Should the Vancouver Canucks sign Daniel Sprong?

The former second-round pick back in 2015 has bounced around the league since his debut with the Penguins, but Daniel Sprong has managed to carve out a career as a decent scorer at the NHL level. Could the Dutchman be a fit with Vancouver looking at some more wing options to solidify their roster?

From the outset, it’s odd that someone who’s put up over 40 points in a season for the last two years while not playing a whole season would be unsigned two weeks after free agency began. Yet, for Sprong, who racked up 46 points in 66 contests for Seattle in 2021-22 and 43 in 76 for the Red Wings this past season, that’s exactly the case. He clearly has the ability to produce, with good hands and a good shot that he’s willing to use.

His production isn’t an accident. Sprong loves shooting the puck, which is probably his greatest asset. He draws a lot of attention because of it on the ice, which allows him to create space and playmake for his teammates. As a PP2 option, that wouldn’t be a bad thing to have, especially for cheap and in a role where there isn’t much worry about defensively. Sprong’s 5v5 production was also solid last year especially considering the role that he played.

Thing is, that’s pretty much all Sprong is good for. Through this past year, the winger was placed in a bottom 6 role, primarily on the fourth line and limited to 12:00 TOI per game. It’s impressive that Sprong was able to put up those numbers given how limited his deployment was, but at the same time, it was for a reason – Sprong is not very reliable defensively. While he was able to produce and generate chances for Detroit, the Red Wings were giving up more chances in their own end while Sprong was on ice.

That kind of impact is a tough sell for a lot of teams in the league, as despite the clear offensive contributions that a player like Sprong could make, defensive warts have a higher probability of costing them over the course of a game and season. However, if a team is deep enough to absorb those lapses, Sprong could still be a useful addition. He at least provides some offensive upside in a bottom 6 role, but there’s probably no reason why Sprong could ever be trusted to play against an opposing team’s top 6.

It’s a tricky proposition for the Canucks. Their forward lineup is honestly not missing too much besides another surefire top 6 winger – which Sprong is not. Realistically, the cap space that they would want to ink the winger to would probably be better served rounding out the back end. Sure, Sprong would give a bit of a scoring punch at the bottom of the lineup, but they could also see if someone like Vasily Podkolzin could finally make that push as a full-time NHL middle-six option.

Sprong is also likely not going to be very good friends with Rick Tocchet. If Andrei Kuzmenko had a hard time with learning defensive responsibilities and playing in his own end, it’s not far of a stretch to think Sprong would fall into that same boat. With middling footspeed, lack of pedigree when it comes to playing in the defensive zone, and being a shoot-happy winger, it doesn’t sound like a great recipe for success in Tocchet’s system. He would be a clear outlier to the identity of the forward corps that has been assembled thus far.

Still, this isn’t to say that Vancouver shouldn’t take a flyer on him. Sprong is probably not worth signing to anything over $1.3 million AAV, with his potential to be an everyday contributor to the Canucks roster limited given the style that the team plays with. However, as a cheap depth addition that can operate as a 13th forward, slotting in whenever Tocchet feels like he needs his team to get an offensive jolt, Sprong could be a pretty good value option in that role. There’s proven NHL production with efficient minutes – the question is if the Canucks see value in that and have a way to maximize Sprong in the lineup.