The Canucks have made a trio of roster moves heading into Thursday’s game against Edmonton. The team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Noah Juulsen has been placed on injured reserve. In corresponding moves, defenseman Elias Pettersson and forward Linus Karlsson were recalled from AHL Abbotsford.
Juulsen has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. The 27-year-old has played in 32 games with Vancouver this season and is still looking for his first point. However, he has 57 blocked shots and 89 hits while averaging 16:34 per night, his highest ATOI since he was a prospect with Montreal over his first two professional seasons. The team indicated that Juulsen’s placement was retroactive to January 14th, meaning he has already missed the required seven days and can be activated at any time once he’s cleared to return.
This is the second recall of the season for Pettersson, who has no relation to his namesake in Vancouver’s forward group. The 20-year-old was a third-round pick by Vancouver back in 2022 and he’s in his first full season in North America. Through 36 games in the minors, he has a goal and 12 assists and is still looking to make his NHL debut after his initial recall was only for one day.
As for Karlsson, the 25-year-old has been productive when available in Abbotsford. He’s their only forward averaging more than a point per game as he has 12 goals and six assists through 17 outings at the AHL level. That comes on the heels of a 2023-24 campaign that saw him collect 60 points in as many games. Despite his success in the minors, NHL opportunities have been limited thus far for Karlsson. He has just six games at the top level, two of which have come this season where he has been held off the scoresheet in a little over ten minutes per game.
With these moves, Vancouver’s active roster is now at the maximum of 23 players.