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Vancouver Canucks Assign Three Players To AHL

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Like every team in the National Hockey League, the Vancouver Canucks have played their final game before the short holiday break. Per the AHL transactions page, the Canucks have papered down forwards Phillip Di Giuseppe, Max Sasson, and Linus Karlsson bringing their roster down a minimum of 18 skaters and two goalies.

The roster moves will give Vancouver a relatively large window of salary cap relief despite all three players earning below $900K on their current contracts. The Canucks don’t play until Saturday when they take on the Seattle Kraken meaning all three players will likely be recalled then.

The veteran Di Giuseppe played in three games for Vancouver during his recent call-up from December 17th to today, tallying two assists and 12 hits while averaging 12:39 of ice time. He’ll likely spend more time on the Canucks roster for the rest of the season after returning from an injury earlier in the year. Di Giuseppe is in the final season of a two-year, $1.55MM agreement signed with Vancouver and can bring quality defensive play toward the bottom of the lineup.

Sasson, the second forward included in today’s transaction, is starting to rack up playing time in the NHL. The former Western Michigan University standout has scored one goal and five points in 12 games for the Canucks this season and has seen his ice time climb to or near 13 minutes in three of his last four games. There’s a legitimate chance his playing days in the AHL are over for the foreseeable future unless Vancouver makes a notable outside addition to their bottom six.

Karlsson also sustained an early-season injury keeping him out of the lineup for both Vancouver and the Abbotsford Canucks for much of the 2024-25 regular season. He’s gotten off to a hot start in Abbotsford scoring five goals and six points in seven games but he failed to find the scoresheet during his pair of contests in the NHL. He’s an interesting offensive weapon Vancouver could toy with toward the bottom of their forward grouping given that Karlsson is only a year removed from scoring 23 goals and 60 points in 60 AHL games.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vancouver Canucks

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Pacific Division, next up is the Canucks.

Vancouver Canucks

Current Cap Hit: $86,793,708 (under the $88MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Aatu Raty (one year, $837K)

Potential Bonuses
Raty: $32.5K

Raty was one of the key pieces acquired in the Bo Horvat swap but his opportunities at the NHL level have been relatively limited so far.  He has played in the bulk of Vancouver’s games thus far this season (which bodes well for his games played bonus) but strictly on the fourth line.  As a result, he’s heading for a short-term bridge deal, one that shouldn’t cost much more than this one.

Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level

F Brock Boeser ($6.65MM, UFA)
D Erik Brannstrom ($900K, RFA)
D Derek Forbort ($1.5MM, UFA)
G Kevin Lankinen ($875K, UFA)
D Noah Juulsen ($775K, UFA)
F Pius Suter ($1.6MM, UFA)

Boeser seemed like a candidate for a longer-term deal a couple of years ago but wound up with what amounted to a second bridge contract.  That has worked out well for him as he had his best offensive performance last season and has started strong this year.  That should have him in line to add a couple million or so per year to his next deal, one that will be close to a max-term one this time around.  Suter didn’t have much success on the open market last time but basically produced at the same level last season as his first three years and is off to a better start this season.  He’s not the type of player who should be commanding a massive raise but a multi-year agreement with a price tag starting with three should be reachable.

Forbort received this deal in free agency in the summer and he was hoping to rebuild some value after a tough, injury-riddled year in Boston.  However, the early going this season has been tough and injury-riddled.  At this point, another drop in money might be coming his way while he’ll likely want another one-year deal.  Brannstrom was non-tendered by Ottawa over the summer and has already cleared waivers this season which doesn’t bode well for his situation.  His arbitration eligibility makes him a likely non-tender again but he could plausibly land a small raise to get back into seven figures.  Juulsen has largely been a seventh defender with Vancouver, a role he’d probably have with several other organizations.  Accordingly, teams will want him at or near the league minimum salary he’s currently making.

