The week begins with news that Shawn Matthias is the latest Canuck castoff to catch on with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Following in the footsteps of Mason Raymond, David Booth and Mike Santorelli, Matthias has signed a one-year deal. He didn't roll up the Brinks truck like a lot of unrestricted free agents, but compared to the other names on this list, he did all right.
$2.3 million represents a raise of more than 37 percent over his cap hit from last season.
At age 27—often a peak period for forwards—Matthias scored a career-best 18 goals and 27 points for the Canucks, after barely making the team out of training camp. Remember when he was on the bubble?
I think he managed to hang onto his roster spot primarily because of the injury that Bo Horvat suffered during preseason, but went on to become a versatile player and solid penalty-killer who had a couple of good offensive months. After a slow start, seven of Matthias' points came in November, when he averaged 14:03 of ice time a game, and another eight points came in February, when he maxed out with an average of 14:22 a game.
I think that qualifies as streaky—Matthias scored 56 percent of his points in 34 percent of the team's games. When he was good, he was terrific—I loved his hat-trick game against Boston on February 13—but he also vanished for long stretches throughout the season.
Coming out of Florida, Matthias was never especially comfortable with the media attention that he received here in Vancouver. Born in Mississauga, he's now returning to his home town. It'll be interesting to see how he holds up under the bright lights in Hogtown.
There was some discussion in the comments yesterday about the pros and cons of Matthias vs. Chris Higgins. I've never thought of them as comparables, since Matthias was a pending UFA and Higgins has another two years left on a deal with a no-trade clause. One could be moved out in order to make space for a prospect, while the other remains tied to the team.
I'd also cast my vote for Higgins as the hard-working guy who brings it every night, where I was never quite sure what we'd get from Matthias in any particular game. With his size, and the fact that he was our tangible asset from the Luongo trade, I rooted for him last season.
If anything, I'd say he finished the year a better player than when he started, and I'll give some credit for that to the coaching staff. If they can do it with him, they can do it with others next season.
My only complaint? Given that Matthias chipped in only three regular-season and two playoff points after last year's trade deadline, I do wish that Jim Benning had managed to move him out at that time, perhaps for one of those coveted draft picks? Hopefully Benning will get that part of his gig down a little better next season.
Development Camp Ramps Up
Meanwhile, back at Shawnigan Lake, the Canucks' summer development camp kicked into high gear on Monday morning as the full complement of players hit the ice.
For the second straight summer, fans will be deprived of the opportunity to see Cole Cassels do his thing on the ice.
As Iain MacIntyre explains in
this story from the
Vancouver Sun, Cassels is not expected to participate in on-ice work this week as he recovers from an abdominal injury that dogged him through half of last season.
“He played the last half of the year injured,” Canuck general manager Jim Benning said last week. “He hardly practised and would just show up to play the games. We’re hoping with rest and rehab he’ll be 100 per cent healthy for the start of training camp.
“When he was finished his season, he came in and did tests for us and our doctors think that through rest and rehab he’s not going to need surgery. We’re monitoring it and seeing how he’s progressing and we’ll just go from there.”
It's a bit mind-boggling to think that Cassels wasn't 100 percent through his outstanding playoff run—which included a definitive knockout win in a head-to-head battle against Connor McDavid during the OHL Final.
Now 20 years old, Cassels will be able to join the Comets in Utica next season, so he will be able to shuttle back and forth between the Canucks and the farm during the year if that's how things play out. Jordan Subban, Anton Cederholm and Mackenze Stewart will be the other prospects moving on to the minors after finishing up their junior careers.
Players must turn 20 before December 31 in order to be assigned to the AHL rather than being sent back to junior. Jake Virtanen turns 19 in August and Jared McCann turned 19 in May, so both those players would have to follow in Bo Horvat's footsteps and make the Canucks out of training camp if they want to avoid spending another year with their junior clubs.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»