Canucks re-sign Mason Raymond
NHLHS Vancouver Canucks Correspondents Will & Valerie Wittstruck take a look at Mason Raymond’s new contract.
The Vancouver Canucks have re-signed Mason Raymond to a 2-year deal that will pay the speedy winger 2.5 million this season and 2.6 million in 2011-12. The deal happened right before both sides were going to present their case in Raymond’s arbitration hearing. Had the hearing gone on as planned, many believe that Raymond would’ve been awarded 3-3.5 million per year and that would’ve made it difficult for the Canucks to re-sign him considering their current cap situation.
Here’s what the two sides wanted, according to Jason Botchford:
Canucks: $2 million a year, similar to the deals that Ryan Callahan ($2.3m with NY Rangers) and Eric Fehr ($2.2m with Washington Capitals) received.
Raymond’s camp: $3.5 million a year, like Ryane Clowe ($3.6m from San Jose) and Travis Zajac ($3.8m from New Jersey) got in their deals.
Both sides were very happy to get the deal done without going to arbitration. While this pushed the team over the salary cap, there is still plenty of time for Mike Gillis to get that straightened out. Raymond took less money to stay with the Canucks and this is a great sign from the fan perspective. Management has continued to show their dedication and commitment to building a championship team (without tanking it several season to get high draft picks like Pittsburgh and Chicago did) and players want to play in Vancouver.
With players like Pavol Demitra, Michael Grabner, Kyle Wellwood, and Steve Bernier departing in the off-season and Alex Burrows (most likely) beginning the season on IR, Raymond will get a chance to get off to a great start and prove he’s worth the money he signed for. Let’s hope he has a great follow-up season and continues to improve on last years numbers.
Of course at the end of the day the Canucks could also trade him, since he’s now signed for 2 years and has a very reasonable contract for a player with so much potential.
Read the official Press Release from the Canucks
I-5 Canucks
NHLHS Canucks Correspondents
Hipcheck44@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @Hipcheck44 and @WCE71944
