<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a salary cap world, it’s crucial for successful National Hockey League teams to extract value from deals by having players perform well above their pay grades. And with a 6-2-3 record after <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/stanchies-quinn-hughes-historic-night-fuels-vancouver-canucks-5-1-victory-ducks">Tuesday’s 5-1 win in Anaheim</a>, without question, the Canucks are benefiting from a number of contributors who are producing at levels well above their contracts. With that in mind, here are the top five value contracts on the Canucks through the team’s first 11 games:</span></p>
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<h1><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quinn Hughes</span></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The captain is playing like a top three player in the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-quinn-hughes-third-fastest-nhl-defenceman-reach-300-assists">NHL these days</a>. And he’s doing it with the 78th highest cap hit in the league this season. It’s mind-boggling stuff. It feels like it needs to be shouted repeatedly that Hughes makes $7.850M and will for two seasons beyond this one. Value isn’t all about finding productive players at or near league minimum, it also comes in the form of a superstar stacking dominant performances and leaving his mark on games on a nightly basis and doing so at a rate that is roughly half of what he’d get on the open market. After Tuesday’s three assist effort, Hughes leads the Canucks in scoring with 12 points. With Hughes on the ice at 5-on-5 so far this season, the Canucks have outscored opponents 13-4 and have controlled 68% of expected goals. He is truly one of the best bargains in the league.</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">on top of everything else he does better than most, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> Quinn Hughes hasn&#39;t taken a penalty yet this season. Leads team in ice time. Faces tough match-ups. Is focus of every opponent. And somehow has avoided a trip to the box. Maybe add a Lady Byng to the Norris</p>
<p>&mdash; Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) <a href="https://twitter.com/patersonjeff/status/1854068405252362613?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
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<h1><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kevin Lankinen</span></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Six wins in eight starts. The best goals against average of any goalie in the NHL that has appeared in five games this season. Oh, and the fifth best save percentage among that group, too. All for $875,000. It’s ridiculous how much value the 29-year-old Finn has provided since signing on the final weekend of training camp. Lankinen is 6-0-2 on the season with a 2.09 GAA and a 92.3% save percentage. Incredibly, 62 goalies are making more than Lankinen this season. The Canucks were patient in their pursuit of the unrestricted free agent who remained unsigned into September. That patience has paid off with one of the most team-friendly contracts in the league so far this season.</span></p>
<h1><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kiefer Sherwood</span></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It remains a mystery how the Nashville Predators could let Sherwood get away for just $1.5M. But the Canucks certainly aren’t complaining. Not only is Sherwood under contract for this season at that attractive rate, but he is signed for next year at that same price point. Sherwood has been sensational in the early going for the Canucks. He scored and had an assist on Tuesday in Anaheim. He is fifth on the team in scoring with three goals and seven points. He leads the NHL in hits – by a dozen – with 72 through 11 games. He kills penalties. And he’s settled in quickly to form the team’s most consistent line with Teddy Blueger and Danton Heinen. His production may dip as the season progresses, but there&#8217;s no reason to think Sherwood can&#8217;t continue to be an impactful player over the duration of his deal.</span></p>
<h1><span style="font-weight: 400;">Erik Brännström</span></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the span of a month, Brännström has been acquired as part of a salary dump, sent to the minors, been recalled, played both the left and right sides and has solidified the bottom four of the Canucks defence all for $900,000. He picked up his second point of the season on Tuesday in Anaheim where he logged 16:03. The Canucks control 57.4% of all 5-on-5 shot attempts and 61.3% of all expected goals with the smooth skating Swede on the ice. And they’ve outscored opponents 8-3. Brännström has done everything the Canucks could have possibly hoped for – and he’s doing it for under a million bucks. Perhaps it&#8217;s time to start asking what his next contract will look like.</span></p>
<h1><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nils Höglander</span></h1>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While he hasn’t been as productive as he was in the early stages last season, Höglander still has two goals and five points through 11 games. The production may not jump off the page, but it’s important to remember he’s making $1.1M this season before his new three-year extension kicks in. He started the season in the top six, but has dropped to the bottom six in recent games. Still, he seems to be rounding out his game, slowly gaining the trust of Rick Tocchet and has shown growth away from the puck as evidenced by his positive possession metrics across the board (51.6% CF, 55.1% shot edge, 59.4% scoring chance advantage and 57.4% xGF).</span></p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>


