The Canucks have a couple key restricted free agents to re-sign this off-season, including 23-year-old forwards Brendan Gaunce and Reid Boucher, but none more important than Bo Horvat. But while we wait for Bo Horvat to get a new contract, the Canucks haven’t been resting on their laurels, not to mention their hardys.
Over the past two days, the Canucks signed their other two restricted free agents to thoroughly reasonable deals. Defenceman Evan McEneny re-signed on a two-year, two-way contract worth $657,500 per year in the NHL and $85,000 per year in the AHL, while forward Michael Chaput re-signed for $687,500 on a one-year, one-way deal.
That’s near league-minimum for both of them, which is a tidy piece of business considering both could see time in the NHL this season.
McEneny made his NHL debut last season when several Canucks came down the mumps. He ended up playing just one game, but it’s notable that he got called up ahead of Andrey Pedan and Jordan Subban. Comets coach Travis Green took a shine to McEneny, giving him a significant role with the Comets after playing his first professional season in the ECHL.
Now Green is coaching the Canucks and you have to wonder if McEneny will once again be his first choice if and when the Canucks have injuries on the blue line.
McEneny originally signed with the Canucks back in 2012 after he was invited to their prospect development camp. He was the youngest player at camp that year and was only available to be signed because a brutal ACL injury wiped out his draft year and scared teams off from drafting him.
Since then, he’s given the Canucks no reason to regret signing him, steadily developing in the OHL for three more years, then the ECHL, where he put up 26 points in 35 games, and finally the AHL last season. He led all Comets defencemen in shots on goal with 167 and finished with 8 goals and 23 points in 63 games.
McEneny is a smart, poised defenceman capable of playing in all situations, playing significant minutes on the penalty kill and quarterbacking the first unit on the power play late in the Comets season. He’s excellent on the breakout, either making a good first pass or skating it out of danger himself. Adding to his versatility, he can play either side effectively.
What is most striking about McEneny is how much of his scoring came late in the season for Utica. McEneny barely had any points up to January 14th, but from that point on, he had 7 goals and 21 points in 38 games to end the season.
While there’s little room for McEneny to make the Canucks out of training camp, he has a strong chance of being the first option on the farm when injuries occur.
As for Chaput, he would ideally head to the AHL to be an offensive leader for the Utica Comets. While he provides little to no offence in the NHL, he’s a top-six forward in the minors. Prior to his call-up last season, he had 13 points in 10 games for the Comets.
After he got called up, Chaput made it difficult to send him back down, not because of any points he put up, but because of his strong defensive play. He meshed well with Brendan Gaunce on the fourth line: they put up a 55.2% corsi together, mostly from suppressing shots.
The issue is that Gaunce is likely the player driving those numbers. Chaput mostly dragged down the corsi of everyone else he played with, though he did put up a 50+% corsi with the Sedins, albeit while cratering their offensive numbers.
Put simply, Chaput is not an NHL player, but he and his agent managed to get him a one-way deal so that he’ll get NHL money even in the AHL. He had filed for salary arbitration, likely to argue for that one-way deal.
With the signing of free agents Sam Gagner and Alex Burmistrov, along with the addition of prospects Brock Boeser and Nikolay Goldobin, the Canucks will hopefully be able to keep Chaput in Utica, where he can play a leadership role. In case of injuries, he could be a call-up to play on the fourth line, though he should never come anywhere near the Sedins ever again.
