9:14 p.m.: In what has become a rollercoaster of trade, the Chicago Blackhawks are expected to acquire Ilya Mikheyev, the rights to Sam Lafferty, and a second-round pick in 2025 from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2027. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed Mikheyev waived his M-NTC to facilitate a deal with the Blackhawks. The deal will shed $4.75MM off the books for the Canucks as they look to retain several pending free agents and bring their expected cap space up to $19MM heading into the offseason.

Much like their acquisition of Jason Dickinson nearly two years ago, the Blackhawks have once again weaponized their cap space to acquire a reclamation project from the Canucks organization. Assuming Chicago can sign Lafferty to an extension — the Blackhawks dramatically improve their bottom six for the cost of a fourth-round pick in a draft three years away.

After becoming disgruntled with the Maple Leafs organization, Mikheyev signed a four-year, $19MM contract in Vancouver during the summer of 2022. Unfortunately, during his first preseason game with the Canucks, Mikheyev tore his anterior cruciate ligament but was courageously able to return rather quickly from the injury on October 18th. Mikheyev provided solid secondary contributions the rest of the way for the Canucks by way of scoring 13 goals and 28 points in 43 games before Vancouver finally shut him down for the season in late January.

This past offseason, Mikheyev underwent surgery to repair the injury and would not make his season debut until October 21st. Starting hot out of the gates, Mikheyev put up nine goals and 16 points through his first 25 games of the regular season but could only manage two goals and 15 points over the last 53 contests. In Chicago, Mikheyev will have access to much more playing time which will give him more than enough opportunity to put his career back on a positive trajectory.

If the Blackhawks can sign Lafferty before he hits the open market on July 1st, it will be his second stint with the organization. During the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Lafferty spent 97 games in Chicago where the team saw him put up 15 goals and 32 points. Lafferty was originally acquired by the Blackhawks organization from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Alexander Nylander before the team shipped him off to the Maple Leafs in the deal that also saw Jake McCabe head to Toronto.

This past season in Vancouver, Lafferty was one of the most reliable bottom-six forwards in the league as he scored 13 goals and 24 points in 73 games while averaging just under 12 minutes of ice time per night. He will likely serve in a similar role with Chicago but he may be able to sneak into the team’s second-line on occasion.

The deal opens up a lot of possibilities for the Canucks, as they were able to offload $4.75MM in salary for a second-round pick only a day after the Detroit Red Wings attached a second-round pick to shed $3.4MM off their books. Vancouver may not be done yet in what is shaping up to be an aggressive offseason for the organization as they look to capitalize on an impressive 2023-24 season.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report a trade involving Mikheyev, Lafferty, and a second-round pick to Chicago was in the works. 

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff was the first to report the full trade package. 

Seravalli was the first to report which year the draft picks were attributed to. 

That news comes as no surprise from a Toronto team that acquired 6’4” Joel Edmundson and 6’2” Ilya Lyubushkin at the Trade Deadline, sending a third-round pick for each defender. Neither seemed to make much of a splash in the year’s second half, with Lyubushkin potting just four assists in 19 regular-season games, while Edmundson went pointless through nine games while battling injury. The duo were two of many vying for ice time on Toronto’s bottom pairing, competing with the likes of Simon Benoit, William Lagesson, Conor Timmins, and Maxim Lajoie. Nobody on the list was able to push into routine top-four minutes, though the Leafs found reasons for optimism, with Pagnotta adding that the team is interested in re-signing Edmundson – at least ahead of other pending free agents Lyubushkin and Lajoie. That deal would return Edmundson to a crowded Toronto depth chart, though his stout defense on both sides of the ice could provide nice flexibility for a Leafs team that always seems to face nagging injuries.

In that way, Edmundson’s role would mirror former St. Louis Blues teammate Robert Bortuzzo, who’s stood strong in spot starts with the Blues and New York Islanders. In fact, Toronto may be drawing a lot of interest from the Blues defense, also showing renewed interest in trading for veteran big-man Colton Parayko, shares Pagnotta. Toronto has been tied to Parayko for many years, though he becomes a more palatable trade chip with the more time he spends on his pricey eight-year, $52MM contract. That deal is set to carry Parayko through the 2029-30 season – posing a major hurdle to any interested buyers. Parayko scored 10 goals and 26 points in 82 games this season – with strong goal-scoring lifting up an otherwise slowed season. Now 31 and on a very pricey deal, Parayko certainly isn’t an ideal trade target – though his veteran presence and Stanley Cup precedent could make him a strong acquisition with salary retention.

