Vancouver has re-upped with a pair of AHL Utica standouts -- on Tuesday, the club announced defenseman Andrey Pedan and forward Alexandre Grenier signed one-year, two-way deals.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Pedan, 23, is a big-bodied (6-foot-5, 217 pounds), physical blueliner that will likely battle for one of the club’s last spots on defense. A former Isles draftee, he appeared in 13 games for the Canucks last year, spending most of his time with the Comets -- where he posted career highs in almost every statistical category.
Cracking the blueline won’t be easy. The Canucks aren’t loaded with talent at the position, but there is quite a bit of depth with Alex Edler, Chris Tanev, Ben Hutton, Erik Gudbranson, Luca Sbisa, Nikita Tryamkin, Philip Larsen and Alex Biega all in the mix.
Grenier, 24, led Utica in scoring with 48 points last season, and made seven appearances with the Canucks. Like Pedan, he also boasts good size (6-foot-4, 211 pounds) and could be in position for a fourth-line role with the big club.
It’s worth noting both Grenier and Pedan would require waivers to be assigned to the AHL next season.