[Signing] Daniel Sprong to the Canucks

[Canuck You]

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

Debrusk - Pettersson - Sprong

Joshua - Blueger - Garland

Hogz - Suter - Sherwood

 

Most balanced forward group in the league?

[Ballisticsports]

I like these non Canuck fan assessments on  Springing for Sprong

 

Daniel Sprong: What to Expect From Canucks’ Newest Signing - The Hockey Writers - Vancouver Canucks - NHL News, Analysis & More

 Daniel Sprong: What to Expect From Canucks’ Newest Signing (msn.com)

 

 

The Vancouver Canucks have had a great offseason. They lost both Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov to the Boston Bruins but responded by locking up Jake DeBrusk to a long-term contract, bringing in Vincent Desharnais, and signing several depth players to fill out what they lost. They have easily improved from last season and their fans should be excited for what’s to come in the 2024-25 campaign. With most teams settling down from the free agent market and trading or focusing on the upcoming season with what they have, the Canucks went out and made another depth signing that may go down as one of the biggest steals of the offseason. The team went out and signed forward Daniel Sprong to a one-year contract worth $975,000, and he adds a solid presence to the Canucks’ bottom-six for a steal of a deal.

 

The Canucks were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, but they were able to take the series to seven games and almost take down the eventual Western Conference champions. After their playoff exit, they clearly had a goal in mind to come back stronger and make a deeper run with a better team. While they’re lined up to do just that, the Sprong signing may fly under the radar as one of the best signings this offseason. He is a strong offensive forward who can fill any role in their lineup if needed. While his defensive play may need work, he still provides strength in the sense that the Canucks will now have some more flexibility with their forward lines.

 

 

Sprong’s Offensive Production Creates Scary Canucks Depth

 

Last season, a lot of fans and analysts around the league had chalked up the Canucks as the team to beat in the West, and it was clear why as they dominated the regular season and went into the playoffs as favourites for the majority of their series. While the Oilers did defeat them, it was obvious they didn’t have problems between the pipes or any issues with their defensive depth, but rather a lack of offensive production from their bottom-six at times causing the team to collapse in Game 7. While they fought back and almost took Game 7 to overtime, the Oilers shut it down and snuck away with a victory. Adding Sprong, who is a proven point producer wherever he goes, should make that problem go away completely. 

 

 

The Canucks were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, but they were able to take the series With elite forwards like Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, and Brock Boeser up front to take the responsibility for most of the offensive production, it will be a change of pace for the team to be able to rely on their depth players to provide scoring on a consistent basis. Sprong had 43 points through 76 games with the Detroit Red Wings last season and played a complex role where he fluctuated throughout their lineup and played where he was needed. Despite moving around and playing the majority of his time as a depth player, he still had a great offensive season. 

With the Canucks, it’s safe to assume Sprong will start the season on their fourth line alongside Vasily Podkolzin and Pius Suter. Sprong is easily a middle-six forward in the NHL, but the Canucks’ forward depth pushes him down to the fourth line to start the season in my books. Despite that, he should still be able to create offensive production alongside a developing youngster in Podkolzin and an underrated two-way forward in Suter. At the end of the day, Canucks fans should be ecstatic about bringing in Sprong, and they should be excited about what’s to come in the 2024-25 campaign. 

 

 

Aday after it was reported that the Canucks had an interest in free agent winger Daniel Sprong, they have indeed agreed to terms with him.  PuckPedia reports that the two sides have agreed to a one-year, $975K contract.

The 27-year-old has bounced around throughout his eight-year NHL career, having played for five teams already, with Vancouver set to be his sixth

 

After putting up limited numbers in his first three stops spanning six seasons, Sprong had a breakout year in his second year with Seattle in 2022-23, one that saw him record 21 goals and 25 assists in 66 games despite averaging just 11:25 of playing time per game.  However, their concern about his arbitration eligibility led to him being non-tendered. He quickly signed a one-year, $2M deal with Detroit on the opening day of free agency.

While Sprong didn’t quite produce at the same rate last season, he came relatively close, coming up three goals short of his 2022-23 performance while matching his assist totals.  And again, he didn’t play in the top six while surpassing 30 even-strength points for the second year in a row.  But that wasn’t enough to earn an extension with the Red Wings, who opted to shake up their roster, nor did it help him get a deal early in free agWith two good offensive years under his belt, Sprong landed 35th on our Top 50 UFA list last month. That came with a projection of him earning a raise and a multi-year agreement, but clearly, that didn’t come to fruition.

