Vancouver Canucks re-sign Mason Raymond, take aim at Shane Doan

phoenix

Vancouver Canucks left-winger Mason Raymond has avoided salary arbitration but he hasn’t avoided a pay cut.

The 26-year-old forward agreed Monday to a one-year contract for $2.275 million, which represents a $325,000 reduction from his $2.6 million wage of last season. Maybe he’ll even have Shane Doan on his line after Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman confirmed the team is pursuing the unrestricted free agent captain of the Phoenix Coyotes.

“I have spoken to Shane Doan on behalf of our organization a couple of times,” Gilman said Monday. “I spoke with him on July 1 to express our interest in bringing him to Vancouver and subsequently followed up with Shane last night. I know from my experience in Phoenix that he has been interested in Vancouver in the past. He’s a western Canadian guy whose wife is from Kamloops. So I think there is interest there. I had productive discussions with both Shane and his agent.”

Gilman was quick to note there will be many suitors for Doan, 35, if he opts to leave the Coyotes and their unstable financial situation.

“Shane is a sought-after commodity and there are a number of teams who would be interested in adding him to their roster,” Gilman continued. “So we’ll see what happens.”