The Vancouver Canucks have signed defencemen Philip Larsen to a one year, $1.025 million deal.
Philip Larsen signs with Canucks. 1 yr at $1.025 mil
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 1, 2016
The Canucks originally acquired Larsen’s rights in February from Edmonton for a conditional fifth round pick. Larsen was one of the best defencemen in the KHL last year, registering 11 goals and 36 points in 52 games for Jokerit.
Larsen will come in and be competing for a spot on the Canucks blue line next season.
Jeff Veillette had a great breakdown on Larsen’s season as well as the potential player he could be for Vancouver. The 26 year-old is a dynamic offensive blueliner who put up great shot rates in the KHL. The right-handed shooting defencemen will likely get a look on the Canucks’ power play.
Larsen brings very little risk and the potential to solidify the Canucks defense core even more. He will very likely fill the role of Yannick Weber from two seasons prior if he can continue his success from overseas. If not, it’s a cheap one-year deal that bares little-to-no risk for the Canucks.
If Larsen does pan out, the conditional fifth-rounder can turn into a fourth if Larsen reaches certain offensive thresholds.
Maybe Edmonton will trade Draisaitl straight across for him.
His offensive upside and the fact he is a right handed pointman make this a good signing.
Benning is having a good day
Fingers crossed this means no Russell
x 100
never understood the Russel rumour unless we were moving a dman out. and still it wasn’t appealing.
Larsen is listed as 183 pounds, Hutton is 183, Tanev is 185, and Biega is 187. Some of these guys could beef up a bit.
On the other hand, if Tryamkin were any heavier he’d fall through the ice.
“The right-handed shooting defencemen”
Defencemen?
So there are more than one of him?
An individual who plays defence is a defencemAn.
for this money to be spent means all their significant ufa targets are signed elsewhere.
it will be delicious if larsen outshines larsson this year.
If that happens some might even label it “larceny”! hahaha… I hate myself
Don’t worry, we hate you too. 🙂
Ran Larsen’s KHL numbers from the last couple seasons through a couple NHL equivalent conversion engines, and came up with numbers in the 42-45 pts per 82 games played range for last year, about 29 for the year prior, and average of 37.7. Goes without saying that his worst numbers would still be our best D last year.
Of course, that’s just theory; let’s see what happens when he hits the ice this fall.
With Edmonton so bereft of defence, i’m curious why they dealt Larsen to Vancouver. Mind boggling.