It's official: Canucks sign Demitra

A 2-year deal that will pay Demitra $4 million per season. This isn't news that really makes my day a whole lot brighter. We don't need another Naslund-type here. Demitra is not that gritty and can't take too much of a physical game. He has only played a full season twice in his career: in 1998-99 with the Blues (37 goals and 89 points) and in 2001-02 with the Blues again (35 goals and 78 points.)

"There was a lot of interest throughout the league but Pavol is comfortable with the direction Vancouver is taking on the ice and the vision (Canucks GM) Mike Gillis has for the future," said Demitra's agent Matt Keator. "He feels that his family will be happy, that he will enjoy playing for the Canucks and will hopefully be taking a run at the Stanley Cup."

Well at least 1 person is comfortable with Mike Gillis' vision.
It will be interesting to see who the 6 foot 200-pounder clicks with in Vancouver. The concept of him being here is not that thrilling considering that he played with his fellow countryman Marion Gaborik last year and managed his worst goals total in his 10 year NHL career.
So will we see an improved Demitra? A fragile Demitra? Both? See, we don't need this shit here, putting it bluntly. We just got rid of a timid softy in Naslund and now we replaced him with another. Why can't or couldn't Gillis land a "sure shot?" Is Demitra an upgrade over Naslund? Well, we are paying him $2 million less and he can put up just as many or more points.
The best thing that can happen now is that Sundin eventually signs here. But even that is about a 50/50 chance.
There were better players out there that Gillis could have taken. Maybe none of them wanted to come here. I mean, look how long it took to sign Pavol. It's 10 days after free agency started.

Demitra's career stats at Internet Hockey Database. Check out those playoff stats...not impressive. Demitra has a lot to prove.
At least he has blazing speed and does show more emotion than Naslund did.

DemitraTube

- Demitra goals as a member of the Wild.
-Demitra scores from outside the blueline.
- Demitra hat trick as a member of the Kings.
-Looks like Demitra likes to hang out at center ice for those breakaway passes. This one is a shorthanded breakaway goal.

WHAT CANUCK FANS ARE SAYING:

The downside is that Demitra is oft-injured & hasn’t played a complete season since 2001-02. But last year his 54 points in 68 games with the Wild is damn close to Naslund’s 55 points in 82 games. In fact, while we’re at it, Nalsund’s points-per-game is .80 over his career and Demitra’s is 1.07 so, couple in more post season experience and better post season stats, that’s a quality upgrade regardless of injury.

Mike at the Yankee Canuck.

While I mostly agree with Mike, I broke up the 2 players' points-per-game over the past 5 years.
Naslund= 1.06 PPG
Demitra= 1.00 PPG

Now if they can just sign SunKdin, they might be able to ice a hockey team come October.

Alannah at Canucks and Beyond.

Yeah, I feel the same way. We need that superstar forward to complete the puzzle and lead the team up front. Sundin is that guy.

PavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavol
PavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavol
PavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavol
PavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavol
PavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavolPavol

Jes Golbez at Hockey Rants.
I don't think anybody is happier than Golbez is that his fave player signs here. He's even happier than Demitra I'll bet!


T Tags: Canucks+officially+sign+Pavol+Demitra YouTube career+stats