The Vancouver Canucks and center Sam Gagner have agreed to a three-year, $9.45 million contract, reports TSN’s Pierre LeBrun. The deal runs through the 2019-20 season and includes a $3.15 million annual cap hit.
Sam Gagner signs 3-year, $9.45 million contract with Canucks, per report
Gagner heads to Vancouver to help its power play.
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Gagner gets a much better deal this offseason than he did a year ago. At that time, he had to settle for a one-year, $650,000 contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets due to a lack of interest. In the end, it ended up being one of the biggest free-agent bargains of the year.
Columbus got 18 goals and 32 assists from Gagner over 81 games. The 50 points represent a career high for the 27-year-old, although it shouldn’t be too surprising. From 2008-15, he averaged 42 points per season.
Part of what allowed Gagner to flourish was how the Blue Jackets used him on the power play. He was dangerous as a right shot with the man advantage, racking up 18 of his 50 points that way.
Now it’ll be interesting to see whether the Canucks use him the same way. They definitely needed help on the power play after finishing 29th with a 14.1 percent success rate last season. Gagner should be an immediate upgrade there, so it’s not hard to see why Vancouver decided to do this.
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