Canucks Sign Goaltender Raycroft, Re-Sign Defenseman O’Brien

The Vancouver Canucks announced on Monday that they have signed goaltender Andrew Raycroft to a one-year contract worth $500,000 and re-signed defenseman Shane O’Brien to a one-year contract worth $1.6 million. Last season with the Colorado Avalanche, Raycroft posted a 12-16-0 record in 31 games with a 3.14 GAA and a .892 save percentage. In 230 career games with the Avalanche, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs, he has an all-time record of 94-96-16, six shutouts, a 2.90 GAA, and a .899 save percentage. He won the Calder Trophy in 2004 as rookie-of-the-year. The Canucks acquired O’Brien early last season from the Tampa Bay Lightning along with forward Michel Ouellet in exchange for defenseman Lukas Krajicek and prospect forward Juraj Simek. In 77 games last season with the Lightning and Canucks, O’Brien scored 10 assists and 196 penalty minutes. In 234 career games with the Lightning, Canucks, and Anaheim Ducks, he has six goals and 41 assists for 47 points and 526 penalty minutes.

The O’Brien signing is a decent one for the Canucks, while the Raycroft signing isn’t the greatest. O’Brien plays with lots of grit, toughness, and energy and gives the team plenty of defensive depth. However, he takes a lot of bad penalties and the Canucks were rumored shopping him at the 2009 trade deadline as a result, but found no takers. If he hopes to sign a long-term extension with the team next season, he will have to start controlling himself on the ice. Raycroft struggled mightily in net last season for the Avalanche and was relegated to the back-up role at mid-season. He will likely challenge prospect Cory Schneider for the back-up role next season and will really have to prove that he is still a quality goaltender despite his bloated stats. To me, this isn’t a good signing for the Canucks, as they could have signed plenty of other higher quality back-ups than Raycroft. However, his $500,000 is a very salary cap-friendly contract which could save the team some money to bring in players via trades later in the season.