After signing forward Jayce Hawryluk to a one-year deal, the Vancouver Canucks re-signed centre Adam Gaudette a one-year contract worth $950,000.
Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning can check off another major task from his offseason to-do list.
On Monday morning, the Canucks announced that they have re-signed centre Adam Gaudette to a one-year deal contract worth a team-friendly $950,000. The 24-year-old was a restricted free agent.
Gaudette was drafted in the fifth round — 149th overall — by the Canucks in 2015. The 2018 Hobey Baker Award winner set career highs across the board last season: 12 goals and 33 points in 59 regular season games.
He also suited up in 10 of Vancouver’s 2020 playoff games (zero points), averaging 10:26 in ice time per game.
Gaudette saw five games of action in the 2017-18 season. He made the roster in 2018-19, tallying five goals and 12 points in 56 games. For his career, Gaudette has 17 goals and 45 points in 120 NHL games.
News of Gaudette’s deal came shortly after the team signed forward Jayce Hawryluk to a one-year, two-way contract, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. In 26 total games last season — 15 with the Florida Panthers and 11 with the Ottawa Senators — Hawryluk posted three goals and 10 points.
With Gaudette signed, the focus is now on Jake Virtanen, who has an arbitration hearing scheduled for Oct. 28. Coming off a career season of his own (18 goals and 36 points in 69 games), Virtanen could earn around $3 million for 2020-21. If that’s the case, Benning will have to get creative in opening up cap space.
But getting Gaudette re-signed at a bargain $950,000 price tag is a massive win for Benning and company. Gaudette has the chance to build off a career year, and if he does that, he should receive a nice raise and a multi-year extension.
Benning already addressed the goaltending situation by signing Braden Holtby to replace Jacob Markstrom, and the defence received an upgrade with the Nate Schmidt acquisition. For the Canucks, all that’s left on the mandatory list of tasks is to resolve the Virtanen contract situation.