who's not afraid to keep it light.

Roussel: Trevor Linden mentioned the Vancouver Canucks have the best Christmas parties... To me I think that was the turning point. *laughs* #Canucks

— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) July 1, 2018

Roussel doesn't just play a similar style to Alex Burrows. The two are friends who know each other well.

Roussel: I've been training with Alex Burrows for the past 8 years. Every summer he talks about how great the organization and city is. To me it was a no-brainer. I've always had a soft spot for Vancouver. #Canucks

— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) July 1, 2018

As for Schaller, he's a bit of a late addition to the proceedings. The 27-year-old forward has good size at 6'2" and 210 pounds and can play centre or wing. A native of New Hampshire who played four years at Providence, Schaller played a full 82 games for the first time in his career with Boston last season—and collected 12 goals and 22 points. Not bad for a guy who averaged just 13:17 of ice time per game.

He had two assists in Boston's first-round playoff series against the Leafs last spring, and was healthy-scratched once, in Game 3 against Tampa Bay.

Though he had just 42 penalty minutes last year, Canucks fans may perceive Schaller as a fighter thanks to his tilt with Erik Gudbranson last October.



I imagine Schaller came onto the Canucks' radar when they were looking at Riley Nash in Boston. And judging from his new cap hit, I assume there was some competition for his services. Schaller was on his first-ever one-way contract last season, a deal worth $775,000.

There's also this:

The #Canucks signed free agent F Tim Schaller who underwent hand surgery recently, he will be on the shelf for most of the summer and leading into training camp according to NBC Sports Boston..

— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) July 1, 2018

So, the total investment for the day comes out to $7.8 million—a little more than one Sedin, in last year's dollars. The last time I was able to access the CapFriendly page on what's probably their busiest day of the year, CapFriendly had not yet added in the Schaller deal. Once that goes through, Vancouver will have just over $16 million in remaining cap space with 42 contracts on their books, not including RFAs Sven Baertschi, Jake Virtanen and Troy Stecher.

Emotionally, it feels like the new guys will be taking up roster spots that could go to younger players, but the Canucks had plenty of holes to fill from where they were a year ago.

Former #Canucks who were with organizaiton last season on the move to different teams today include:

Thomas Vanek - DET (1 yr)
Michael Chaput - MTL (2 yrs)
Jayson Megna - WSH (1 yr)
Nic Dowd - WSH (1 yr)
Anton Rodin - ANA (1yr)

— Joey Kenward (@kenwardskorner) July 1, 2018

As well as those players, the Canucks are coming back without the Sedins, Derek Dorsett, Alexander Burmistrov and Jussi Jokinen, who all put in time up front last year.

Schaller's signing is not blocking the way for a new deal for Darren Archibald.

Archibald signing with #Canucks will get done, they have agreed to terms. #Canucks

— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) July 1, 2018

Archibald had nine points in 27 games after he got his call-up to the Canucks last season but still seemed underwhelming—mostly because his physical game wasn't as noticeable as we'd been hoping, I think. I'm curious to see whether he gets a one-way deal.

I'm not too worried about the terms of these new deals. Yeah, they're a little longer than we'd like, but the money's not huge in today's NHL. Buyouts are becoming standard procedure around the league and as long as the salary cap keeps rising, they're generally not onerous.

It'll be interesting to see where players like Brendan Leipsic, Brendan Gaunce, Reid Boucher, Tyler Motte, Tanner Kero—and Nikolay Goldobin—wind up when all is said and done. They're the bubble guys who will be most likely to lose their spots if players like Adam Gaudette, Jonathan Dahlen, or one of the other kids makes a strong case to start the season in the NHL.

Goldobin won't be waiver exempt next season. Sounds like Gaudette will have an inside track on a roster spot:

Benning: We feel strong about these young players we have coming in next year. Brock had a good year, Pettersson we feel can come in & score for us. Gaudette can score. We're going to have to have these younger guys step up. The Horvats & Baertschi's will have to keep progressing

— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) July 1, 2018

Let's close today with a big-picture poll:

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