After months of “will they, won’t they”, the Anton Rodin saga has reached a conclusion. The Vancouver Canucks have agreed to terms with the 25-year-old Swede, signing him to a one-year, one-way deal.

Rodin, who was actually drafted by the Canucks with a second round pick in the 2009 Entry Draft, has had an impressive stretch of seasons since heading back to Brynäs in 2013/14. We had actually talked about his comeback as a potential option back in September, with his 75 points in 101 games in the two SHL seasons prior looking very promising for his age and size.

This year, Rodin was named Captain of his team and exploded for 16 goals and 21 assists in 33 games, catching the eye of other NHL teams as early as November. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see too much more out of him after that, as he suffered a laceration near his knee during a practice a few weeks later.

The Canucks forward with their interest, which is unsurprising given his success. Even with the time missed, Rodin still ended up being named the SHL’s Most Valuable Player for 2015/16 two weeks ago. Now that his season has ended on paper, he was free to negotiate with the Canucks as a restricted free agent on both sides of the ocean. Sure enough, the deal was made relatively quickly.

Rodin, who is 5’11 and most recently weighed in at 180 pounds, has all the tools to succeed in either an offensive or checking role. He’s a strong skater, knows where to be, and has a solid shot, but also isn’t scared of getting into dirty areas and being physical when he has to. This gives the Canucks some flexibility as to how they’ll use him next season, but one would imagine they’d try to get him to put some pucks into the net before settling on him being a grinder.

Rodin will make $950,000 next season, the most that you can make without any team cap penalty if sent to the American Hockey League. It’s a one-way deal, presumably to avoid the risk of him making less in North America that he would have back home if he has to spend the bulk of next year in Utica.

In short, this is very much a “one last shot” situation. If it works out, the Canucks may have picked up a quality middle six player for peanuts. If not, he moves back to Sweden with a few additional dollars in his pocket and goes on with his business.