On Monday, the Vancouver Canucks confirmed the signing of RFA forward Emerson Etem to a one-year contract as well as the buying out of veteran winger Chris Higgins.
Emerson Etem was qualified hours before the deadline but with the Canucks fearing that an arbitration may be in the workings, they opted to give Etem a one-year contract at $775,000. Etem will still be an RFA at the end of this extension, which will serve as a “show-me” deal after Etem had a strong finish to his 2015-16 campaign.
The decision to bring Etem back wasn’t unexpected, as the Canucks had to trade former first-round pick Nicklas Jensen to the New York Rangers for the 24-year-old right winger who had 12 points in 39 games for the Canucks last season.