Gaudette back on one-year deal
Third-year pivot noted for energy, skill; team also adds depth forward Hawryluk
Adam Gaudette is officially back in the Vancouver Canucks' fold.
And coupled with a second signing on Monday — that of free-agent forward Jayce Hawryluk — the Canucks' 2020-21 roster picture is growing ever clearer.
Gaudette, a third-year centre, and the National Hockey League team agreed to a one-year contract that will pay him $950,000, a small raise over the $925,000 he earned last season.
Canucks general manager Jim Benning said there was never much doubt about getting Gaudette resigned.
“We were always going to get that figured out,” Benning said matter-of-factly over the phone on Monday.
“He's made good progress for us. We like his energy and skill.”
Gaudette was a handy player on the Canucks' second power play unit last year and was a solid offensive contributor at even strength as well in 2019-20. But he was often scratched in the post-season, going pointless in 10 games.
Gaudette didn't speak with the media on Monday, but he did tweet about his re-signing.
“Excited to be back with the Canucks again this season! Little switch up coming at ya,” he tweeted, before indicating his new sweater number will be 96 — he's given up No. 88 to new addition Nate Schmidt.
Because Gaudette, 24, played only five games at the tail end of the 2017-18 season, he didn't accrue a season of service time under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, even as he burned a full year on a three-year contract he signed after leaving Northeastern University.
That left him as a 10.2(c) player, meaning that unlike a conventional restricted free agent, he couldn't accept a qualifying offer nor could he opt for salary arbitration. Defenceman Quinn Hughes will be in that same category next summer.
If Gaudette had full rights as an RFA, he probably would have earned himself a bigger raise given he scored 12 goals and added 21 assists in 59 games last season for the Canucks.
There's little doubt the Canucks are pleased with Gaudette's offensive growth, but they still need to see improvement in his defensive game. He was relegated to fourthline ice time when he did play in the playoffs, a statement about how the coaching staff felt about his overall game in comparison to Jay Beagle, who doesn't contribute
much offensively but still holds a strong defensive reputation.
A native of Braintree, Mass., Gaudette was originally drafted by the Canucks in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, 149th overall. He won the Hobey Baker Award as the top U.S. collegiate hockey player for 2017-18.
Hawryluk's new deal is for one year. He will carry an $800,000 cap hit when he's in the NHL; if he's demoted to the minors he'll be paid $200,000. A plucky bottom-six winger — he's also comfortable playing centre — who brings energy and showed a scoring touch in junior, the 24-year-old Hawryluk split the 2019-20 season between the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators organizations, skating in 26 NHL games.
He scored three goals and added seven assists for the two Eastern Conference squads. He also played six games for the Springfield Thunderbirds, Florida's American Hockey League affiliate. This isn't the first time Benning has had his eye on Hawryluk: he tried to trade up at the 2014 draft to nab him, but the Panthers took him 32nd overall. Benning ended up taking Thatcher Demko four picks later.
“I'm looking forward to a fresh start with a team that sees potential in me,” Hawryluk told reporters on a Zoom call Monday. He didn't play much in Florida in 2019-20 before eventually being waived days before the trade deadline. He has a reputation as a hustling, hard-working forward who has a touch of skill and plays bigger than his five-foot-11 frame.
Hawryluk was one of five Senators who tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-March. It's believed he and his teammates picked up the novel coronavirus in Los Angeles during the latter stages of a road trip that saw them fly home to Ottawa as the season went on pause. He suffered relatively mild symptoms, but the experience still gave him pause.
“When I came in contact with it, it was a scary feeling, there was a lot of unknown with it,” he said. “I didn't go to the hospital, but it's still scary. You see all the numbers. ... You've got to take this seriously.
“I think people are taking the right precautions,” he said.
Signing Gaudette and Hawryluk means the Canucks are now nearly capped out, with one more forward still to be signed in Jake Virtanen.
Virtanen has an arbitration hearing scheduled for Oct. 28, but could sign before then. It's expected he will land a deal that will pay him $3 million per season.