Canucks Signing: Raffi Torres

As reported by Sportnet  the Canucks have signed 28 year old Raffi Torres to a 1 year deal worth $1,000,000.

So where does Torres fit into the Canucks lineup?

Raffi Torres is a 6’ 216 lbs left winger who likes to crash and bang, as well as being pretty good at scoring garbage goals in close. Torres should be a good fit on the 3rd line with Manny Malhotra, although he might also get a chance in the top 6 while Burrows is recovering from his shoulder surgery.

Canucks fans should be familiar with Torres, as he was an Oiler for quite a few years, including their cinderella run to the Cup in 2005-06. He has spent the last 2 seasons in Columbus and Buffalo after being traded by Edmonton.

Torres has played 432 NHL games, recording 98 goals and 84 assists for 182 points. He also has played 30 playoff games, most of them during the Oilers run to the Cup Finals, posting 4 goals and 11 assists for 15 points.

Last season he split time between Columbus (60 games) and Buffalo (14 games), putting up 19 goals, 17 assists for 36 points, as well as recording 84 hits and 34 PIM. 

For comparison, his 36 points would have placed him above anyone the Canucks had on the 3rd line last year, such as Wellwood (25 points), Bernier (22 points) or Demitra (16 points) , so this is a clear upgrade in offensive production. (For the record, Malhotra’s 33 points last season beats all those players too)

So what does this mean for the Canucks?

Well, now Gillis has clearly upgraded the 3rd line in both offense and physicality over last year with Malhotra and now Torres as cheap UFA signings, while still leaving a spot open for Schroeder or Hodgson to win if they excel in training camp.

Torres should easily be able to match his 19 goals from last season, going from the pop gun offense of Columbus to the Canucks system, especially if he gets some top 6 time early in the season. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for Torres to hit 20-25 goals, which would be a great return on a $1,000,000 signing.

This is also only a 1 year contract, leaving the possibility open for Torres to either receive a contract extension if he is a good fit, or for Torres to walk at the end of the season, opening up a permanent roster spot for a rookie (Hodgson, Schroeder, etc) who is paying their dues in the AHL this season.

I like this signing a lot, and hopefully Gillis has a few more tricks up his sleeve before training camp. (Can we trade a defenceman or sign Mitchell already? Its starting to drag on like the Kovalchuk saga...)