Vancouver Canucks sign Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood to two-year deals

When all looked bleak around on the Vancouver Canucks front, 30 minutes into free agency, the club announced their third and fourth signings of the day. The team has signed former Boston Bruin Danton Heinen and former Nashville Predator Kiefer Sherwood.

 

Danton Heinen signs a two-year deal that pays him $2.25 million annually.

Heinen, 28, is a depth winger who hasn’t struggled to produce offence during his nine seasons, scoring 87 goals and 212 points in 418 NHL games. Last season, Heinen played on Boston’s third line, but even with limited ice time — averaging 14:27 minutes of ice time per game — he still managed to score 17 goals and 36 points with a +16 rating. The Langley native is a 5-on-5 producer, 31 of his 36 points came at even strength this season and will help provide some much-needed depth scoring that the Canucks lacked after Nils Höglander got a promotion to the top six.

Sherwood, 29, played fourth-line minutes for the Predators last season but still scored 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points in 12:10 minutes of average ice time. The 6’0, 194-lb forward is a ball of energy on the ice. The speedy winger ranked in the 82nd percentile in top skating speed across the entire league last season. Canucks fans are familiar with the physical side of his game, as they saw it firsthand in the playoffs. Sherwood was tied – with Dakota Joshua – for 15th in hits, finishing with 216 in 68 games.

These two signings round out the Canucks’ depth with an offensive Heinen who can play up and down your lineup and a physical, tough-to-play-against Sherwood on the fourth line. Canucks still have just above $3 million in salary cap space remaining for next season.

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