Vancouver Canucks fans were delighted when Adam Gaudette put pen to paper last season and began his NHL career with a scoreless-but-promising five game stint as the season drew to a close.
From the initial fear that Gaudette would not even sign for the team, and instead wait until his rights expired to allow him to sign as a free agent elsewhere (aka the Jimmy Vesey maneuver), Canucks fans saw a lot in Gaudette’s game, enough to have nearly every Canucks fan penciling him in for a roster spot this season.
While it didn’t work out that way to begin the season, Gaudette’s demotion to Utica gave him an excellent opportunity to continue to improve his game, and to be ready for when the inevitable injury curse beset the Canucks.