Another restricted free agent has been signed back by the Vancouver Canucks as this time it is forward Markus Granlund. He signs a one-year contract worth $1.475 million. Granlund has played two full seasons with the Canucks (the season before he played 16 games after getting traded from the Calgary Flames) and was one goal shy of a 20 goal season in 2016-2017.
“Markus is a versatile forward with the ability to play in all situations,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning said in a statement. “He plays a complete, two-way game and has shown he can produce offensively.”
Vancouver Canucks Re-Sign Markus Granlund
This past season, Granlund had eight goals and four assists for 12 points in 53 games for the Canucks. He didn’t get to play a full season due to injury and his numbers went down because of it. Going into the season, it was hoped that Granlund was going to build off his strong season from 2016-17 but it just didn’t happen. Before his 19 goals, his previous high was eight, just like it was this past season. He’ll look to be healthy throughout his deal as the Canucks could surely use some more goal scoring in their lineup.
Possession wise, Granlund was only at 46 percent Corsi-for this past season, with a relative Corsi of -2.8. The season before that, he was at 51.1 percent Corsi-For with a relative Corsi of +3.7. That season seems to be an anomaly. Every other season he’s been in the league, he’s been at 46% or below and a negative relative Corsi. Granlund is best suited for a bottom six role where he can provide depth scoring as he did in 2017. He’s not a top-six player even though he was put on a line with Thomas Vanek and Brock Boeser earlier this past season for a bit.
The Canucks won’t be going to the playoffs anytime soon, especially without Daniel and Henrik Sedin since they retired after this season. Despite that, Granlund will look to give the Canucks more scoring this season than they had last season and each season he’s signed for. He’ll likely be in the bottom six to start the season.