Other notes from around the league:

• The Minnesota Wild aren’t expecting aging defenseman Alex Goligoski to return next season, shares Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). Goligoski became a routine healthy scratch in the second half of the season, ceding ice time to Dakota Mermis and Declan Chisholm. The 38-year-old veteran ultimately appeared in just 36 games, recording 10 points, all assists. Now set for the free market, he’ll face the question of if now is the right time to retire, having accumulated 1,078 games, 475 points, and one Stanley Cup across 17 seasons in the NHL. Meanwhile, Di Marco adds that Minnesota could look externally for a new depth defenseman.
• The Vancouver Canucks have granted player agent Dan Milstein permission to find a trade for client Ilya Mikheyev, shares Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News (Twitter link). Mikheyev has muddled through the last two seasons with the Canucks, with untimely injuries making it hard to find a comfortable role. He ultimately totaled 59 points in 124 games with the club, and will now look to find a spark with a change of scenery. Mikheyev has two seasons left on a contract carrying a $4.75MM cap hit.

But unlike the others, it will likely take assets from the Canucks to get out of Mikheyev’s contract. While Vancouver’s front office, led by Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford, has done good work to get them back to playoff contention, his signing in free agency two years ago is a major blemish. Under contract with a $4.75MM cap hit for two more seasons, the 29-year-old has 24 goals and 59 points in 124 games since landing in British Columbia.

This season was especially difficult for Mikheyev. After missing a solid chunk of his inaugural season in Vancouver with an ACL tear initially sustained during the preseason, he had surgery in February 2023. He wasn’t cleared to play when training camp began in advance of this season, though, and missed the first few games of the regular season.

Mikheyev returned with a vengeance, putting up five goals and eight points in his first nine games after making his season debut in late October. But his production fell off a cliff the rest of the season, and he finished the campaign with just one goal in 33 games after the All-Star break. He was a non-factor in the playoffs, too, going without a point and posting a -4 rating in 11 games.

At nearly $5MM per season, they can’t stomach that level of inconsistent play in an offseason where new contracts are needed for most of their defense and a few key forwards, such as top pending UFA center Elias Lindholm. Teams around the league know that, Seravalli reports, and are asking the Canucks to attach assets to Mikheyev’s contract in any trade talks, but Allvin is “balking” at the notion.

Per Seravalli, the Canucks are countering teams’ asks by “saying that it takes a full year to recover from ACL repair, and Mikheyev should be much better next season.” But if they were confident he was going to be worth the money he’s owed next season, why would they be looking to move him?

Mikheyev is a rare overseas undrafted free agent signing success story, sticking in the majors ever since the Maple Leafs brought him over from Russia in 2019. But his career-best point total is only 32, although he did make it happen in only 53 games for the Leafs in 2021-22. That platform year earned him the four-year, $19MM commitment from Vancouver with a 12-team no-trade list throughout.

While he replicated that 0.6 points per game pace in his first year with the Canucks, he hasn’t been able to stretch that level of offensive performance over a season in which he’s stayed healthy. His 78 games played this season was actually a career-high by quite a wide margin, eclipsing the 54 contests he played in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 campaign.

If there was one season left on his deal, it may be a different story. But with two years left and reduced leverage due to his no-trade list, it’s a near-certainty that they’ll need to give up assets to completely get out from under his deal. Buying him out is also an option and would yield a cap penalty ranging from $1.15MM to $2.15MM annually over the next four seasons, per CapFriendly.

More from around the hockey world:

• Still with Vancouver, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the Canucks might consider buying out Ilya Mikheyev this offseason. The 29-year-old wound up with a respectable 11 goals and 20 assists in 78 games this season but his production cratered as the year went on as he managed just a single tally and nine helpers in his final 45 regular season and was held off the scoresheet altogether in 11 playoff contests.  Mikheyev has two years left on his deal that carries a $4.75MM AAV; a buyout would carry a cap charge of $1.15MM next season, $2.15MM in 2025-26, and $1.55MM for two more years after that.
• A pair of young NHL players were traded recently in the KHL. CSKA announced that they traded the rights to Blues prospect Mikhail Abramov in exchange for Flames blueliner Nikita Okhotyuk.  Abramov picked up 14 goals and 22 assists in 59 games with AHL Springfield this season and has yet to play at the NHL level.  Okhotyuk, meanwhile, spent most of the season in San Jose before being acquired late in the season by Calgary; he notched nine points, 80 blocks, and 147 hits in 52 NHL games.  Both players are set to become restricted free agents in July.

