The Calgary Flames are adding another former Vancouver Canucks player to their roster this offseason. The Flames have confirmed with an official statement that the team has signed Josh Leivo to a one-year contract worth $875K. Leivo will be the third former Canuck to join the Flames after Calgary added goaltender Jacob Markstrom and defenseman Chris Tanev earlier in the offseason.
As news comes down the wire, most are suggesting that Leivo represents a good low-risk contract the Flames that should be worth more than the value of the deal. He is a bottom-six winger that can provide offence while providing sound defence. The player comes with some injury concerns, but he should be useful.
He played 36 games last season with the Canucks, recording seven goals and 12 assists. In 169 career NHL games with Toronto and Vancouver, the 6-foot-2 winger has accumulated 31 goals and 34 assists for 65 points.
This Looks Bad For the Canucks
Letting Leivo go for under $1 million is probably not going to be received well by the Canucks fan base and it’s potentially an indictment on how many poor contracts the Canucks have on the books. Not only that, but those bad contracts have handcuffed the team this offseason.
This is now four players the Canucks couldn’t afford to keep and the team is being seen as having suffered a net loss this offseason with their many moves.
While Leivo is not at the level of the subtractions of Markstrom, Tanev or Tyler Toffolli, that he was lost for so little to a division rival is not a good look and many will wonder why the Canucks couldn’t have signed him first and fixed their cap issues second.
And, if it’s learned that Leivo didn’t want to come back, what does that say about his feelings toward the team? That he was willing to take so little join the Flames is a statement in and of itself.
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