Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning has been manning the phones prior to the NHL Draft and today he announced the trading of defenseman Kevin Bieksa to the Anaheim Ducks. Going the other way, the Canucks receive a 2016 second round pick. The deal had been previously foreshadowed by Farhan Lalji, the Vancouver representative of TSN.
BREAKING: #NHLDucks acquire Kevin Bieksa from the @VanCanucks for a 2016 second-round draft pick. pic.twitter.com/k340BDbyYj
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) June 30, 2015
Bieksa, 34, is set to make $4.6 million next season and will then become an unrestricted free agent. The 6’1, near 200 pound defenseman has played a decade with the Canucks, amassing 56 goals and 185 assists in 597 games. Bieksa has also appeared in 70 post-season games, scoring 10 goals and adding 15 assists, while recording 122 penalty minutes.
Last season, Bieksa managed to put up just 14 points in 60 games, a career-low point total in a full season for him. While he averaged around 20 minutes per game during the season, his ice-time started to drop and Bieksa was reduced to the third-pairing by the time the post-season rolled around. In six games during the playoffs, Bieksa averaged around 18 minutes playing on the third-pairing with Luca Sbisa. The duo pulled the worst +/- numbers on the team, Bieksa rating at -14 and just slightly ahead of Sbisa’s -19. What’s alarming is the reason why his ice-time dropped significantly. His play had taken a drop-off from what Canucks fans had been used to seeing over the years. Credit to @muneebalamcu
Given his age, the drop in play and his cap hit of $4.6 million, Benning’s hand was forced. The Canucks blue-line is already climbing up in terms of age, with Dan Hamhuis on an expiring contract at the age of 32 and Alexander Edler approaching 30. With not much left to spend on the cap going into free agency, it was time to move some contracts and Bieksa was the first skater to face that fate. With the extra cap space, Benning can now adjust his blue-line accordingly, with Yannick Weber and Ryan Stanton both being restricted free agents, and Adam Clendening and Frank Corrado both in the pipeline who are ready to move up and challenge for a roster spot.
Bieksa was drafted in the 5th-round, 151st overall by the Canucks in the 2001 Draft.
Bieksa is reunited with former teammate Ryan Kesler who tweeted.
Quack quack @kbieksa3
— Ryan Kesler (@Ryan_Kesler) June 30, 2015
More details to follow.
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