Fansided

Biggest winners and losers of NHL free agency 2018

By Mackenzie Ingram

TORONTO, ON - JULY 1: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, poses with his jersey in the dressing room, after he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, at the Scotiabank Arena on July 1, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JULY 1: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs, poses with his jersey in the dressing room, after he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, at the Scotiabank Arena on July 1, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – FEBRUARY 23: Sven Baertschi #47 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates after scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at T-Mobile Arena on February 23, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – FEBRUARY 23: Sven Baertschi #47 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates after scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at T-Mobile Arena on February 23, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Loser: Vancouver Canucks

After failing to make the playoffs for a third straight season and witnessing the franchise’s most renowned players, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, retire, Vancouver seemed destined to be active come July 1.

Being busy over the free agency period isn’t always a good thing, however.

Sometimes, teams get burned by overpaying for single players who fail to produce at the levels that were anticipated of them. In the case of the Canucks, however, it is a series of questionable signings that has spectators puzzled as to what the team’s front office is hoping to achieve.

First, the team made the effort to acquire former Washington Capitals tough guy, Jay Beagle. This was followed up by giving fellow fourth liner, Antoine Roussel, an unreasonable sum of cash.

Beginning with Beagle, the 32-year old had probable hopes for a raise after helping the Washington Capitals win a Stanley Cup this past season. Luckily for him, this was exactly the case.

On the very first day of free agency, Vancouver offered Beagle a 4-year, $12 million contract, which he promptly accepted.

For argument’s sake, the addition of a player with playoff experience and grit is positive for any team; however, the Canucks overpaid for Beagle significantly.

Over his career, Beagle has averaged less than 0.25 points per game in both the regular season and playoffs, has never scored more than 13 goals and is yet to hold any sort of captaincy with an NHL team.

Additionally, Beagle was also given a modified no-trade clause throughout the duration of the four years, making his contract all the more difficult to shed if need be.

Continuing with the trend of overcommitting to role players, the Canucks also decided to award Antoine Roussel with a three-year contract that closely resembles that of the aforementioned Beagle.

Salary-wise, Roussel will have the exact same cap hit as Beagle, making $3 million per year, and has a modified no-trade clause in his deal as well. Also similar to his new teammate, Roussel has never scored more than 30 points in a season and mainly serves his role on the fourth line and penalty kill.

Joining the new signees, the Canucks also opted to bring back Sven Baertschi with a three-year, $3.36 million (per year) contract.

Baertschi was drafted 13th overall by the Calgary Flames in the 2011 Entry Draft, but was traded to Vancouver in 2015 after finding little success with his original team. Since then, he has averaged just more than 15 goals and 30 points per season with the Canucks.

Last year, Baertschi appeared in 53 games, registering 14 goals, 15 assists, and 29 points.

Signing three players who typically find themselves listed as bottom-six forwards for a combined $9 million per season is tough to justify for any team. To make matters worse for Vancouver, it limited potential trade suitors for Roussel and Beagle; something that may cause the franchise troubles come next offseason when a handful of valuable assets will be hitting the free-agent market.

Hopefully, for Canucks fans, next July’s team receives a better grade than this one.

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