The Vancouver Canucks re-signed Tanner Pearson to a three-year deal with an annual average value of $3.25 million per season on Thursday afternoon, and most fans weren’t happy, to say the least.
Not only was this an overpay for a declining role player, but it will also handicap Vancouver’s ability to roster a playoff team next year, so the earliest we’ll be watching playoff hockey would be the 2022-23 season.
With that said, the scariest thing about Pearson’s new contract has to do with the Canucks’ plan, or lack thereof. The team should’ve only re-signed him if they knew that their window of contention will lie during the length of his deal, which simply isn’t the case.
Don’t believe me? Well, you can hear it from Jim Benning himself.
“In two years time, I think we’re going to be real competitive.” #Canucks GM Jim Benning.
— David Quadrelli (@QuadrelliD) March 5, 2021
So, according to the general manager himself, this team is still at least two years away from being competitive. By that time, Pearson will only have one year left on his deal and be on the wrong side of 30, which doesn’t bode well considering he’s already experienced alarming declines this season.
The question then becomes, why would he overpay for a player who isn’t part of the core group and extend him for a length of time when the Canucks won’t even compete for the cup? As far as I can see, the only answer that makes sense is that this team just doesn’t have a plan, and it’s made worse by the fact that they’re deluding themselves when it comes to their cap situation.
"I don't forsee any cap problems this summer," says Jim Benning. #Canucks
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) April 9, 2021
If having less than $10 million left in cap space to flesh out a third of their roster for next season isn’t a problem, then I don’t know what is.
Harman Dayal put it best in the following tweet:
Like @SatiarShah said: If the GM himself said he thinks the window is two years from now, signing a soon-to-be 29-year-old who's already declined this season to a three-year extension doesn't align with the club's competitive cycle. #Canucks need to stick to a concrete plan
— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) April 8, 2021
Before the extension, it seemed as if all of the team’s bad contracts would expire at the end of next season, and Vancouver would be able to start building around their young core in the summer of 2022. After Pearson’s new deal, however, it seems like the Canucks are risking pushing their window back even further — if that time even comes — as his contract could become a liability and replace the other bad deals on the team.
But what do you think, Canucks fans? Am I being too harsh in my assessment of Pearson’s extension? Let us know in the comments below!