On Friday afternoon, the Vancouver Canucks announced they had agreed to a contract extension with forward Linus Karlsson. He may not have his 2025 Calder Cup Championship ring yet, but Karlsson’s now $4.5 million richer.

Of course, everyone is very happy for Karlsson. A bit of a late bloomer after being drafted in the third round (87th overall) of the 2018 NHL draft, Karlsson’s story of turning himself into a productive NHLer at the age of 26 through hard work and determination is an inspiring one. He helped carry the load offensively for the Abbotsford Canucks last season en route to the franchise’s first Calder Cup, and has carried that over to the NHL this season, where he sits in a tie for second on the team in goals despite playing fourth-line minutes.

Karlsson has worked hard and earned himself an NHL contract. But the timing on the deal just doesn’t seem to make sense for Canucks.

On a one-year contract, Karlsson was not eligible to sign an extension until January 1. Was this a piece of business that needed to get done as soon as it possibly could have?

If it was deemed that, yes, Karlsson is an integral piece of the top-nine for this team moving forward, why sign him for just two years? Why not lock him up for longer if you believe in the player enough to give him an extension right away?

But if that answer is no, Karlsson is not a part of the core of the team moving forward, then why was now the time to give him an extension? He’s riding an unsustainably high shooting percentage, and his value has never been higher. Was the team seriously worried that if they did not take this opportunity to extend him, they wouldn’t get another chance? Or that he would seriously play himself into a higher average annual value than $2.25 million?

And let’s dive into the timeline for the deal. Two years. Where will this team be in two years? If everything goes according to the Canucks’ plan and their “hybrid retool” trends back up toward competing again in two years, that will align with the end of Karlsson’s contract. Now what? The team is now stuck with having to decide whether to commit to Karlsson at a higher cap hit in a top-nine role, which they have not treated him as, as he averages the second-lowest ice time per game of the forward group this season, or let him walk for nothing in free agency.

The timing is just puzzling. Does the team believe in the player or not? Do they see him as part of the long-term future when they’re competing again? Or are they hoping he just fills the gap and are comfortable letting him walk after the contract because they don’t believe he’s a part of their future plans? Of course, they can always just re-sign the player, but then it will cost more than it would have cost the team now had they just committed to him long-term if they do believe in him and his future in Vancouver.

Again, we aren’t taking anything away from Karlsson or trying to badmouth him. We are happy for the player and getting paid, because, quite honestly, he deserves it. He’s been a great story this season, and his production deserves a pay raise. It just seems like we’ve been down this road before, haven’t we? A thoughtless extension for a player whose value is at its highest it’s ever been under this management group?

Andrei Kuzmenko, Dakota Joshua, dare I say, Nils Höglander?

All three were coming off career years, which Karlsson is on track for, and did not work out. The first two players did not stick around long enough to see the second year of said contract. Höglander is the exception, but he hasn’t found the top of his game since that breakout 2023-24 season and has been a healthy scratch at points already this season.

It’s not just this management group; the organization is littered with examples of giving non-core pieces money and term. The infamous 2021 trade saw the Canucks move off the money of Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel in the final year of their contracts, and they had to attach a first-round pick, which was used on Dylan Guenther, to do so.

Obviously, the money situation is different now that the cap is rising so significantly, and Karlsson’s cap hit is half that of the players above, but the process of it all remains the same. The Canucks going out and spending term and dollars on non-core pieces at a disadvantageous time for the hockey club, and now they are set up with a difficult decision in two years because they rushed a situation they realistically did not have to.