Canucks avoid arbitration, re-sign Reid Boucher

Jul 25 2017, 6:56 am

The Vancouver Canucks and Reid Boucher have avoided salary arbitration, agreeing to a one-year, one-way contract worth $687,500. Boucher’s arbitration date was scheduled for August 1st.

Boucher receives the exact same money and term in his contract as Michael Chaput, Vancouver’s other pending salary arbitration case, who agreed to a new deal on July 13.

Boucher bounced around the waiver wire last season, being claimed by three different teams (Nashville, New Jersey, and Vancouver) within a 32-day timespan. Eventually settling with the Canucks on January 4, he struggled to get ice time under former head coach Willie Desjardins. The 23-year-old native of Lansing, Michigan showed some offensive potential though, scoring seven points (5-2-7) in 27 games with the Canucks.

He showed potential the season prior also, scoring at near a point-a-game clip in the AHL (32 points in 34 games). Boucher also added 19 points (8-11-19) in 39 NHL games in 2015-16 with the New Jersey Devils.

It remains to be seen what role Boucher will have with the Canucks, or if he makes the team at all out of training camp. With a number of forwards competing for spots, he’ll not only need to score, but the 5-foot-10, 195-pound left winger will need to prove that he isn’t a liability defensively to catch the eye of new head coach Travis Green.

With Boucher re-signed, the Canucks have just two restricted free agents left to sign: Bo Horvat and Brendan Gaunce.

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