 

Instead, Sprong is taking a very team-friendly deal to land in a favorable Vancouver environment.  The Canucks finished seventh in the NHL in scoring last season. While they lost Elias Lindholm in free agency and moved out Ilya Mikheyev in a cap-clearing move, they brought in Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen from Boston while retaining Dakota Joshua after his breakout showing.  With Vancouver, Sprong should have the same type of role that he has become accustomed to, one that should see him playing in the bottom six at five-on-five with some secondary power play time.

 

With the move, the Canucks are effectively capped out.  Per PuckPedia, they now have less than $16K in cap room with a full-sized roster.  Notably, that does not include Tucker Poolman being on LTIR, so they will have more flexibility to work with him if they want to put him back there.  However, it would put them in a position of being unable to bank in-season cap space.  Alternatively, they could opt not to carry a full-sized roster to start the season, allowing them to have closer to $800K in room (with Poolman only on regular IR), giving them a shot to bank some space heading into the trade deadline.

 

If Sprong can have the same type of success with the Canucks in that role that he had with Seattle and Detroit, this contract has the potential to be one of the best bargains of the summer.  And if that happens, perhaps next summer will be when Sprong can land a bit of job security that he has been seeking for several years.

Edited July 22 by Ballisticsports

[MeanSeanBean]

37 minutes ago, AnthonyG said:

Who wants to acquire a top 4 dman and 20goal 50pt player.

Me! Pick me! I do! Do you also have a time machine to go back to 2015 when OEL was such player to make this fantasy trade? Or are we discussing reality where Benning payed a top 10 pick for a player who had 9 goals and then 3 goals in the years leading up to us paying handsomely to take one of the worst contracts in the league.

 

In this fantasy is Benning still trading his first round pick for OEL? Because as great as Juolevi was as a 5th overall, trading Olli for OEL is almost a fair deal in the alternative reality.

Edited July 21 by MeanSeanBean

[Devron]

16 minutes ago, Canuck You said:

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

Debrusk - Pettersson - Sprong

Joshua - Blueger - Garland

Hogz - Suter - Sherwood

 

Most balanced forward group in the league?

Up there but probably Edmonton has the bag up front 

[LillStrimma]

4 hours ago, AnthonyG said:

lol hey bud all ELCs are short deals.

 

Riddle me this….If Quinn had an interest in leaving after his “short deal” why the hell is he still here?

Tell me instead what Benning was good at as a GM.

 

Don’t come with any scouting skills bs…

[AnthonyG]

12 minutes ago, MeanSeanBean said:

Me! Pick me! I do! Do you also have a time machine to go back to 2015 when OEL was such player to make this fantasy trade? Or are we discussing reality where Benning payed a top 10 pick for a player who had 9 goals and then 3 goals in the years leading up to us paying handsomely to take one of the worst contracts in the league.

 

In this fantasy is Benning still trading his first round pick for OEL? Because as great as Juolevi was as a 5th overall, trading Olli for OEL is almost a fair deal in the alternative reality.

Ooh ooh does utilization have anything to do with production??? 44% offensive zone starts in VAN vs 54% in ARZ 

PP2…. 
Gee I wonder why his production would be impacted… yet his defensive game when healthy was one of the best on the team if not the best and why him and Myers were a top 5 shutdown pair league wide.

 

can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you bring a guy in to produce and use him in a shutdown role, don’t bitch and complain.

 

 

[Rip The Mesh]

It seemed like the Vancouver Canucks might be done in free agency after getting rookie goaltender Artūrs Šilovs locked up to a two-year deal. With Šilovs' signing, the Canucks had a complete 23-man roster that was comfortably under the salary cap, enough to fit Tucker Poolman's $2.5 million cap hit without putting him on long-term injured reserve.

But the Canucks weren't done.

On Saturday, the Canucks signed one more free agent, inking right-shot winger Daniel Sprong to a one-year deal with a cap hit of $975,000.

 

Getting Sprong at under $1 million is some very nice work by general manager Patrik Allvin and his team. Contract projections for Sprong, who is coming off back-to-back 40+ point seasons, ranged from $3.378 million from Evolving-Hockey to $4.092 million from AFP Analytics, both with a three-year term. 

Evidently, the interest in the 27-year-old winger was muted despite his solid offensive production. That gave the Canucks the opportunity to scoop him up three weeks into free agency at a bargain price.

