Rob The Hockey Guy

I can’t believe I’m letting Mitch write about Patrick O’Sullivan. He seems to be pretty passionate about him though. So lets give him a chance. Mitch, you’ve got some explaining to do!

Disclaimer for those of you who are blinded with rage right now; I’m going to go a little off the board on this one here. I know that as soon as you see that name you think this is some kind of cruel and toothless joke; I can assure you that it’s not. Do I think Patrick O’Sullivan is going to get a shot in the arm from signing here with the hopes of restarting his disappointing career? Not as such. Instead I’m going to tell you why I think O’Sullivan is a good depth signing. Consider him our depth UFA of the day!

Name: Patrick “3rd worse smile in the league” O’Sullivan

Age: 27

Size: 5’11″ 189lbs

Why the Canucks might want him: Vancouver has been a team that hasn’t been afraid to sign discount free agents in the past; especially ones looking to recapture past glory.  Last year we saw it with Marco Sturm and in years prior we’ve seen it with the likes of Anson Carter and Brad Isbister. I would like to think Vancouver has learned a thing of two from these types of signings and that is that they rarely work. Sturm was shipped out after dressing in six of the most disappointing games you’d ever seen, Brad Isbister wasn’t worth the ink he signed his contract with and Anson Carter…well, sure he scored 33 goals, but he was playing with the twins. Taylor Pyatt can tell you that scoring with those two on your line is almost easier than making your bed.

The point is that Vancouver doesn’t have luck in these types of signings. So why should they sign O’Sullivan? Because he hasn’t been terrible, he hasn’t been great, but he’s been better than Brad Isbister. He has his age on his side and is still putting up decent numbers in the minors. I feel like I should mention again that this is a depth signing, not a signing that is going to immediately put Vancouver over the top and make them the all odds favorites to win the cup. It simply gives them another option on the wing in case a regular starts to slump or someone is injured for a prolonged period of time. He’s been a point a game player in the minors for the past two seasons, so at the very least this signing could help the Wolves.

Why the Canucks might not want him: You could make the argument that I just listed every reason why the Canucks might not want to sign him, and you’d probably be right. If this was a one-way deal I would say no chance, not worth it, simply because of the fail rate the Canucks have had with these types of signings in the past.

What I would do: He’s too young to offer a PTO too, in my opinion. Those are for guys in the twilight of their careers that are trying to give the can one last kick. If it were me, I would offer him a one-year deal worth $725,000 in the NHL (a small raise on his deal last season if he had stuck with the big club) and $105,000 in the AHL. The one-year and two-way deal really lowers the risk/reward in the deal. If he performs in the minors then you get your moneys worth. If he can make an appearance with the Canucks and put up decent numbers or just fill a roll for a short time, then it’s worth it. Absolute best-case scenario is that he over performs for the year, challenges a regular for a full time spot, or at least remains with the big club in a “ready if you need me” kind of way. However unlikely that scenario is, it’s still fun to write about.

X-Factor: He sure is missing a lot of teeth. Last I checked the Canucks had pretty decent (shit eating grins) smiles, so why not add a guy who drinks his steak through a straw? At the very least it would be funny to get him to say things that had a lot of P’s and S’s.

Rob Says: Ok Mitch, you didn’t convince me. O’Sullivan was once a promising young player, but that was a long time ago. He has been decent in the AHL but has shown very little in the NHL, and he’s now 27, which I consider over the hill for a player that hasn’t proven it yet. They could sign him for very little risk on a two-way deal, which is true, but I just don’t see the potential with him anymore.

Forget Patrick O’Sullivan, they should sign Ronnie O’Sullivan.