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[Signing] Canucks sign Michael Leighton


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Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the club has signed goaltender Michael Leighton to a one-year, two-way contract. Leighton has been designated for assignment to the Utica Comets.

 

Leighton, 37, has split the 2018.19 season with the Ontario Reign (.859 save percentage with 1-1-0 record in 3 GP) and Utica Comets (.915 save percentage with a 6-1-0 record in 7 GP). 

 

Originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1999, the Petrolia, Ont., native is a four-time AHL All-Star, was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team in 2001.02 and won the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL's outstanding goaltender in 2007.08. In postseason play, Leighton owns the AHL records for saves in a single game (98, in a five-overtime loss on Apr. 24, 2008) and for lowest GAA in a single playoff year (1.18, in 2008). 

 

In the National Hockey League, Leighton has played 111 regular-season games with Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia and Carolina. He reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Flyers in 2010, going 8-3 with three shutouts in 14 games that postseason.

https://www.nhl.com/canucks/news/vancouver-canucks-michael-leighton/c-304982738

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Can't hurt.  Leighton has played well and if he passes through waivers, the Canucks have more reliable goalie depth.  I suppose they are more willing to take this gamble (they have to place pretty much any goalie they sign on waivers) now that they have Mazanec.  It is curious that the Canucks took this long but it's also curious how Philly has chosen to play the game of goalie musical chairs.

 

The Leighton signing does make one wonder if Markstrom might be playing through an injury right now though.  Could we see Mazenec and Leighton in a little while?  Sigh.

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11 minutes ago, EternalCanuckFan said:

Can't hurt.  Leighton has played well and if he passes through waivers, the Canucks have more reliable goalie depth.  I suppose they are more willing to take this gamble (they have to place pretty much any goalie they sign on waivers) now that they have Mazanec.  It is curious that the Canucks took this long but it's also curious how Philly has chosen to play the game of goalie musical chairs.

 

The Leighton signing does make one wonder if Markstrom might be playing through an injury right now though.  Could we see Mazenec and Leighton in a little while?  Sigh.

Good points. Leighton has played well. I was wondering why not just sign him to an AHL contract and avoid the need to put him on waivers. But if the Canucks think they might want to call him up, he needs to be on a Canuck contract. Assuming he passes through waivers, the Canucks can be assured that they can at least move him up and down between the Canucks and the Comets as needed.

 

And possibly the Canucks think Leighton might be better than Mazanec as a backup down the road.

 

I do wonder why the Canucks did not sign Leighton before and bring him up instead of trading for Mazanec.

 

 

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11 minutes ago, JamesB said:

Good points. Leighton has played well. I was wondering why not just sign him to an AHL contract and avoid the need to put him on waivers. But if the Canucks think they might want to call him up, he needs to be on a Canuck contract. Assuming he passes through waivers, the Canucks can be assured that they can at least move him up and down between the Canucks and the Comets as needed.

 

And possibly the Canucks think Leighton might be better than Mazanec as a backup down the road.

 

I do wonder why the Canucks did not sign Leighton before and bring him up instead of trading for Mazanec.

 

 

It does look like a blunder on managements part, or at least them making things more complicated than needed

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2 minutes ago, VanGnome said:

Given that Vintage is a mod on the forums, he probably has access to the forum API and is automating these posts based on integrations between twitter etc, piping the data into the API.

Nah, I think he's just that quick on his own. I've beaten him to the punch a few times though, so I don't think there's automation involved, but it's a rare event indeed.

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1 hour ago, Roger Neilson's Towel said:

You will be assimilated. 

 

Resistance is futile. 

 

11 minutes ago, VanGnome said:

Given that Vintage is a mod on the forums, he probably has access to the forum API and is automating these posts based on integrations between twitter etc, piping the data into the API.

 

7 minutes ago, HerrDrFunk said:

Nah, I think he's just that quick on his own. I've beaten him to the punch a few times though, so I don't think there's automation involved, but it's a rare event indeed.

Are we sure that Vintage is a real person? Could be an AI doing a very good job of imitating a real person (including the occasional "delay" to reduce suspicion).

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54 minutes ago, JamesB said:

Good points. Leighton has played well. I was wondering why not just sign him to an AHL contract and avoid the need to put him on waivers. But if the Canucks think they might want to call him up, he needs to be on a Canuck contract. Assuming he passes through waivers, the Canucks can be assured that they can at least move him up and down between the Canucks and the Comets as needed.

 

And possibly the Canucks think Leighton might be better than Mazanec as a backup down the road.

 

I do wonder why the Canucks did not sign Leighton before and bring him up instead of trading for Mazanec.

 

 

Canucks are now at 47 contracts.  They are going to use one on Hughes putting them at 48.  It does limit flexibility to sign potential UFAs out of college or juniors as burning a year can sway their decision.  Last time to deal Vanek they took 2 contracts back.  

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If I'm not mistaken, Mazanec has like 15 days of waiver eligibility. If Demko's injury takes him out for at least another week, and Leighton isn't claimed on waivers, I can see Mazanec being sent down and Leighton called up to preserve the waiver window for Mazanec.

 

Still, good depth to have. I noticed guys like JD Burke throwing a hissy fit about the Leighton signing coming too late and taking up the "48th contract spot"... But, I dunno, it's good depth to have if the Canucks expect to stay competitive in the playoff race until the bitter end.

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4 minutes ago, Quantum said:

If I'm not mistaken, Mazanec has like 15 days of waiver eligibility. If Demko's injury takes him out for at least another week, and Leighton isn't claimed on waivers, I can see Mazanec being sent down and Leighton called up to preserve the waiver window for Mazanec.

 

Still, good depth to have. I noticed guys like JD Burke throwing a hissy fit about the Leighton signing coming too late and taking up the "48th contract spot"... But, I dunno, it's good depth to have if the Canucks expect to stay competitive in the playoff race until the bitter end.

Mazanec is listed as 'emergency loan'. He has about 20 days left before having to be put on waivers, but emergency loan doesn't cut into that number.

Without Leighton having an NHL contract, a repeat of the DiPietro debacle is one minor injury away.

Leighton is roster spot #47........Hughes will be #48, unless unexpected things start happening in Canuckville.

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