Canucks Add Malhotra

The Canucks made a pair of signings, one for the roster, the other for depth, early on in the free agency period. The roster spot has been assigned to forward Manny Malhotra, who was given a 3-year deal worth $7.5 million (a $2.5 million salary cap hit). Malhotra is a 3rd line centre/winger, who does put some pucks in the net when given the chance, but plays a good defensive/grinding role for a line-up.  The depth signing is Joel Perrault, who signed a 1-year deal worth $510,000.  He'll likely be a candidate for a trip down to the Moose before too long, but might challenge for a spot on the 4th line, with some reasonable speed.

Malhotra had a decent year playing with the Sharks in 2010, playing in 71 games, scoring 14 goals and adding 19 assists.  He finished the year in 184th among all forwards, which isn't likely to change too dramatically up or down with the Canucks, as his role will likely be somewht similar to what he has known in his career.  He's a fairly responsible player and should fit in well with the Canucks.

The Canucks now have 16 guys set on their team table with the addition of Malhotra and they are looking at an annual cap hit of $50.4 million at this point.  That leaves about $9 million for 7 players right now, which isn't too bad.  They are said to be in the market for a top end defenseman, which could drastically hurt the average salary available per open roster spot, but that's the kind of chance the Canucks will have to take to win.