<span style="font-weight: 400;">In a salary cap world, it’s crucial for successful National Hockey League teams to extract value from deals by having players perform well above their pay grades. And with a 6-2-3 record after <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/stanchies-quinn-hughes-historic-night-fuels-vancouver-canucks-5-1-victory-ducks">Tuesday’s 5-1 win in Anaheim</a>, without question, the Canucks are benefiting from a number of contributors who are producing at levels well above their contracts. With that in mind, here are the top five value contracts on the Canucks through the team’s first 11 games:</span>
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&nbsp;
<h1><span style="font-weight: 400;">Quinn Hughes</span></h1>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The captain is playing like a top three player in the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-quinn-hughes-third-fastest-nhl-defenceman-reach-300-assists">NHL these days</a>. And he’s doing it with the 78th highest cap hit in the league this season. It’s mind-boggling stuff. It feels like it needs to be shouted repeatedly that Hughes makes $7.850M and will for two seasons beyond this one. Value isn’t all about finding productive players at or near league minimum, it also comes in the form of a superstar stacking dominant performances and leaving his mark on games on a nightly basis and doing so at a rate that is roughly half of what he’d get on the open market. After Tuesday’s three assist effort, Hughes leads the Canucks in scoring with 12 points. With Hughes on the ice at 5-on-5 so far this season, the Canucks have outscored opponents 13-4 and have controlled 68% of expected goals. He is truly one of the best bargains in the league.</span>

https://twitter.com/patersonjeff/status/1854068405252362613
<h1><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kevin Lankinen</span></h1>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Six wins in eight starts. The best goals against average of any goalie in the NHL that has appeared in five games this season. Oh, and the fifth best save percentage among that group, too. All for $875,000. It’s ridiculous how much value the 29-year-old Finn has provided since signing on the final weekend of training camp. Lankinen is 6-0-2 on the season with a 2.09 GAA and a 92.3% save percentage. Incredibly, 62 goalies are making more than Lankinen this season. The Canucks were patient in their pursuit of the unrestricted free agent who remained unsigned into September. That patience has paid off with one of the most team-friendly contracts in the league so far this season.</span>
<h1><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kiefer Sherwood</span></h1>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">It remains a mystery how the Nashville Predators could let Sherwood get away for just $1.5M. But the Canucks certainly aren’t complaining. Not only is Sherwood under contract for this season at that attractive rate, but he is signed for next year at that same price point. Sherwood has been sensational in the early going for the Canucks. He scored and had an assist on Tuesday in Anaheim. He is fifth on the team in scoring with three goals and seven points. He leads the NHL in hits – by a dozen – with 72 through 11 games. He kills penalties. And he’s settled in quickly to form the team’s most consistent line with Teddy Blueger and Danton Heinen. His production may dip as the season progresses, but there's no reason to think Sherwood can't continue to be an impactful player over the duration of his deal.</span>
<h1><span style="font-weight: 400;">Erik Brännström</span></h1>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">In the span of a month, Brännström has been acquired as part of a salary dump, sent to the minors, been recalled, played both the left and right sides and has solidified the bottom four of the Canucks defence all for $900,000. He picked up his second point of the season on Tuesday in Anaheim where he logged 16:03. The Canucks control 57.4% of all 5-on-5 shot attempts and 61.3% of all expected goals with the smooth skating Swede on the ice. And they’ve outscored opponents 8-3. Brännström has done everything the Canucks could have possibly hoped for – and he’s doing it for under a million bucks. Perhaps it's time to start asking what his next contract will look like.</span>
<h1><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nils Höglander</span></h1>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">While he hasn’t been as productive as he was in the early stages last season, Höglander still has two goals and five points through 11 games. The production may not jump off the page, but it’s important to remember he’s making $1.1M this season before his new three-year extension kicks in. He started the season in the top six, but has dropped to the bottom six in recent games. Still, he seems to be rounding out his game, slowly gaining the trust of Rick Tocchet and has shown growth away from the puck as evidenced by his positive possession metrics across the board (51.6% CF, 55.1% shot edge, 59.4% scoring chance advantage and 57.4% xGF).</span>

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The 5 best value contracts on the Canucks so far this season

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