Sprong's defensive issues kept him on the market

Sprong put up 18 goals and 43 points for the Detroit Red Wings last season and is a year removed from 21 goals and 46 points in just 66 games with the Seattle Kraken. So, why was he still available?

It's not complicated: while Sprong can create and finish off scoring chances, he is very defensively suspect.

The Red Wings heavily sheltered Sprong. Among forwards who played at least 300 5-on-5 minutes, Sprong had the lowest ice time on the Red Wings, averaging just 10:01 per game at 5-on-5. According to PuckIQ, Sprong had the lowest percentage of ice time against elite competition on the Red Wings, meaning he was kept from facing the opposition's top players as much as possible. To top it off, he also had the highest percentage of offensive zone starts on the team.

In other words, Sprong had the most sheltered minutes on the Red Wings last season.

It was for good reason. Despite being sheltered, Sprong was on the ice for the second-highest rate of shots against, the second-highest rate of scoring chances against, the highest rate of high-danger chances against, and the third-highest rate of goals against, all according to Natural Stat Trick. Sprong put up points but the Red Wings gave up a lot more than he produced when he was on the ice.

 

From looking at reports out of Detroit, Sprong has a tendency to check out defensively and cheat for offence, as well as get a bit careless with the puck on the breakout. 

That's not a formula for defensive success. 

That's the bad. Fortunately for Sprong and the Canucks, there's a lot of good to be had as well, and reason to believe that the Canucks can potentially get the most out of him.

Sprong can score at an elite rate
First of all, Sprong scores at a tremendous rate at 5-on-5.

Over the past two seasons, Sprong has averaged 1.26 goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5. That's the 11th-highest rate in the NHL, a higher rate than Zach Hyman, Artemi Panarin, Mikko Rantanen, and Connor McDavid.

You can perhaps consider Sprong to be the anti-Mikheyev. Where Mikheyev did all sorts of little things right and was effective defensively, he just couldn't find the back of the net. Sprong isn't great in the details but can't help but put the puck in the net.

 

Beyond the goals, Sprong is also a highly effective playmaker. Over the past two seasons, Sprong has averaged one primary assist per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, which is 17th among NHL forwards — just behind Sidney Crosby and ahead of Evgeni Malkin.

Sprong is also effective on the power play, where he has 9 goals and 26 points over the past two seasons while primarily playing on the second unit for the Kraken and Red Wings. If he can provide more scoring punch to the Canucks' second unit, that could be a big boon.

The Canucks could easily use Sprong in a similarly limited role on the fourth line as the Red Wings did and get some depth scoring to support the team's top-end players. What's intriguing to consider is whether the Canucks can get even more out of Sprong. 

Can Sprong become a legitimate top-six forward in Vancouver?
Sprong seems like the polar opposite of a Rick Tocchet player. He gets caught puck-watching, doesn't engage physically in the defensive zone, and makes careless turnovers. It's the type of thing that will drive the Canucks' head coach crazy and could see him benched in a hurry. This could very easily be another Andrei Kuzmenko situation.

But what if Tocchet can get through to Sprong and get more out of him defensively in his system? Or what if Tocchet can find a way to shelter Sprong while still getting him on the ice with elite linemates?

There's an opportunity to be had in the Canucks' top six. In theory, the Canucks have two forward pairings on their top two lines, with an open wing up for grabs. J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser form one pair, while Elias Pettersson will presumably have Jake DeBrusk as his primary linemate.

While Sprong's defensive issues likely preclude him from playing with Miller and Boeser, who were frequently used as a match-up line, what if Sprong could play with Pettersson and DeBrusk?

Let's keep in mind, the Canucks have a top-tier third line already together in the Good Job Boys — Conor Garland, Dakota Joshua, and Teddy Blueger. That's a line that can capably handle tough match-ups and defensive zone stats. Combine that with Miller and Boeser's tough minutes and there's the possibility to set up Pettersson's line with some easier minutes.

Not that Pettersson needs easier minutes — he's arguably the Canucks' best two-way forward — but he could feast on some easier match-ups, especially with an offensively creative player like Sprong and a finisher like DeBrusk on his wings.

It's at least something to consider as the Canucks head into training camp. And, if Sprong doesn't work out at all, either in the top-six or on the fourth line, he only has a $975,000 cap hit. 

This is a low-risk, potentially high-reward bet for the Canucks. We'll have to wait and see if it will pay off.

