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Vancouver Canucks linked to UFAs Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, prospect camp |
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Storylines change quickly in the run-up to free agency. On Friday, I was worried that the John Tavares announcement would break right after I posted my overview for Forbes.
In that article, I quote Ron Hextall as saying that the Tavares situation is "holding up the hockey world," both in terms of free agency and trades. One full day later, little has changed. The Tavares camp still hasn't shown its cards, which has left the rest of the league in limbo.
We've had a few minor announcements, most notably the Winnipeg Jets moving out Joel Armia and Steve Mason to Montreal. That clears some cap space, which probably means the second-best free-agent centre available, Paul Stastny, will be staying with the Jets (and that the Jets are now officially out of "free agents don't want to sign there" jail.) On the blue line, Mike Green is re-signing with Detroit while Drew Doughty and Niklas Hjalmarsson are said to be ready to sign extensions with the Kings and Coyotes, respectively. And Andrei Svechnikov becomes the first player from the 2018 draft class to agree to terms on a contract, with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Canucks Twitter got fired up on Friday with talk of Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel as potential free-agent targets.
Beagle turns 33 in October and is coming off a three-year deal that carried a cap hit of $1.75 million. He has more size than I realized, listed at 6'3" and 215 pounds, but he's not a super-physical player. He has never had more than 28 penalty minutes in a season and he ranked 10th on the Caps with 69 hits last year, two less than Lars Eller.
Beagle is a terrific penalty killer—and when I watch Washington, it seems like he is able to generate some offense from his defensive role. He hit career highs with 13 goals and 30 points in 2016-17.
I can buy into Dan Murphy's logic:
A couple of days ago, I said I'd rather see the Canucks target someone like Tobias Rieder, but it sounds like that probably won't be happening. Beagle does have other interested teams, so I hope the price doesn't go up from here. But I do see the logic behind wanting to bring in a steady veteran. I also wonder, if the Canucks land Beagle, if that could open them up to the possibility of trading Brandon Sutter down the road—especially if some of the kids show that that they are able to step up and play this year?
As for Antoine Roussel, he would bring the hits and the PIMs.
He turns 29 in November and has less size, listed at 5'11" and 195 pounds. But he finished sixth on the Stars with 104 hits last season and third in the league with 126 penalty minutes—although he was well back of Micheal Haley of Florida (212) and Tom Wilson of Washington (187).
Usually good for about 30 points a year, Roussel saw his ice time drop under Ken Hitchcock last season. He managed just five goals and 17 points, his least productive season since his rookie year. He didn't even see as much penalty-killing duty under Hitchcock as he did with Lindy Ruff—it seems like he just wasn't a fit with Hitch.
Roussel's coming off a four-year deal that carried a cap hit of $2 million per season. An undrafted player from France who came up through the QMJHL, in many ways his career path is reminiscent of Alex Burrows. I'm not sure he has the same upside, though. Burrows was 27 when he put together his first 20-goal season—and Roussel won't be getting a chance to play with the Sedins...
Roussel's agent says he has talked with at least 10 teams about his player, so it's not a slam dunk that he'll be coming to Vancouver. But I like the fit, if it works out.
If Tavares doesn't make his announcement today, I wonder how much that'll affect the action on July 1? He can only take the eight-year extension option with the Islanders until midnight ET tonight, while he's still under contract; that goes away tomorrow. But if he's undecided beyond that, there's nothing to say that he couldn't take more time—and even potentially come back to the Islanders on a seven-year deal.
If he waits, that'll put a serious damper on Sunday's Free Agent Frenzy shows. And if the ripple effect means that teams wait to make decisions on other players, it'll keep the news cycle interesting as we roll into what's usually the dog days of summer—but it'll also disrupt reporters' precious vacation time.
Meanwhile—the Canucks' on-ice sessions with their prospects don't start till Monday, but the kids are already in town.
Here's the full updated roster:
All eyes will be on Quinn Hughes this week, for sure. Other 2018 draftees Jett Woo, Tyler Madden, Toni Utunen and Matthew Thiessen are also on hand; Artem Manukyan is not.
Elias Pettersson is the only prospect from the 2017 draft class who isn't in attendance. It'll be interesting to see how Kole Lind, Jonah Gadjovich, Michael DiPietro, Jack Rathbone, Kristoffer Gunnarsson and Petrus Palmu have progressed. Matt Brassard is also in attendance, but he's recovering from shoulder surgery that will keep him off the ice until December.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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