More from Vancouver:

• While goaltender Thatcher Demko has resumed skating, head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters including Postmedia’s Steve Ewen that it “would be a stretch” for his starter to return in this series. He has been out since suffering a knee injury in the first game of the opening round against Nashville.  However, Arturs Silovs has done well in his absence, posting a 2.62 GAA and a .907 SV%, getting them a game away from being Edmonton which lessens the urgency to get Demko back in the lineup.
• After missing last game with an undisclosed injury, it doesn’t appear as if winger Ilya Mikheyev will return tonight. Thomas Drance of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that there’s unlikely to be any lineup changes tonight which means he’ll be out once again.  Mikheyev took part in the optional skate with Demko which suggests he’s not too far away from returning.  It has been a tough postseason for the 29-year-old as he has been held off the scoresheet in ten games after scoring just once in his last 50 regular season contests.
• Speaking of injuries, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that blueliner Ian Cole is dealing with an undisclosed lower-body injury. The veteran has had some struggles this round but is still logging over 15 minutes a night while chipping in with nearly three blocks per game in the first five matches of this series.

The 29-year-old had a productive first season with Vancouver last year when he was healthy as he recorded 13 goals and 15 assists in just 46 games while logging just shy of 17 minutes per night.  His 28 points were four shy of his career high despite missing over 40% of the games due to injuries.

Mikheyev suffered a torn ACL back in February, undergoing surgery soon after.  At the time, the expectation was that he’d be ready for the start of the season but that wasn’t the case as he wound up not playing in the preseason while the team eventually scaled him back in practice to a non-contact jersey.  Fortunately for Vancouver, it turns out that he didn’t need too much more recovery time.

The Canucks had been carrying 22 players so they don’t need to make a corresponding move to create an open roster spot to activate Mikheyev.

The injury will force Blueger to further delay his regular season debut with the Canucks after a solid preseason had fans feeling optimistic about his upcoming season with the team. Blueger signed a one-year $1.9MM contract with the Canucks on July 1st after a disappointing season last year split between the Vegas Golden Knights and Pittsburgh Penguins. Blueger posted just four goals and 12 assists last year in 63 games while being deployed largely as a fourth-line center and penalty-kill specialist.

In other Canucks injury notes:

• The Canucks injury news isn’t all bad. The Vancouver Province posted that injured defenseman Carson Soucy skated with the Canucks yesterday in a non-contact jersey and will travel with the team on their upcoming road trip. Soucy also took part in extra skating drills before practice as he tries to get into game shape. Soucy was originally injured a week ago in a preseason game against the Flames and was thought to be out week to week but could be back sooner than later.
• The Vancouver Province reported that Canucks forward Ilya Mikheyev has gone from practicing with the team in a regular jersey to a non-contact jersey. The 29-year-old had been in a regular jersey for almost a week but was downgraded yesterday for an undisclosed reason. The Canucks thought earlier in the week that Mikheyev might be ready for the Canucks October 17th game against the Philadelphia Flyers but given the setback that return now seems unlikely. Like Soucy, Mikheyev took extra skating before the team’s practice yesterday as he tries to get into game shape.

Starting off the first year of an eight-year, $67.6MM extension signed last season, Hintz will surely be a key missing part of the Stars’ lineup if he is unable to play. Dallas will be able to survive for the time being with him out of the lineup but would have a hard time replacing a player of his caliber in the lineup if it is more long-term.

At the very least, with the addition of Matt Duchene this summer and an incredibly affordable one-year, $3MM deal, the Stars appear to have added appropriate depth in case something such as this transpired. Not only do the Stars appear headed for a war with the Colorado Avalanche for the Central Division, but they are also looking to compete as the top team in the Western Conference, and potentially the entire league.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

• One player who is confirmed to not be playing opening night is Ilya Mikheyev of the Vancouver Canucks. Relaying on the news from the head coach of the Canucks, Rick Tocchet, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet announces Mikheyev will indeed miss the season opener. Mikheyev is still rehabbing from an ACL injury sustained last season in January, an injury that would prematurely end his season.
• Murat Ates of The Athletic shares that the Winnipeg Jets have sent Simon Kubicek, Mark Liwiski, and Thomas Milic to their ECHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. Last year, Kubicek also played in the AHL for the Manitoba Moose, while Liwiski spent his entire season in the ECHL for the Wichita Thunder. Milic, on the other hand, was the 151st overall selection for the Jets in the 2023 NHL Draft, coming out of the Seattle Thunderbirds organization of the WHL.

