Vancouver Canucks sign Jay Beagle, what it means
The Vancouver Canucks did something that I warned against. They gave an older tough guy term because he won a Stanley Cup. Prepare to write off the next four years.
It’s a real shame. I want to give Jim Benning and the Vancouver Canucks the benefit of the doubt. Really, I do. But, when you are offering dumb contracts during silly season year after year, that trust erodes.
It’s official. Jay Beagle will be a Vancouver Canuck. He was signed to a four-year deal, at $3 million per season. My issue isn’t with the money. It’s a little high, but that is something we have to accept on July 1st. The real problem is the term.
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Beagle will be 33 years old and he was just handed a four-year deal. If we are paying attention to contracts, we are going to have Loui Eriksson, Beagle and Antoine Roussel locked down until 2022 (Roussel article will be up soon).
That’s $12.5 million and three roster spots taken away from any Canucks rookies. This smells like we just added a couple buyout candidates for 2020.
Good thing there may be a lockout then. Canucks may need three or four compliance buyouts.
Despite what Rick Dhaliwal tells you, nobody is forcing you to sign this deal. Canucks got priced out for Tyler Bozak. If there is too much term, walk away. But that would be the smart thing to do.
Benning fell for the free agency trifecta
What did I say? First, physical players tend to wear down on the other side of 30. Seems rather dumb to lock down that type of player until he is 37. Second, pulling players off a team that just won a Stanley Cup will be expensive. If they aren’t taking a discount to stay with their team, they are looking to cash in. And Jim Benning just gave Beagle a heck of a retirement deal.
Lastly, we will be fed lies that Beagle makes us tough to play against and insulates the young guys. Really? I can’t see how Adam Gaudette gets insulated when he is sent to Utica due to a lack of roster spaces. Do you think there is any scenario where Beagle is waived in his first season here because Gaudette plays better? Not a chance.
The Edmonton Oilers used to tell their fans this lie when they signed Andrew Ference. He did a great job as captain, watching those Oiler teams sink to the bottom of the league. These guys don’t insulate anything. You acquire them once your team is built, not when you are in the middle of it.
That’s something the Canucks have never learned after four years of this and have tied up a tonne of garbage on deals with term. 2021 is where the Canucks can free themselves from a couple bad deals, but as I said earlier, there are still three terrible ones for the following year.
Next: Signing tough guys won't help a rebuild
You may think it doesn’t matter now because the Canucks won’t be competitive, but let me ask you this. Did you watch all 82 games last season?
Do you want every game to be a soul-sucking defensive trap where Travis Green tries to win every game 2-1 or 1-0. Most of the games were unwatchable last year, even with Brock Boeser in the lineup. Buckle up, Canucks fans. Looks we have at least four more years of mediocrity on the table. What a joke.