The Vancouver Canucks have decided to add some veteran leadership to the bottom-six, signing Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle to matching four-year, $12MM contracts. The pair will carry an average annual value of $3MM each, while both will get some level of trade protection.
Roussel, 28, recorded five goals and twelves assists in 73 games last year for the Dallas Stars, though he totaled 25+ points in each of the four seasons prior. Beagle, 32, if fresh off of a Stanley Cup title with the Washington Capitals and remains one of the top face-off men in the league and set a career-high with 30 points a year ago.
Vancouver GM Jim Benning is clearly investing in bottom-six experience and two-way ability, targeting both players and doing whatever took to bring them in. Both players drew ample attention and the Canucks reportedly had to beat out competitors in a tight bidding war for each contract.
One of these guys was enough