Mitchell out, Torres in and who’s got the C?

After weeks of rumours, Willie Mitchell finally ended the suspense on Wednesday, signing a two-year deal worth $3.5 million per season. According to most, including yours truly, he hit a home run. While still a very effective defenseman, I thought that he would have to give up a little bit more money and/or term given his age and concussion history. Quite simply, he was out of the Canucks price range. The Canucks are very deep on defense and already have an injury riddled d-man they’re holding their breathe on with Sami Salo.

Gillis Re-Signs Raymond for Cheap

The Canucks announced on Monday that they have re-signed Mason Raymond. The restricted free agent re-signed just minutes before his arbitration case was to be heard. But that’s not the surprising part, the surprising part is that Mike Gillis was able to get Raymond to sign a two year deal, worth $2.55 per season. There’s no doubt in my mind that Raymond would have been awarded more in arbitration, perhaps well more. In fact, most pundits (including myself)were predicting $3 million or more.

Summer Tidbits: Ring of Honour Plus Bieksa, Raymond and Demitra News

It went somewhat under the radar because it was reported the same day as Markus Naslund’s jersey retirement was announced, but the Canucks have announced that they will be having a “ring of honour” at Rogers Arena. The idea behind the ring of honour is that they will be able to honour some players from the past that don’t quite deserve to have their jersey retired.

Is this a good idea? In a way I like the idea of honouring past players in a way other than jersey retirement, but just what will be the criteria to get on the ring? Four players will be honoured this year, beginning with Orland Kurtenbach. The other three have yet to be announced.

Ryan Kesler Re-Signs

Great news for Canucks fans. The Canucks announced this morning that Ryan Kesler has signed a six year contract extension with the team. Kesler has proven that he can not only be a checker, but a scorer as well. He’s one of the best second line centres in the league, and could win the Selke Trophy this season. As early as the start of last season, nobody thought he had the potential to be the offensive producer that he is today. Again, it’s great news, depending on the price of course. If I were to guess I would say it’s worth between $4.5 and $5 million.

Nazzy’s Coming Out of Retirement! To Play in Sweden….

It appears that Markus Naslund and Peter Forsberg will be returning to pro hockey together, playing for their hometown team of Modo in Sweden. The two of them are clearly very loyal to Modo, as they are reportedly going to play for FREE! This will mark the third (and presumably final) time that Forsberg and Naslund have played together for Modo. The two played together previously for Modo before their NHL careers and during the lockout canceled season in 2005-06.

The Return of Matt Pettinger and Your Daily Injury Update

How bad are the Canucks injury woes? Well, they’ve brought back a Tampa Bay Lightning cast-off! Yeeesh. Actually, I don’t mind this signing. Matt Pettinger was re-signed by Mike Gillis yesterday. With all their injuries at the moment, bringing a veteran NHL forward who can skate and kill penalties probably isn’t a bad idea.

Vigneault Signs Extension

The Canucks have just announced that Alain Vigneault has signed a three year contract extension. The contract takes him through the 2012-13 season.

It’s Official, Luongo Signs a 12 Year Deal!

The Vancouver Canucks have just announced that Roberto Luongo has re-signed, to the tune of a 12-year deal!

Canucks Reportedly Re-Sign Luongo

According to Sportsnet, the Canucks have re-signed franchise player and team captain Roberto Luongo. Apparently the term and salary have been agreed upon, so only minor details remain to be worked out. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to Canucks fans, but it’s definitely great news. Remember all those bandwagon douchebags calling for the Canucks to trade Luongo after the Canucks were bounced in the 2nd round by Chicago? Luckily Mike Gillis isn’t smoking the same thing they were, and realizes the value of a top goalie.

D-men Bonanza! Schneider, Ehrhoff and Lukowich on Their Way to Vancouver

Mike Gillis had a busy day on Friday, signing Mathieu Schneider and acquiring Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich in exchange for Daniel Rahimi and Canuckz.com favourite, Patrick White (that was sarcasm by the way).