Hope your Canada Day was enjoyable, for those who celebrate. Might as well wish my American friends an early happy Fourth of July while I'm at it.

The Vancouver Canucks took care of some offseason business with one player while possibly hinting at which direction they will go with another player, signing RFA Brock Boeser to a three-year contract worth $6.65 million per season. This is below the $7.5 million qualifying offer that the Canucks would have had to grant Boeser if they wanted to keep him but could not agree to a new contract. The Canucks now have an important top-6 winger under contract for three more years, so this is a good piece of business from new Canucks management.

Boeser had a down season by his standards, as he saw his points-per-game average dip from 0.88 PTS/GP in 2020-21 to 0.65 PTS/GP (46 PTS in 71 GP) in 2021-22. He (like many Canucks) experienced the Bruce Boudreau bump, scoring 19 goals and 36 points in his last 49 games. Boeser had a difficult season personally because he was also dealing with the illness of his father, who recently passed away. His signing should also help Elias Pettersson, who has clicked with Boeser in the past and also improved under Boudreau.

By locking up Boeser, the Canucks appear one step closer to trading J.T. Miller this offseason. Miller's value may never be higher than it is now coming off a 99-point season as a top-10 scorer. With one season remaining on Miller's contract (at a very affordable $5.25 million), the Canucks cannot afford to lose Miller for nothing, considering they could use immediate upgrades on the right side of the defense and also have a relatively bare prospect base (how it got to that point is a rant for another day). If Kevin Fiala can return a first-round pick and defense prospect Brock Faber, then Miller should return at least the same. Although Jim Rutherford has stated that they will try to re-sign Miller, my money is on the Canucks trading him.

The Canucks also signed Jack Rathbone to a one-way contract. Rathbone is the Canucks' top prospect, and he should be in the NHL full-time this coming season. He showed tons of promise in the AHL last season with 40 points in 39 games, which was fifth among AHL defensemen in points per game (1.03). The left side of the Canucks defense appears to be in good hands with Quinn Hughes, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Rathbone. For more on Rathbone, see his Dobber Prospects profile.   

–

The Lightning really liked what they saw in Nick Paul after acquiring him at the deadline, signing him to a seven-year contract with a $3.15 million AAV. Paul also made some noise in fantasy leagues late in the season, recording 14 points in 21 regular-season games with the Lightning. Although his scoring declined in the playoffs (9 PTS in 23 GP), Paul still stood out for his ability to make key plays for the Bolts in their run to the Cup. In particular, Leafs fans are still trying to forget about the pair of goals Paul scored in Game 7 of their first-round series. The cap hit isn't bad for the Lightning, but a seven-year term could be an issue down the road (Paul will be 34 when the contract expires).  

–

In case there was any worry about Kirill Kaprizov from this picture…

–

A bit of a surprise given the timing with no GM in place, but Bob Boughner is out as the Sharks coach. You can read more about it in the Fantasy Take that I wrote on Friday morning. It's mostly a "what's really wrong with the Sharks", but there's a couple of fantasy items worth your attention.

The Jim Montgomery hiring in Boston was officially announced on Friday. Here's another Fantasy Take, where I state that I believe this is a solid hiring for the Bruins.

Although not officially announced, the Jets are expected to hire Rick Bowness to be their new head coach. Yesterday, news surfaced that Rick Tocchet would be the favorite, but it sounds like Bowness will be the guy. Jets fans, do you like the hiring?

–

Last week I listed two players of interest specifically for bangers leagues but not so much for pure points leagues. Thanks to the Popular Profiles section at Frozen Tools, I was able to find one more player this week who could fall into a similar category.

Mason Marchment

When you hear a player's name for the first time, you might often think, "is he related to ___?" That's why it should be no surprise that Marchment has some sandpaper to his game. After all, he is the son of onetime hard-hitting defenseman Bryan Marchment. The younger Marchment averaged over two hits per game and a penalty minute per game in 2021-22.

Marchment added scoring to his game as well in 2021-22, which was a bit more of a surprise. In fact, his  points/game average (0.87 PTS/GP) was similar to that of Tage Thompson, Jonathan Marchessault, Nico Hischier, and even Elias Pettersson. A six-point game against Columbus at the end of January might have inflated that number, but hey, all of those points count.

Marchment benefitted from some very high advanced stats, though. In particular, a 12.1 5-on-5 SH% and a 3.7 PTS/60, which show as red (sell-high) on the Frozen Tools Buy/Sell Meter. His 14.9 SH%, 1036 PDO, and 48.3 Sec Asst% were also slightly higher than expected, all of which contributed to an out-of-nowhere breakout in just his second full NHL season. Although it's easy to suggest elite linemates on a super-high-scoring Panthers squad propped up Marchment, his linemates varied throughout the season. In fact, his linemates for the six-point game were Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell, good scorers in their own right but not Barkov or Huberdeau.

I doubt that Marchment can keep up this level of production, but how sustainable it is will depend on where he signs this offseason. Anthony Duclair potentially being placed on IR after a recent Achilles injury could make it easier for the Panthers to re-sign Marchment, although UFAs Claude Giroux and Ben Chiarot could also be in their sights. Marchment is already a UFA because he is 27, so another team might pay and expect this level of production. He has at the very least set himself up as an "effective bottom-six forward (Player Usage Chart's words, not mine), so he should make a far greater impact in bangers leagues than in pure points leagues.

–

Follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.