Canucks sign Andrey Pedan and Alexandre Grenier to one-year, two way contracts
7 years ago
It was announced this afternoon that the Canucks have signed restricted free agent defenceman Andrey Pedan and forward Alexandre Grenier to one-year, two-way contracts:
Vancouver, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the Canucks have signed defenceman Andrey Pedan and forward Alexandre Grenier each to a one-year, two-way contract extension.Pedan, 23, appeared in 13 games for the Canucks in his debut NHL season in 2015.16. He recorded at least two hits in each game played and led the team with 3.1 hits per game. The 6-5, 217-pound defenceman also skated in 45 games for the AHL Utica Comets last season, registering career-highs in several categories including games played, goals (7), assists (14) and points (21). Appearing in 129 AHL regular season games over parts of four seasons, Pedan has collected 50 points (15-35-50) along with 258 penalty minutes.A native of Moscow, Russia, Pedan was acquired from the New York Islanders in exchange for Alexandre Mallet and a 2016 third-round selection on November 25, 2014. He was originally selected by the New York Islanders, 63rd overall, at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.Grenier, 24, appeared in six games for Vancouver in his first NHL season in 2015.16. He also appeared in 69 games with the AHL Utica Comets, leading the team in both points (48) and assists (32) and finishing tied for the third in goals (16). The 6-4, 211-pound forward then added a team-high two goals and three points in four Calder Cup Playoff games. In 208 career AHL regular season games over parts of four seasons, Grenier has registered 130 points (50-80-130) along with 172 penalty minutes.A native of Laval, Quebec, Grenier was originally selected by Vancouver in the third round, 90th overall, at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
At this moment, there is no information on the financial terms for both players.
It will be interesting to see where both players fit into the Canucks organization next season, as both of them will require waivers to be assigned to the AHL.
For Pedan, it is quite crowded on the back-end and he will need to beat out someone like Alex Biega for the 8th D spot in training camp, otherwise he could be exposed to waivers and assigned to Utica. In my opinion, he has shown enough progress in Utica over the past two seasons to be worthy of remaining with the Canucks, but will still be hard pressed to lock down that spot.
In Grenier’s case, he will be in a battle to earn the 13th/14th forward spot with the big club. Which he will be in tough to secure to start the year, as the Canucks appear to already have 13 forwards penciled in for next season.
It may simply come down to one of Grenier or Pedan earning a roster spot, and that may be dependant on if the Canucks want to have 7 or 8 defensemen on their roster to start the season.
Maybe an injury happens or a trade occurs before the season starts and all this is for naught, thus we will have to wait and see how this all shakes out.
