Canucks sign Daniel Sprong to one-year, $975,000 contract

According to Vancouver reporter Rick Dhaliwal, the Vancouver Canucks and forward Daniel Sprong have agreed to terms on a one-year, $975,000 contract through the 2024-25 season.

Last season, the 27-year-old Sprong scored 18 goals and 25 assists for 43 points in 76 games with the Detroit Red Wings. In 2022-23, he skated with the Seattle Kraken and hit career highs in all offensive categories, scoring 21 goals and 25 assists for 46 points in 66 games.

Through eight NHL seasons, Sprong, a native of Amsterdam, Netherlands, has 85 goals and 74 assists for 159 points in 344 career regular-season games with the Red Wings, Kraken, Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Sprong was taken by the Penguins in the second round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. As an 18-year-old, Sprong played 18 games with the Penguins in 2015-16, but was sent back to the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders. He split the post-season with the Islanders and the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Through four seasons in the QMJHL, Sprong scored 117 goals and 144 assists for 261 points in 199 regular-season games, as well as 24 goals and 27 assists for 51 points in 38 playoff games.

Sprong’s most productive professional season came in 2017-18. In 65 regular-season games with the AHL Penguins, he scored 32 goals and 33 assists for 65 points. Unable to produce at the NHL level, he was dealt to the Ducks for Marcus Pettersson. After bouncing around with the Ducks and Capitals, he was dealt to the Kraken. After his career-high 2022-23 season, he signed a one-year, $2 million deal with Detroit.

The Canucks finished the 2023-24 season with a 50-23-9 record and 109 points, winning the Pacific Division and their first division title since 2012-13. They made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, losing to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.