Lankinen didn’t get the type of contract he wanted early in free agency, resulting in him waiting it out.  That seven-figure deal didn’t come but he has been a terrific fit with the Canucks which should give hit market value a big boost if he can keep it up.  A jump back into the $2MM range might be an option for him but if he wants to stay in Vancouver, he will probably have to accept less than that.

Signed Through 2025-26

F Teddy Blueger ($1.8MM, UFA)
G Thatcher Demko ($5MM, UFA)
D Vincent Desharnais ($2MM, UFA)
F Conor Garland ($4.95MM, UFA)
F Danton Heinen ($2.25MM, UFA)
F Kiefer Sherwood ($1.5MM, UFA)
G Arturs Silovs ($850K, RFA)
D Carson Soucy ($3.25MM, UFA)

Garland has seemingly been on the trade block off and on for a couple of years now but overall, he has been relatively consistent with Vancouver.  Over the first three seasons of this contract, he has recorded at least 16 goals and 46 points while his maximums over that stretch are 20 and 52, respectively.  While they didn’t have much luck finding the right trade for him, his contract isn’t a significant overpayment by any stretch but the price tag and term remaining made it hard to move for full value.  While his smaller stature would work against him to a point on the open market, it’s quite possible that Garland is able to command a similar contract to this one next time out both in term and salary.

Heinen had to settle for a PTO a year ago but had more success in free agency back in July with this deal.  As long as he can provide some secondary scoring and hold a regular role in the middle six, they should do fine with it.  Blueger took a small pay cut in June to remain with Vancouver despite matching his career-high in points.  If he can hold that uptick in production, he could push past the $2MM mark on his next deal, a mark he reached at the end of his time with Pittsburgh.  Sherwood impressed in his first full NHL season last year, earning this deal in July.  He’s playing on the third line and is on pace to shatter the NHL record for hits in a single season.  We’ve seen players like this before command sizable deals on the open market so if he keeps this up, doubling this and then some is a realistic outcome.

Last year wasn’t a great one for Soucy who dealt with some injury trouble.  He’s a veteran fifth defender who can play up in a pinch but not contribute much offensively.  The market for those players is more stagnant so while it’s possible he could land another raise in 2026, it’s likely going to be of the marginal variety.  Desharnais only had one full NHL year under his belt as he reached free agency which likely limited his market to an extent.  He’s being deployed as more of a depth defender with Vancouver and if that holds, he’ll be hard-pressed to command much more than that with a lot of teams trying to keep the back-of-the-roster spots cheaper now.

Demko was the runner-up for the Vezina last season and it looked like a long-term deal with a sizable raise would soon be coming his way.  But the continued knee struggles dating back to the playoffs will hinder his market and likely take the types of deals that Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman ($8.25MM) received off the table.  It wouldn’t be shocking for both sides to want a short-term agreement at a small raise to give Demko time to prove that he can fully get past the injury issue.  Silovs is the presumptive backup of the future after a solid run in the playoffs in relief of Demko although he’s off to a rough start this year.  If Silovs can do well in that role next season (assuming Lankinen moves on), doubling this price tag with arbitration rights could be the minimum increase.  But if he struggles or stays in a third role, he’ll stay around that price tag for his next deal.

Signed Through 2026-27

D Quinn Hughes ($7.85MM, UFA)
D Tyler Myers ($3MM, UFA)

Hughes skipped the bridge deal and went straight to this one, though it was two years shy of a max-term deal to help keep the cap hit lower.  While Vancouver is certainly benefitting from that now, Hughes will hit the open market at 27.  At that point, a max-term contract is all but a certainty considering he has emerged as a premier offensive blueliner.  That deal could plausibly come in around $11MM per season if he keeps this up.  Myers took a 50% cut from his last contract to remain with the Canucks for what should be a decent value deal for now as long as he can have some success on the second pairing.  That said, he’ll be 37 when this expires and will quite likely be going year to year from there at a lower rate than this, assuming he’s a little further down the depth chart at that time.

