Canucks sign 2005 1st rounder Bourdon
Canadian Press
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The chances of Luc Bourdon wearing Vancouver Canucks colours next season got better with the NHL club’s announcement Thursday it had signed the 19-year-old defenceman to a three-year rookie contract.
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The Canucks drafted Bourdon 10th overall in the 2005 draft. The big blue-liner played so well at training camp in September that Vancouver gave him a long look before sending him back to junior.
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»Without being under contract, you can play as well as you want, but you can’t play in the league without a signed standard players’ contract, » Canucks GM Dave Nonis said Thursday in a conference call. »It gives him a clear opportunity to come in here and have the best camp he can possibly have and be in a position to stick. »
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Right now, there’s room on the blue-line with Sami Salo and Mattias Ohlund the only other Canucks defencemen under contract for next season, although Nonis has the rest of the summer to address that.
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Bourdon will also have to impress a new coach as the Canucks fired Marc Crawford at the conclusion of the regular season and have yet to name a replacement.
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r »If I want to make this team next year, I have to come stronger than I was last year, » Bourdon said from Moncton, where he plays for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Wildcats.
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The maximum annual salary a player drafted in 2005 can sign for in his first contract is $850,000 US. As a first-round draft pick, Bourdon either signed for that or very close to it.
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The six-foot-two, 211-pound defender from Shippagan, N.B., can throw thunderous checks, contribute offensively and effectively guard his team’s zone, as he demonstrated at this year’s world junior hockey championship in Vancouver where Bourdon gave Canucks’ fans a preview of what they might expect.
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»I wanted to continue something I started during the camp, » Bourdon said. »I played a pretty big role on the team and I think that maybe gave the Canucks confidence to get me signed. »
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Bourdon helped Canada win gold with five assists and a goal in six games and was named to the tournament all-star team. He was also named top defenceman at the world under-18 hockey championship in 2005.
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»He’s a big-body guy, he can play an aggressive style, but I think his biggest asset is his footspeed and his agility, » Nonis said. »He’s a guy that can maybe make up for the odd mistakes with his skating ability. »
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Bourdon was preparing Thursday for Friday’s Game 1 of the QMJHL championship, in which the Wildcats will face the Quebec Remparts.
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He’ll also play in the Memorial Cup from May 19 to 28 as the Wildcats are the host team and automatically qualify for the tournament.
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Bourdon was traded from the Val-d’Or Foreurs to Moncton at the December trade deadline.
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He broke his right ankle in February and returned to the Wildcats’ lineup in early April. He has one assist in 10 playoff games.
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»It’s not 100 per cent now, » Bourdon said. »They put plates and screws in my ankle so there’s no way I could be injured again, but flexibility and mobility, I’m not quite where I was during the regular season. »
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During the regular season, Bourdon had two goals and 18 assists in 20 games with the Foreurs and a goal and seven assists in 10 games with the Wildcats.