Canucks: Josh Leivo would be a terrific depth signing
The Vancouver Canucks are still filling out their roster ahead of next season and Josh Leivo would be an excellent fit on the right side if he is to return.
Josh Leivo is still an unrestricted free agency and the Vancouver Canucks would be crazy not to offer him a new contract.
When it comes to filling out the roster for next year, the general manager of the Canucks, Jim Benning has been hard at work this offseason. After letting all of Jacob Markstrom, Tyler Toffoli, Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher sign with other teams, he’s been able to find new, possibly more suitable players to fill the hole they left behind.
Replacing back-to-back MVP Markstrom, the Canucks signed netminder, Braden Holtby to a two-year contract that carries a $4.3 million average annual value. With the exit of Tanev, Benning traded a future third-round draft pick to acquire the high-end puck-moving defender Nate Schmidt. And instead of replacing Stecher with another top-six blueliner from the market, management has decided to reach within their prospect pool and give a few young players a shot.
But when it comes to replacing former Stanley Cup winner Toffoli, the Canucks are yet to make their move. There have been some rumblings about a possible trade for Montreal Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher, but a trade wouldn’t make much sense given the fact that they just let Toffoli go at a very reasonable price of $4.25 million a year for four years.
That’s where Leivo comes in. Originally acquired by the Canucks in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs back in December of 2018, Leivo has been nothing short of a stellar option for Vancouver anywhere in the top-nine. In 85 games with the Canucks, Leivo has scored 37 points (17 goals, 20 assists).
He was having a career year in 2019 until it was halted immediately in its tracks. A nasty knee injury sidelined him for the remainder of the year and Leivo hasn’t played a game since. The fact that he hasn’t played in over 10 months gives leverage to the Canucks in contract talks. Leivo was on a very cheap “show me” deal prior to the injury and it would make a lot of sense for Vancouver to offer him something similar.
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He’s been on the market for over five days now and with the way the UFA signings have been going this year around the league, somebody is going to snatch him up at a very good price. Better it be the Canucks rather than another team, am I right?
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Another “show me” contract would be at very little risk for Vancouver and if Leivo can bounce back to his 2019 form, the signing would carry a big reward. It’s a win-win situation right now and Benning shouldn’t wait to capitalize on this opportunity.