The NCAA free agent signing season has started and the Canucks already struck once when they acquired Max Sasson. However, it appears that they are not done with their shopping since Rick Dhaliwal and Elliotte Friedman have both stated that the Canucks were really high on Akito Hirose's list:
Hirose was Livingstone's D partner, however, it appears the Canucks won't be in the running for the big-format right-handed defenseman.
Hirose is a 6'00'' and 170 pounds, Alberta Native. He was second on his team for scoring amongst defensemen (only behind Livingstone) as he managed 23 assists and 27 points in 38 outings. Known to be an active defender with a strong outlet pass, he's definitely built for today's high-paced NHL.
Per Friedman's saying we could be expecting the defenceman to join the team as soon as this week and as opposed to Sasson, he'd be expected to join the team in Vancouver and not in Abbotsford. Surely an interesting acquisition, the Canucks currently have Quinn Hughes, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Christian Wolanin, Jack Rathbone, and Guillaume Brisebois under NHL contracts for next season. It'll be interesting to see where Hirose fits in that scheme. Internal competition can never be a bad thing.
