Canucks Add AHL Depth

What is old is new again! Or at least, what is old and underwhelming is new again, and still underwhelming!

The Canucks have come to terms with right-wing enforcer and farm-hand Guillaume Desbiens. Desbiens played in thirteen games with the Canucks over the course of two seasons and played in many more with the club’s former AHL affiliate the Manitoba Moose, where he actually put together a couple of productive seasons. Here’s the official press release announcing the signing from Canucks.nhl.com.

Read past the jump.

Guillaume Desbiens has zero points in 23 NHL games, giving him the ignominious distinction of being the longest tenured active NHLer who has never recorded an NHL point. In those 23 games, Desbiens has not once been on the ice while his own team scored a goal, though four goals have gone the other way. The pugilistic winger’s underlying numbers are similarly ugly, as his respective clubs (the Canucks and Flames) have controlled a mere 40.4% of on-ice events when Desbiens plays…

Desbiens’ two-way deal will pay him 600k at the NHL level, and 105k should he spend most of his season with the Chicago Wolves. It’s safe to assume that Desbiens will serve as a mainstay in Chicago this upcoming season, though he could make a cameo appearance with the big club depending on the team’s injury situation.