[MeanSeanBean]

11 minutes ago, AnthonyG said:

Ooh ooh does utilization have anything to do with production??? 44% offensive zone starts in VAN vs 54% in ARZ 

PP2…. 
Gee I wonder why his production would be impacted… yet his defensive game when healthy was one of the best on the team if not the best and why him and Myers were a top 5 shutdown pair league wide.

 

can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you bring a guy in to produce and use him in a shutdown role, don’t bitch and complain.

 

 

Lol What are you talking about? Your entire premise to this post has literally nothing to do with what either of us are talking about. The entire premise of my post was the difference between 2015/16 OEL, and OEL in his 2 years leading up to the trade with the Canucks trade. Then your entire argument some how ignores that and instead blames... Let me check, the coach, for not utilizing a redundant player properly? Sure would have been nice for Benning to have traded for a player that wasn't redundant and could have been used in his position of strength, but no such luck. Such was life with Jim.

 

How did you jump from calling OEL a 20 goal player to blaming his usage? He wasn't an effective player for years leading up to us trading a top 10 pick for him. His ay has slipped far before he ever put on blue.

 

A) you ignored the entire argument made in both my, and your own post, somehow.

2) I wasn't even being serious since... I mean, come-on. How can you take this seriously. We're having a debate about Benning with who I can only assume is Jim's wife or kid

 

 

[PureQuickness]

2 hours ago, MeanSeanBean said:

Oh that's a no brainer. There is absolutely no viable argument in my mind to justify the OEL trade. It was one of the worst trades in the franchises history and will cement Bennings legacy.

 

You must be young (and no disrespect meant here). The OEL trade was not nearly as bad as the Cam Neely trade. It's not even close.

[MeanSeanBean]

4 minutes ago, PureQuickness said:

 

You must be young (and no disrespect meant here). The OEL trade was not nearly as bad as the Cam Neely trade. It's not even close.

I mean, I'm young enough that I don't remember the Neely trqde since I was only a kid and prefered the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the time. But I know the fallout of it. Neely was a worse trade, but that's also why I said "one of the worst trades" instead of "the worst trade" 

[spook007]

nvm....

Edited July 21 by spook007

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, MeanSeanBean said:

I mean, I'm young enough that I don't remember the Neely trqde since I was only a kid and prefered the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the time. But I know the fallout of it. Neely was a worse trade, but that's also why I said "one of the worst trades" instead of "the worst trade" 

Canucks are linked to two top five all time fleecings... One good one bad.   Stanajov for Naslund.   Just to be positive.   And if we really want to play the blame game and credit game, i'm sure it's all because of Bud Poile.   He screwed up with BOTH the Luongo AND the OEL buyouts because well "butterfly effects" and all.    

[Hammertime]

 sprong sp sprong sprong sprong.

 

[NoCupSyndrome]

3 hours ago, Canuck You said:

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

Debrusk - Pettersson - Sprong

Joshua - Blueger - Garland

Hogz - Suter - Sherwood

 

Most balanced forward group in the league?

 

I wouldn't mind seeing this at times as well. Three potentially dominant lines and a fourth line that could generate offense in protected minutes.

 

Debrusk Miller Boeser

DJ EP Garland

Heinen Suter Sherwood

Hogs Blueger Sprong

 

 

 

 

[CanuckMan]

With the new additions the Oilers made. Can someone do a potential lineup for both them and the Canucks? Would be nice to see how we match up against them on paper. 

[NewbieCanuckFan]

3 minutes ago, CanuckMan said:

With the new additions the Oilers made. Can someone do a potential lineup for both them and the Canucks? Would be nice to see how we match up against them on paper. 

Elias playing at 100% *AND* us not having essentially a 3rd string goalie I think more than offsets the real loss of the big Russian in the lineup (and that's assuming we don't make use of the cap space we have left come the post-season).

[Combover]

18 hours ago, Lemon Face said:

But AntonyG said they suck

He Spent 8 years defending every stupid move (age gap)(stay competative (which never happened))

followed making excuses (hindsight) when they didn’t work

and deflecting  ( he started with nothing)

why stop now.
Just keep Pretending to understand a plan that never existed .

 

JB was given every opportunity more than once to fix this team and he proved he wasn’t capable more than once.he was a disaster.

 

 

 

[CanuckMan]

1 minute ago, CanuckMan said:

With the new additions the Oilers made. Can someone do a potential lineup for both them and the Canucks? Would be nice to see how we match up against them on paper. 

