Dorsett and Sbisa looking forward to long stays in Vancouver

Derek Dorsett got the long-term deal he wanted from the Vancouver Canucks. Now, he’s looking to build a future for himself, his family and his team.
The winger was pumped Thursday, a day after signing a new four-year contract with an annual salary cap hit of $2.65 million. The contract is the longest of the 28-year-old Kindersley, Sask., native’s NHL career.
“Me and my agents talked about trying to get a long-term commitment and, obviously, Vancouver made that offer,” he said as the Canucks prepared to face the Arizona Coyotes. “So we’re very happy with it and glad to be staying in Vancouver. That’s for sure.”
His previous three contracts ranged from two to three years.
“It means a lot,” he said of the contract length. “The ownership and management group have been nothing but great to me and my family. It’s a first-class organization, and I couldn’t be happier anywhere else. Being in Canada and being in a Canadian market and, obviously, it being a childhood dream to play in a Canadian market, now I get to do it for four years and work towards the goal that everyone wants to accomplish here – and that’s to win a Stanley Cup.”
Dorsett joined the Canucks in an off-season trade from the New York Rangers and has established a strong affection for the city after his son Dylan was born here. He has become a mainstay on a nominal fourth line with rookie centre Bo Horvat and fellow centre Jannik Hansen.
The line has been prominent down the stretch as the Canucks secured a playoff berth after a one-year absence from the post-season.
Before Thursday’s contest, Dorsett had posted single-season career highs in points (25) and assists (18). He was leading the Canucks in hits (163) and his team-leading 169 penalty minutes ranked fourth in the NHL.
“Coming into a locker-room full of guys that you’ve had some pretty good wars against, it can be a little difficult and nerve-wracking,” he said. “But the guys opened the locker-room with open arms. It just shows what kind of leaders are on this team and the character of guys that are in this locker-room. It’s been a lot of fun this year. And, as soon as I got here, (seeing) how welcoming they are to me and my family, it just made me realize that I wanted to be here long-term.”
Dorsett has earned praise from coach Willie Desjardins and general manager Jim Benning for his physical ways and his willingness to stand up for teammates in altercations. In coming years, Dorsett, who has also played for Columbus, which drafted him from the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, also hopes to become active with charitable causes in Vancouver and be more of a mentor to younger players.
“I still remember the first times I walked into an NHL locker-room star-struck at some of the guys that were walking around,” he said. “When I was in Columbus, you had the likes of Sergei Federov, you had Anson Carter, you had Michael Peca and Freddie Modin, guys like that. Walking around, you see them and you get caught in the moment. I can remember times when those guys made me feel welcome and always had time to chat with me; or if I had any questions, to show the way. So (mentoring) is something I take pride in. I hope I can do that for the next four years to some of the young guys. We’ve got some young talent coming up that will help this team win down the road, and it’ll be a fun role to take on.”
But first, there’s a Stanley Cup to play for this season. Dorsett is glad that he won’t be distracted by contract issues as the Canucks chase a championship.
“It’s an important time of year and it’s obviously a relief to get it over with,” he said.
Meanwhile, defenceman Luca Sbisa was also relieved that he could also focus on the playoffs after signing a new deal of his own. Sbisa signed a three-year deal with a yearly cap hit of $3.6 million Wednesday.
“From a personal standpoint, that’s huge,” he said. “(There were) a lot of question marks coming into this year. So it’s good to have the confidence of upper management, the coaches and all that to be here for another three years.”
Sbisa, 25-year-old Swiss product of Italian descent, was acquired from Anaheim at the trade deadline as part of the Ryan Kesler deal. After some early struggles, Sbisa has established himself as a regular. He solidified his spot after helping the defence corps get through a plethora of injuries with a strong run early in 2015.
“Joining a new team, you don’t really know where you fit in and all that, so I think it took me a while to get going,” he said. “The second half of the year, I started to play better. … When those injuries happened on the back end, obviously, that was a bad thing. But at the same time, it was an opportunity for some other guys in the room. I think that’s when I stepped up a bit and started to play better hockey. It’s nice to get rewarded with a contract.”
Benning did not give no-trade clauses to either Dorsett or Sbisa. But they are not going anywhere soon.