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Vancouver Canucks avoid arbitration with 2-year deal for Troy Stecher
July 20, 2018, 3:03 PM ET [308 Comments]
Carol Schram
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Out of 44 NHL players who initially filed for salary arbitration this summer, 20 settled before the hearings began this morning in Toronto with Jacob Trouba and the Winnipeg Jets.

That number's now up to 21 after the Vancouver Canucks announced a new two-year deal for their lone arbitration candidate, Troy Stecher, on Friday.




An unrestricted free agent who had completed three years at North Dakota and won an NCAA title when he signed with the Canucks in the summer of 2016, Stecher put up 24 points in 19:59 of ice time per game under Willie Desjardins and was voted the Canucks' best defenseman in the end-of-season awards in his rookie year. He regressed a bit under Travis Green, to 11 points in 18:49 of ice time. After missing 14 games in October and November with that gruesome leg injury, he did earn Green's trust as the season wore on. His ice time increased to the point where he was averaging 21:12 per game in March and 21:56 in April.

Coming off a deal that paid him $925,000 per season, there was some concern that Stecher could be asking for more money than his teammate Ben Hutton, who made $2.8 million last season in the first year of a two-year deal but recorded 12 healthy scratches over the course of the year.

With Hutton's deal at the high end, I saw arguments that Stecher's new deal could land as low as $1.75 million. It looks like the Canucks and Stecher's agent basically split the difference in the end, which is just fine.

The Canucks have now locked up their entire defensive group from last season. Now the fun begins—will they be able to make a deal before the season starts to upgrade and/or make a space for Quinn Hughes?

Jason Botchford took a crack at answering that question. In his eyes, the options are very limited.




At this rate, the Canucks' best shot at cutting down goals against may come from improved team defense with the addition of their veteran free agents—and possibly some better goaltending from Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson under the tutelage of new goalie coach Ian Clark.

Considering his dramatically increased workload, Markstrom held his own in his first season as a full-time starter and played his best hockey near the end of the year, with a .928 save percentage and 2.37 goals-against average in 11 games in March. Nilsson had his rough patches but he also had some excellent moments, including those two shutouts early in the season and a gold-medal win at the end with Team Sweden at the World Championship.

The latest word is that Hughes and his family will now wait until after the World Junior Showcase in Kamloops at the end of the month to decide on the best path to take.




A guy who knows what it's like to come out of college, Brock Boeser suggested that Hughes might benefit from another year in Michigan in his appearance on Sportsnet 650 on Thursday.




Two weeks into Da Beauty League, Boeser's scoring exploits have already become commonplace.

After a four-point night in Week 1, Boeser added another three goals and two assists in Team Bic's 10-4 win over TRIA in Week 2. The other two games were both high scoring—Velocity beat Walser 8-7 in overtime before Tradition beat RBC 13-7—but Boeser remains at the top of the scoring race.




As if we needed confirmation—Boeser says he's totally healthy.




Sophomore seasons are tough, and expectations for Boeser are high. He'll get better ice time—and tougher matchups—but should be coming into the season even stronger than last year.




And speaking of sharpshooters—Elias Pettersson STILL hasn't finished collecting all his awards from his fantastic 2017-18 season.




"When handed the prize a few months removed from his fairy-tale season, Pettersson still sounds surprised with how it all went down," writes Uffe Bodin at EliteProspects.com:

“I knew before the season started that I would do a good job in the SHL, but I never thought I would do it this well”, he said. “I never doubted my knowledge about the game, but that I would play this good… No way.”

The secret behind his success is not really a secret. The talent has always been evident. That combined with hard work has made Pettersson one of the more intriguing NHL prospects right now.

“It’s the hard work and the stubborness that’s behind this”, he said. “I’ve always had the drive to become a better player. I stay around after practice, either doing stuff in the gym or on the ice. I always do something extra. Ever since I was a kid, I always had this feeling ‘what if I don’t do enough to take me where I want to go?’ That’s why I always try to do the extra stuff.”


On that note: have a great weekend. Enjoy the sunshine!!
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