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“He understands the situation and where he’s at in his career,” said Canucks’ GM Jim Benning. “We traded for him (Oct. 4) and I thought he started off real good and there was a part where he took a dip, but he finished off well.

“With any young player, you get those inconsistencies. But he likes the city and what we’re doing here and wants to be a part of it.”

The Canucks have seven defencemen on their main roster signed and Troy Stecher is an RFA. They could add to the mix if 2018 first-round pick Quinn Hughes is signed and makes the club and if Olli Juolevi recovers faster than expected from micro-disectomy back surgery and joins the club at some point in the fall.

“The last two years, we were on our 10th or 11th defenceman and one thing I learned in our division is you better have a lot,” added Benning of his injury-plagued back end.

Pouliot was tied for second in club blue-liner points last season with 22 (3-19). He was seventh in average ice time (17:51) and an occasional healthy scratch by Canucks’ coach Travis Green, his junior mentor in Portland, who often lauded the defenceman’s upside.

The contract extension allows Pouliot to be an RFA next summer, retain his arbitration rights and move closer to unrestricted free agency. And for the Canucks, the slight bump in Pouliot’s salary is better than what arbitration may have brought. An arbiter could have considered overall performance, statistics from all previous seasons, length of NHL service, special qualities of leadership or public appeal and the salary of any player believed to be comparable.