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Reid Boucher gets the one-way contract he wanted from the Canucks

Contract negotiations hasn’t been Jim Benning’s strength in his time as General Manager of the Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­Canucks, but he’s done some tidy work this off-season.
Daniel Wagner
Daniel Wagner
Reid Boucher re-signs with Canucks
Reid Boucher re-signs with Canucks

Contract negotiations hasn’t been Jim Benning’s strength in his time as General Manager of the Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­Canucks, but he’s done some tidy work this off-season. He , filled some holes in the lineup with , and at near league minimum.

On Monday, Benning continued his contract negotiation hot streak, re-signing Reid “The Red Butcher” Boucher to an identical contract to Michael Chaput: one-year, one-way, $687,500.

That’s $162,500 lower than based on some comparable players. Clearly, the priority for Boucher was getting a one-way deal rather than aiming for more dollars and cents. That’s understandable for Boucher, who likely anticipates being on the bubble once again this season.

Last year, he was waived three times. He was lucky enough to be claimed each time, but he might not be so lucky next season. If he ends up in the AHL, he’ll be particularly happy with his one-way contract that ensures he’ll be paid his NHL salary no matter what.

His waiver status may end up keeping him in the NHL, however. Unlike Nikolay Goldobin or Brock Boeser, Boucher would have to clear waivers in order to be sent down to the Utica Comets. If he performs well at training camp and forces the Canucks to make a decision between keeping him up or Goldobin, that might keep Boucher on the roster.

What might keep Boucher off the roster, however, is his “tweener” status. Thus far in his career, he hasn’t scored enough to be a top-six forward, but doesn’t have a strong enough two-way game to play in the bottom-six. He’s a goal-scoring forward who needs to be sheltered on a team that can’t really shelter him.

Best case scenario, Boucher becomes a complementary second-line scoring winger, but it’s possible — and probably more likely — that he becomes an AHL all-star. For the Canucks, however, a near-league-minimum, one-year deal is a perfectly acceptable risk to take on a player that could have some legitimate upside.

That leaves just two more restricted free agents for the Canucks to re-sign, and they may be the most challenging two to figure out: Brendan Gaunce and Bo Horvat.