Canucks Army Free Agent Profiles: Tomas Fleischmann

Tomas Fleischmann was a casualty of last year’s relatively flat salary cap, beginning the season by signing a PTO with the Montreal Canadiens. He earned a spot out of training camp, and was an integral part of their unbelievable start to the season, scoring 10 points in his first 13 games with the club. Unfortunately for him, his production would dry up along with the rest of the team, and it would take him another 44 games for him to match that total. He was subsequently traded to the Chicago Blackhawks along with teammate Dale Weise, where he was mostly an afterthought and was a healthy scratch for the final three games of the Blackhawks’ series against St. Louis. 

The end of Fleischmann’s season wasn’t a memorable one, but he’s still a useful player. Will the Canucks be interested? We’ll take a look after the jump.

A lot of offensive forwards are labelled “one-dimensional”, especially when they play in the middle-six. In Fleischmann’s case, the label may actually hold some water. He’s consistently scored at a top-six rate over his career, while consistently driving play at the level of a bottom-six player. His individual production has always been strong, but his ability to suppress shots has always been weak. Luckily, in spite of his somewhat poor defensive game, he’s generally been able to use his shot generation and offensive game to create a net value for whichever team he’s played on. 

Fleischmann checks just about every box you’d look for offensively. He can score from just about anywhere, possessing a great wrist shot, a quick one-timer, and the puck skills to score goals in tight. He’s an especially strong playmaker, using his speed and agility to deke around opponents and set up teammates with relative ease. 

Fleischmann’s strengths are plain to see for anyone, but he brings very little in the way of physicality or defensive acumen. With that in mind, he’s best suited for a sheltered scoring role, especially at this point in his career. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something to keep in mind for the team that chooses to pay for his services. 

Fleischmann could be a nice depth addition for a team looking to go on a deep playoff run. He never really seemed to fit in on the Blackhawks, but a team that could use a bit more scoring from it’s bottom-six would be wise to sign Fleischmann on the cheap in the hopes that he can be a useful complimentary piece. 

Conversely, Fleischmann is also a prime candidate for a “pump-and-dump”: buying low on a free agent, giving him the benefit of favourable deployment, and then selling him at the trade deadline when his value is at its peak. This is an avenue I’d recommend the Canucks explore if they want to acquire some assets for this pseudo-rebuild in which they find themselves. 

I get the feeling from the moves they’ve made and the talking points they’ve stuck to in the media that they aren’t interesting in rebuilding in earnest, however. With all the cap space they’ve accumulated, and the Aquilinis attempting to sell the team, I imagine Jim Benning will be pulling out all the stops to sign the big fish in free agency and push for the playoffs. It’s not the route I’d personally recommend, but it’s difficult to argue that this team won’t be more competitive in the short term if they add one or two high-profile scoring wingers. 

With that in mind, it seems as though there’s no real fit to be had for Fleischmann and the Canucks. The team is likely to be neither good nor bad enough next season for signing him to make any real sense.

The Canucks don’t have a whole lot going for them right now, but what they do have is over $9 million in cap space. They can easily afford to sign at least one major free agent winger, maybe even two if they make a trade. Unless they go out and put themselves in a cap crunch by somehow signing Steven Stamkos, I’m not sure they’ll be looking for the offensive depth that Tomas Fleischmann provides. 

Fleischmann is an offensive-minded Czech winger coming off a relatively pedestrian season who can score goals and make plays but doesn’t offer the snarl, defensive acumen, or toughness that GMs tend to covet. Does that sound familiar? Considering Jim Benning has already confirmed the Canucks have no intention of re-signing Radim Vrbata, it would be awfully strange for the team to throw money at a player who, at least at first glance, appears to essentially be the poor man’s version of him. 

If Fleischmann is looking for a payday, he’ll likely sign with a bottom-feeder that can give him plenty of opportunity to prove he’s worth a long-term deal. If he’s looking to win, he can be cheap third or fourth-line piece for a contender, or re-sign with the Chicago Blackhawks, who are currently facing cap issues and could use a proven NHLer that won’t cost a lot of money. Middling teams like the Canucks will likely look at other options.