The Vancouver Canucks weren’t as quiet as expected on the first day of free agency. They may not have signed any of the big names, but they did find a mid-sized name, signing Ilya Mikheyev to a four-year deal. Mikheyev’s contract has a cap hit of $4.75 million, which is a bit more than most expected the Canucks to spend. But there’s a lot to like about Mikheyev’s game, and it’s interesting to speculate about where he might fit. The name of Mikheyev’s game is speed. He’s justifiably one of the fastest skaters in the NHL, and that combined with a 6’2″ frame and a willingness to throw shots and battle for pucks. All of that combines to make him a nightmare to play—when he’s not leading the pack, he throws a check and he steals her anyway. Mikheyev’s speed and strong two-way game make him a strong puck-possession center — he’s constantly pushing the puck in the right direction, as evidenced by his heat map from HockeyViz. To go with his excellent possession play at 5-on-5, Mikheyev is an effective penalty killer, using his speed and long range at the top of the zone to disrupt passing lanes. That speed also makes him a threat to score short-handed – he had four short-handed goals last season. The speed and penalty kill are an immediate upgrade for the Canucks heading into next season. The question is, what else can Mikheev bring? The one knock against Mikheyev in previous years has been his lack of finishing. He played up and down the lineup with his complementary play and created all kinds of chances with his hustle, but he couldn’t put those chances in the back of the net. That changed last season, as Mikheyev scored 21 goals in just 53 games. That’s on pace for 32 goals in 82 games after missing a few months to start the season with a broken thumb. Acquiring a potential 30-goal scorer for just $4.75 million, particularly one who plays a dominant possession game and can kill penalties, sounds like a coup for the Canucks. However, there are some caveats. Mikheyev had a game-high 14.3% shooting percentage last season – nearly eight points higher than his shooting percentage the year before. Has he made any major adjustments to improve his shooting, or has he gotten a lot luckier this season compared to last season? Can the Canucks expect Mikheyev to score at the same rate next season as he did with the Leafs? Maybe not, but even if he doesn’t, Mikheev is a very useful player. It will be the engine for whatever line it lands on. The addition of Mikheyev gives the Canucks some strong depth on the wings, suggesting more of a top-nine formation than the top-six, bottom-six lineup the Canucks typically use. Mikheyev is also, by all accounts, an incredibly friendly guy with a fun personality off the ice. He turned his love of soup into a nickname – The Soupman – and a Campbell’s Soup commercial. Couple that with his style of play on the ice and he’s sure to quickly become a fan favorite. He also joins two other Russians on the Canucks in Vasily Podkolzin and Andrei Kuzmenko. In just a few moves, the Canucks have become a destination for Russian free agents. This could pay dividends down the road.
