Sprong spoke to reporters for the first time since signing with Vancouver. He revealed a phone call he got from Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet swayed him into choosing his next team. Tocchet was an assistant coach during Sprong's rookie year with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2015-16.
The 27 year old, put up 18 goals and 43 points with the Detroit Red Wings last season. Impressive totals considering he only averaged 12:00 in ice time. Sprong never seems able to earn the trust of his coaches despite putting up solid scoring numbers. His career high was during the 2022-23 season, when he put up 21 goals and 46 points with the Seattle Kraken. He only received an average of 11:25 in ice time.
With Sprong already having a prior bond with Tocchet maybe things will finally be different for the Amsterdam native when it comes to his ice time
Sprong has some established relationships already with some of his new teammates. He is good friends with Elias Pettersson after meeting on a vacation and kept in touch with Jake DeBrusk, who was a part of the same draft class. The trio could potentially form a dangerous line next season for Vancouver.
POLL | ||
23 JUILLET | 39 ANSWERS Daniel Sprong Was Enticed To Choose Vancouver By One Member Of The Team How many points does Daniel Sprong score next season? | ||
30-40 points | 16 | 41 % |
40-50 points | 18 | 46.2 % |
20-30 points | 5 | 12.8 % |
50-60 points | 0 | 0 % |
List of polls |