Ex-Canucks centre Dickinson cashes in with big contract from Blackhawks
Today is a good day for former Vancouver Canucks centre Jason Dickinson. The 28-year-old signed a two-year contract extension worth $4.25 million per season with the Chicago Blackhawks.
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— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 16, 2024
That represents a raise of nearly $2 million per season on his current salary of $2.65 million, the most he’s been paid in his career to this point.
The left-handed forward has 14 goals and 21 points in 43 games so far this season. He’s already smashed through his previous career high in goals which was nine. A big driver in his increased goal-scoring ability is his shooting percentage, which has ballooned to 21.2%, more than twice as good as his career average of 10.2%.
The Canucks originally acquired Dickinson in 2021 just ahead of the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. They sent a third-round pick to the Dallas Stars in exchange for the player who was seen as an elite shutdown centre.
The fit between Dickinson and the Canucks never quite worked out. He played 62 games for the franchise, finishing with just 11 points. He finished with an average of just 13:03 of ice time per game, the lowest of any season in which he’s played at least 30 games.
In October 2022, the Canucks traded Dickinson and a second-round pick to his current home in exchange for defenceman Riley Stillman.
While on the West Coast, Dickinson didn’t live up to his $2.65 million salary, much less play like the $4.5 million player he’s about to become. However, in Chicago, he’s unlocked some of that offensive potential that Canucks fans heard so much about and is delivering better results.
If those results are sustainable remains to be seen. The bump in his shooting percentage suggests they may not be.
The $4.25 million that Dickinson will make over the next two seasons means he will earn more than twice as much as Pius Suter. He will earn more than this year’s combined salaries of Suter and Teddy Blueger.
The Blackhawks are one of the worst teams in the league and thus rely on Dickinson to be a major contributor. He’s third on the team in points and second in goals, just one behind rookie phenom Connor Bedard.