Skinner - Mcdavid - Hyman

Kane - Draisaitl - Arvidsson 

Henrique - RNH - Perry

Janmark- Ryan - Brown

 

I have no idea who plays with who currently on their lineup. I just fit them in where they seemed to fit. 
 

VS.

 

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

Debrusk - Pettersson - Sprong

Joshua - Blueger - Garland

Hogz - Suter - Sherwood

 

Very close lineups in my opinion. The deal breakers are definitely Mcdavid/Draisaitl for them

[Canuck You]

14 minutes ago, CanuckMan said:

With the new additions the Oilers made. Can someone do a potential lineup for both them and the Canucks? Would be nice to see how we match up against them on paper. 

• Skinner - McDavid - Hyman
• RNH - Draisaitl - Arvidsson
• Janmark - Henrique - Brown
• Holloway - McLeod - Perry/Ryan

VS

 

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

Debrusk - Pettersson - Sprong

Joshua - Blueger - Garland

Hogz - Suter - Sherwood

[Bob Long]

2 minutes ago, Canuck You said:

• Skinner - McDavid - Hyman
• RNH - Draisaitl - Arvidsson
• Janmark - Henrique - Brown
• Holloway - McLeod - Perry/Ryan

VS

 

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

Debrusk - Pettersson - Sprong

Joshua - Blueger - Garland

Hogz - Suter - Sherwood

 

ha ha Perry. Nice of him to bring down the curve. 

 

[Ghostsof1915]

This better be his theme song.

 

 

[Pears]

43 minutes ago, CanuckMan said:

Skinner - Mcdavid - Hyman

Kane - Draisaitl - Arvidsson 

Henrique - RNH - Perry

Janmark- Ryan - Brown

 

I have no idea who plays with who currently on their lineup. I just fit them in where they seemed to fit. 
 

VS.

 

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

Debrusk - Pettersson - Sprong

Joshua - Blueger - Garland

Hogz - Suter - Sherwood

 

Very close lineups in my opinion. The deal breakers are definitely Mcdavid/Draisaitl for them

As long as they have McDavid and Crysaitl they'll always have the edge on straight fire power. But after those two it's very even. 

[R3aL]

14 hours ago, Devron said:

I thought he was, down the stretch with Detroit. Why didn’t anyone else sign him or Detroit re sign him? Obviously there’s holes or something we’re missing here as he basically signed a 1 year show me deal. I said it was a good signing but nothing to parade about for me anyways 

Well we got a guy who is a right shot scoring winger. Proven 20 goal guy, offensively gifted clearly, who if he could round out his game a little more or be sheltered in a system you could get the best out of him.

 

he’s also on an inconsequential cap hit; is a moveable asset, provides depth and extra competition.

 

I also like that it’s another RHS winger in front of JL temporarily. I really like the idea of him spending a whole year in Abby.

 

low risk; reasonable value floor with some potential for more

he’s also at an age were there is the possibility for some improvements to parts of his game that are Coachable.

 

whats not to like?

 

 

[VegasCanuck]

4 hours ago, Canuck You said:

Heinen - Miller - Boeser

Debrusk - Pettersson - Sprong

Joshua - Blueger - Garland

Hogz - Suter - Sherwood

 

Most balanced forward group in the league?

Looks pretty good!

[AnthonyG]

3 hours ago, MeanSeanBean said:

Lol What are you talking about? Your entire premise to this post has literally nothing to do with what either of us are talking about. The entire premise of my post was the difference between 2015/16 OEL, and OEL in his 2 years leading up to the trade with the Canucks trade. Then your entire argument some how ignores that and instead blames... Let me check, the coach, for not utilizing a redundant player properly? Sure would have been nice for Benning to have traded for a player that wasn't redundant and could have been used in his position of strength, but no such luck. Such was life with Jim.

 

How did you jump from calling OEL a 20 goal player to blaming his usage? He wasn't an effective player for years leading up to us trading a top 10 pick for him. His ay has slipped far before he ever put on blue.

 

A) you ignored the entire argument made in both my, and your own post, somehow.

2) I wasn't even being serious since... I mean, come-on. How can you take this seriously. We're having a debate about Benning with who I can only assume is Jim's wife or kid

 

 

Buddy put the blunt down or the bottle back in the cupboard. 
 

gArLaNd iS tHe tuh-wenty goAl sCorEr derp. Top 4 dman AND a 50pt 20 goal scorer . You complained about the trade, I pointed out the other part of the trade you completely missed.