Alexander Wennberg has a brand new deal with Columbus.
West: The Columbus Blue Jackets made many heads turn (including mine) last year with an impressive display of offensive talent and goaltending. Columbus was third in the East with 108 points (only 3 points behind the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, Pittsburgh) and posted an impressive +54 goal differential. One big reason for their success last year? Alexander Wennberg, who has just signed a new contract to stay in Columbus for 6 more years.
Wennberg posted 59 points last year (13 goals and 46 assists), and posted a 47.39% face off win percentage. The 22-year-old Centre will no doubt be looking to add to his overall stats when the newly acquired Artemi Panarin (traded from Chicago) is added to his line. It is reported that Wennberg will receive $29.4 million for an average annual value of around $4.9 million.
Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen was very happy about the deal struck with their restricted top line free agent. In an interview shortly after the news broke, he states, “we are excited to have signed Alexander to a long-term contract through the 2022-23 season… at just 22 years old, he has tremendous opportunity to become an integral player for our organization for the years to come.”
Columbus seems to be in a very good spot to make some noise. With talented forwards, young hard working defencemen and a Vezina winning goaltender, if Wennberg keeps his game up then Columbus will be able to once again turn some heads.
East: For the past 5 seasons or so, the hopes of the Stanley Cup returning to the white northern tundra of Canada was placed solely on the shoulders of the Montreal Canadiens. It was for one simple reason, they were the best team in Canada. They were the team that had the talent, depth, and skill to go all the way. But is that still the case? Is Montreal still the best Canadian team? For now, but not for long.
This offseason has been a very interesting off season for Canadian teams. Many have gotten significantly better (Calgary in particular), and others are improving at a steady rate (looking at you Vancouver and Winnipeg). Edmonton is 1 or 2 pieces away from being labeled as an elite club; they can definitely make some post season runs. Toronto is headlined by their young talented core, but we will have to wait and see if the sophomore slump is something that they will be contending with. Ottawa is looking to build off of their unsuspected Eastern Conference Finals birth with their depth and all-star defenceman Erik Karlsson. All in all, every Canadian team looks better than the year before. Some made larger strides than others, however, which is where we have to look.
Montreal seemed to have everything! Depth, solid goaltending, great defencemen, great coaching; these were the things that made Montreal stand out from the rest of Canada. Now, however, when we look at the other teams, it doesn’t seem so cut and dry. Edmonton, Calgary, and Toronto are all in positions to usurp Montreal from that top spot. All these teams have depth, solid goaltending and defencemen and good coaching to boot. Montreal still looks to be a little stronger at this moment, however, come next year, they might not be. If Montreal wants to win a cup, they need to do it now, before their competition overtakes them.
