As if our recent list of restricted free agents reminded the Vancouver Canucks of their still-needed contract negotiations, the team has announced a two-year deal with Brendan Gaunce worth a total of $1.5MM. Gaunce will remain a restricted free agent at the end of the contract.
The 23-year old played 56 games for the Canucks last season but was held to just five points, a hugely disappointing number for a former first-round pick. Gaunce was selected 26th-overall in 2012, but has just six points to his name in the NHL so far. Amazingly he led the entire Vancouver forward group with 94 hits, embracing the fourth line bang-and-crash role that he’d been given.
That role needs to increase if Gaunce is ever to show some of the offensive skill he has flashed at the lower levels. In junior, he was a two time 30-goal scorer who could drag defenders to the net with his size and strength and in the AHL he’s been a fairly successful power forward. It hasn’t translated to the NHL, but with a one-way commitment for two years the Canucks are essentially telling Gaunce that this is his chance to prove himself. The rebuilding club needs some of their young depth players to step up if they’re to ever get back to contention, and Gaunce (along with Jake Virtanen, another disappointing first round pick) is right at the top of that list.
Vancouver still has one restricted free agent left to sign and it’s an extremely important one: Bo Horvat. The young center is a huge part of their future, and GM Jim Benning has been clear he wants to sign him to a long-term deal. With Gaunce now out of the way, his entire attention can be given to the Horvat situation.