Mikheyev has been partially absent from training camp, missing time both because of his injury and for personal reasons. He played in just 46 games with Vancouver last season, his first with the club, recording 13 goals and 28 assists. It was his fourth NHL season and the fourth straight year of Mikheyev playing in 55 or fewer NHL games. In the 2021-22 campaign, his final year with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mikheyev tallied 21 goals and 32 points in 53 games. He’s now under contract with Vancouver for the next three seasons, with a $4.75MM cap hit in all three seasons, so getting Mikheyev to a healthy and durable state will be important for the club.

Other notes from around the league:

• The Athletic’s Michael Russo shared that, with Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Foligno extended, the Minnesota Wild are now turning their attention towards locking in Ryan Hartman. Russo notes that Hartman is likely looking for a salary north of $4MM but the team will want to keep him under that mark.
• Sportsnet’s Luke Fox is expecting the Tampa Bay Lightning will turn their attention towards the waiver wire to try and find a replacement for the injured Andrei Vasilevskiy. The team is currently rostering Jonas Johansson and Matt Tomkins and is in a tough spot to sign or trade for anyone with their tight cap situation.

The 23-year-old Romanov played in his third NHL season last year, his first with New York. He netted 22 points in 76 games with the Islanders, bringing his career totals up to 41 points through 209 games. New York acquired Romanov in a high-profile trade that sent the 13th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft to Montreal in exchange for Romanov and a fourth-round pick. Montreal then sent 13th overall and a third-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Kirby Dach. The Blackhawks would go on to select Frank Nazar and Gavin Hayes with their respective selections, while the Islanders brought in Isaiah George with the fourth-round pick they received from Montreal.

Other notes from around the league:

• The Vancouver Canucks announced that Ilya Mikheyev has left training camp for personal reasons. The Canucks acquired Mikheyev in advance of last season. He scored 13 goals and 28 points in 46 games with the club, although an ACL injury ended his season early. While his departure from camp doesn’t seem connected to that injury, it does add to the anticipation that Canucks fans face in waiting for Mikheyev’s return.
• Toronto Maple Leafs defender Simon Benoit missed the team’s start to training camp, suffering from back spasms. The team signed the 25-year-old to a one-year, one-way contract this summer. No further details have been provided on how long Benoit may be out or what impacts it may have on how Toronto organizes its NHL and AHL rosters.

Speaking on NHL Network, Friedman said he “really thought [Bo] Horvat was going to be the comparable at 8×8.5, and I think it’s possible Lindholm now actually comes in higher than that, potentially… I think the number is going to have to be above Horvat, I’ve heard it might be closer to 8.75 or 9.” He, of course, is referring to Horvat’s eight-year, $8.5MM AAV extension signed with the New York Islanders after being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks this past season. While he does have multiple years of experience as a defensively solid first-line center, that would be quite a lot of money to pay someone who’s cracked the 70-point mark just twice in his career and the 30-goal mark only once.

Last season, Lindholm finished second on the Flames in scoring with 22 goals, 42 assists and 64 points in 80 games. It was a falloff from his career-high 2021-22 campaign between Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, where the then-27-year-old posted 42 goals and 82 points in 82 games alongside a ridiculous +61 rating. For comparison, 25-year-old Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson, who’s scored 85 goals in 156 games over the past two seasons, is signed for seven more seasons at a $7.143MM cap hit.

Elsewhere from around the NHL today:

• The Philadelphia Flyers have confirmed the hire of two-time All-Star Dany Heatley as a pro scout, notes independent Flyers reporter Charlie O’Connor. This will be Heatley’s first documented off-ice staffing role since retiring from pro hockey in 2016. The 42-year-old former sniper won the 2002 Calder Trophy as a member of the Atlanta Thrashers and scored 372 goals in 869 NHL games across 13 seasons with the Thrashers, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Minnesota Wild, and Anaheim Ducks.
• Vancouver Canucks winger Ilya Mikheyev is still recovering from an ACL injury that was aggravated and then operated on in late January, and CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports it may keep him out of preseason action. Mikheyev initially sustained the injury in preseason action for Vancouver last season but only missed a handful of weeks before being cleared to play in mid-October and recording 28 points in 46 games for the Canucks. He is still expected to be ready to go for opening night, however, and could very well begin his second season in British Columbia’s biggest city in a top-six role after averaging almost 17 minutes per game last season.

The reason that Mikheyev’s expected return is so significant, is that Vancouver is beginning to have a roster issue. As of now, according to CapFriendly, the Canucks currently have 13 forwards on their current roster, with NHL-ready talents such as Aidan McDonough and Vasily Podkolzin rostered in the minor leagues. With Mikheyev’s imminent return to the team, Vancouver would now have 16 forwards capable of receiving minutes in the professional league.

