Meet the New Vancouver Canucks: Kiefer Sherwood- Hockey Writers – Canucks Transactions

After opening the bank for Jake DeBrusk to a long-term contract, the Vancouver Canucks added a depth component in free agency by signing former Nashville Predators forward Kiefer Sherwood to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1.5 million. Sherwood is a 29-year-old forward who was an undrafted free agent drafted out of college by the Anaheim Ducks.

Related: Meet the new Canucks: Jake DeBrusk

Sherwood then found his way to the Colorado Avalanche after two seasons with Anaheim and then moved on to the Nashville Predators organization where he finally found his footing last season where he played 68 games and scored 10 goals and 27 points. He took off that season and got a good contract with Vancouver, but he will bring attributes to the Canucks that the team will need.

Sherwood brings the Grit down Six

As a short 6-footer, Sherwood scratched and clawed his way to the NHL by being the aggressive and tough guy to play against which is exactly what the Canucks need. They have grit between them and players like Dakota Joshua and Jake DeBrusk who are new recruits but Sherwood adds more than those two players. His strength caught the attention of Patrik Allvin during the Canucks’ first round series against the Predators: “We saw firsthand in the play-offs how difficult Kiefer is to play with,” said Allvin. “We like his quickness, toughness, and the way he competes in every situation. Adding another physical player to the mix would work well with the way our forward group is currently constructed. ”

Allvin is right about Sherwood’s durability as the player had three fights last season and two the season before. He is willing to get his hands dirty by getting into the corners and getting those fat goals in front of the net when needed. Players like Sherwood are needed in the playoffs and the Canucks lacked that in their mindset going forward against the Edmonton Oilers. He will be able to provide the necessary playoff toughness from the end and the addition of DeBrusk, Joshua, and even Carson Soucy at the end will make them very tough to play with as the team hopes to go deep into the playoffs. .

Canucks Depth Will Help Sherwood Score More Points

While playing in Nashville last season, Sherwood managed 27 points in a deep role, but that was his career high. Playing at the bottom of the lineup, he was hanging out with guys like Tommy Novak, Michael McCarron, and Mark Jankowski. In Vancouver, he will have the opportunity to play with talented depth players such as Joshua, Conor Garland, and Pius Suter. By playing with these players, he will be surrounded by players with more offensive power than the ones he played with in Nashville. Therefore, by playing with these players, he will have the opportunity to score more points than he did last season and have a greater impact on the team than just his body.

Sherwood will likely bring the Canucks a touch of playing with better offensive players in Vancouver than he did in Nashville, while bringing the toughness and physicality they originally signed him for. If so, he will be able to bring characteristics to the Canucks that will help the club more than they originally thought.

Sherwood is not a perfect player by any means but he brings attributes to Vancouver that the team desperately needs. He will bring solidity to the front line, which was needed against Edmonton, and he can provide deep scoring when paired with his right teammates. Those two traits will make him a successful player for the Canucks and will make this a worthy signing for Allvin and Jim Rutherford.