Vancouver Canucks sign Antoine Roussel and Tim Schaller
By Alex Hoegler
On Sunday, the Vancouver Canucks continued to baffle their fans by making a couple of more questionable free agent signings. Add tough guys Antoine Roussel and Tim Schaller to the list.
When it comes to free agency, the Vancouver Canucks are the opposite of a box full of chocolates — you always know what you’re going to get.
On Sunday, the front office reminded us that they like to spend a lot of money on non-impact players who don’t fit the rebuilding plan. Antoine Roussel and Tim Schaller were signed to multi-year deals, as if signing Jay Beagle wasn’t enough.
Roussel in Vancouver will be 4 years and 3.2 million per season. Roussel was the 1st player the #Canucks agreed with, was high in their list.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) July 1, 2018
Tim Schaller to Vancouver. 2 years. $1.9 and $1.9
— Mark Divver (@MarkDivver) July 1, 2018
The 28-year-old Roussel had five goals and 17 points in 73 games for the Dallas Stars last season. He has scored double-digit goals four times, but Roussel hasn’t tallied more than 29 points in a season. But the 5-foot-11 forward did have a 52.4 Corsi For percentage last season, so there’s that.
As for Schaller, the 27-year-old produced 12 goals and 22 points in 82 games for the Boston Bruins last season. The Canucks aren’t signing Schaller for his minimal offense, but his hard-to-play-against style. Schaller (6-foot-2, 210 pounds), had 132 hits last season and should be slotted in as one of their primary penalty killers.
But at the end of the day, these signings are going to cause a lot of eyebrow raises in Vancouver. A number of fans and pundits took to Twitter to voice their displeasure.
Waking up to Friedman’s report that Canucks are handing out four year deals to Roussel and Beagle and man, I’ve literally sat here for five minutes trying to come up with a funny joke about it and I’ve got nothing.
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) July 1, 2018
They’ve officially killed my laughter.
This day just keeps getting worse for #Canucks fans. https://t.co/UX3wsvlah0
— J.D. Burke (@JDylanBurke) July 1, 2018
No disrespect towards Schaller, Beagle or Roussel, but the Canucks are supposed to be throwing their young players into the mix next season. But Benning got up to his old tricks of generously spending on bottom-six players who won’t do a whole lot to help this team get through the rebuilding process.
Next: Canucks sign Jay Beagle, what it means
Maybe we’re wrong about these signings. Perhaps the good puck possession numbers from Schaller and Roussel will be brought over to Vancouver in 2018-19, but it’s hard to see how these signings will be worthwhile.