Not only is Mikheyev expected to return, but there is also the strong possibility of forward Tanner Pearson returning by the start of training camp. In July, the General Manager of the Canucks, Patrik Allvin, spoke on Pearson’s status saying, “The indication I got from his agent and from our medical staff is that the hand is healed, and Tanner is working really hard to to be the in his best shape and participate in training camp“.

Vancouver will have a bit of flexibility when it comes to filling out their forward core, as players such as Nils Aman, Phillip Di Giuseppe, and Sheldon Dries all have two-way contracts, meaning they can be sent to the AHL without hitting the waiver wire. The more unfortunate news for the Canucks, is the unenviable situation of their salary cap. If Pearson does indeed come off LTIR, Vancouver will still be $1.77MM over the cap with only Tucker Poolman left on LTIR.

If Pearson is not ready to go by the start of the season, the Canucks will be able to keep him on LTIR and have no issue staying cap compliant throughout the season. Nevertheless, with so many NHL quality forwards in their system, it would seem prudent for Vancouver to thin out their forward core in some fashion, and address another area of need for the team.

Not only has Keller held his own, producing over a point per game on a team near the bottom of the league, but his presence has finally helped crack the offensive game of 2018 fifth-overall pick Barrett Hayton, who now has eight points in his last four games. Crosby’s strong play this week has once again helped keep the Penguins safer in the playoff picture, while Marner recorded six points in two games against two of the league’s best teams in New Jersey and Edmonton.

Some other league notes to begin the week:

• NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told reporters, including NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston, that the league “would like to get to a point where cut-resistant equipment is mandated for all new players.” Daly notes that talks remain ongoing with the NHLPA on creating said regulation. The issue has come to the forefront in recent years in light of some scary injuries, especially incidents of skate cuts on wrists. Notably, players such as Evander Kane and Ilya Mikheyev have missed significant time in the past few seasons.
• TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that NHL general managers have discussed expanding the grounds of coaches’ challenges to include puck-over-glass penalties, as well as two-minute high-sticking infractions. With challenges becoming increasingly rare as the penalties for getting them wrong evolve, the danger of slowing the game down with too many reviews is also decreasing. The managers’ annual meeting is this week.

Jan 28: Although Canucks winger Ilya Mikheyev scored the game-winner in last night’s victory over Columbus, it will be his last goal (and game) for a while. Following the contest, the team announced (video link) that Mikheyev will miss the remainder of the season and will undergo knee surgery.  An exact timeline for his recovery is not yet known.  However, the expectation is that he will be ready for the start of training camp.

The injury actually occurred back in the preseason when he partially tore his ACL.  At the time, the team opted to classify it as a lower-body injury but the 28-year-old only missed the first three games of the year before returning on October 18th.  To his credit, Mikheyev did pretty well under the circumstances, collecting 13 goals and 15 assists (tying his career high) in 46 games despite being slowed down due to the tear.  Those numbers were fairly close to the ones he had with Toronto the year before that helped him land a four-year $19MM contract this summer.

Since he will be out for the year, Vancouver will be able to put Mikheyev and his $4.75MM AAV on LTIR, giving them some extra flexibility to navigate the salary cap for the stretch run.  While the Canucks aren’t likely to be buyers (they sit sixth in the Pacific Division and are a dozen points out of a Wild Card spot), this will give them a chance to be a bit more creative when it comes to salary retention or taking an expiring contract back to facilitate a trade.

Although Vancouver was only carrying 13 healthy forwards on their roster for Friday’s game (including Mikheyev), the team also revealed postgame (Twitter link) that winger Phillip Di Giuseppe was assigned to AHL Abbotsford.  The 28-year-old was a healthy scratch against Columbus and has just one NHL appearance under his belt this season.  With now just 11 forwards on their roster, more roster moves will be expected once their schedule resumes after the All-Star break.

Nov 29: After opting to waive him over a month ago, the Vancouver Canucks are bringing forward Phillip Di Giuseppe back up to the NHL. General manager Patrik Allvin announced his recall from the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks Tuesday night.

Di Giuseppe comes to the NHL to potentially relieve Ilya Mikheyev, who could miss tonight’s game against the Washington Capitals with an illness. Both Di Giuseppe and Mikheyev were on the ice for warmups ahead of the game.

Now 29, Di Giuseppe is in his second year with the Canucks organization. He’s yet to score a goal this season in Abbotsford but does have five assists through seven games after approaching a point-per-game pace last season.

He has 201 games of NHL experience split between Carolina, Nashville, and the New York Rangers, and his a capable fourth-line plug-in when required.

As he has not spent more than 30 days on an NHL roster since clearing, Di Giuseppe will not require waivers again when the team opts to return him to Abbotsford.