The Vancouver Canucks have re-signed 23-year-old centre Markus Granlund to a two-year deal that carries a cap hit of $900,000 per season.
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Granlund was set to become a restricted free agent this offseason.
Since being acquired late in the season in a trade with the Calgary Flames, Granlund had 3 points (2-1-3) in 16 games with the Canucks. He will forever be compared to the man he was traded for, Hunter Shinkaruk, who had 3 points (2-1-3) in 7 games with the Flames after the trade.
The 6’0″, 178-pound Finn has appeared in 102 NHL games in his career, scoring 31 points (16-15-31).
It remains to be seen where Granlund will slot in next season, given the number of centres that could see time in the NHL, including Henrik Sedin, Brandon Sutter, Bo Horvat, Jared McCann, Brendan Gaunce, and Linden Vey.
Next up for Granlund is an appearance for Team Finland at the World Championships in Russia next month.
GM Jim Benning has a number of restricted free agents left to make decisions on, including Sven Baertschi, Emerson Etem, Linden Vey, Ronalds Kenins, Mike Zalewski, Alex Grenier, and Andrey Pedan.