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Canucks Looking To Add Top-Four Defenseman

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  • LeBrun also shared that the Vancouver Canucks were already looking for a top-four defenseman before losing defenseman Filip Hronek for the next several weeks. Hronek’s injury has increased Vancouver’s motivation to acquire a defenseman and LeBrun asserts there should be a solution long before the deadline. The Canucks are looking for more consistency from their roster as they’ve only managed a 4-2-2 record since the calendar turned to December.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Canucks Make Several Roster Moves

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Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced a series of roster moves today. Vancouver is sending defenseman Mark Friedman and goaltender Artūrs Šilovs to the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League and recalling forwards Linus Karlsson and Phillip Di Giuseppe.

Vancouver appears to be setting their roster in place before the upcoming NHL roster freeze. The Canucks could have waited until later in the week to shuffle things around, but their situation was a bit complicated by the fact that they play on the road tomorrow and Thursday.

Friedman returns to Abbotsford, where he has spent the bulk of his season, appearing in eight AHL games. The 28-year-old has shuttled back and forth throughout most of his professional career and will likely return to Vancouver later in the season when there is a need. The Toronto, Ontario native has dressed in 91 career NHL games over seven seasons.

Silovs has already set a career-high this season in NHL games played with seven, but has struggled immensely at the NHL level, posting a 1-4-1 record with a 4.11 goals against average and a .847 save percentage. The 23-year-old should have an opportunity to play a lot in the AHL as he tries to get his confidence back.

Karlsson and Di Giuseppe have earned call-ups that likely would have happened earlier this year, but those plans were thwarted by injuries. Karlsson played in the playoffs last season for the Canucks, dressing in two games. He earned that opportunity after tearing it up in the AHL last season with 23 goals and 37 assists in 60 games. He has had a solid albeit brief start to the AHL season, tallying five goals and an assist in seven games.

Di Giuseppe returns to the NHL after spending much of last season in Vancouver. The 31-year-old had five goals and five assists in 51 NHL games last season and also appeared in 11 NHL playoff games, lighting the lamp once and adding a helper. An early-season injury has limited the Maple, Ontario native to just four AHL games this year, but it appears he will get a shot at some NHL minutes.

West Notes: Räty, Foligno, Faksa, Gustavsson

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The Vancouver Canucks announced today that they’ve assigned forward Aatu Räty to the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League. The 22-year-old was recalled on Saturday before the Canucks game against the Bruins but didn’t end up dressing and served as a healthy scratch.

The former second-round pick has spent considerable time in the NHL this season, dressing in 20 games and picking up two goals and two assists. His AHL campaign has been limited, playing just eight games with Abbotsford, but Räty has been very productive posting four goals and three assists.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Chicago Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno was sick today and didn’t dress today in Chicago’s 5-3 win over the New York Islanders (as per Mario Tirabassi of CHGO Sports). The 37-year-old had points in each of his previous two games and is having a decent offensive season with seven goals and six assists in 30 games. He was replaced today by Joey Anderson who went scoreless in 13:27 of ice time.
  • Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic tweeted that St. Louis Blues forward Radek Faksa missed his third consecutive game tonight due to a cut on his leg. The 30-year-old suffered the injury in a game against Vancouver and is making progress towards a return. Veteran Brandon Saad replaced Faksa in the lineup. Faksa is in his first season with the Blues after spending the first nine years of his NHL career with the Dallas Stars.
  • Michael Russo of The Athletic writes that Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson is dealing with some soreness in his lower body and was getting looked at today. The ailment is reportedly nothing major, but it was enough to prompt the Wild to take a longer look at the issue. The 26-year-old is having a terrific bounce-back season with a 14-5-3 record along with a. 2.24 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Gustavsson took warmups last night and did serve as the backup, but the issue prompted the team to act today as well as call up top prospect Jesper Wallstedt.

Canucks Looking To Move Vincent Desharnais

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After establishing himself as a regular on Edmonton’s back end last season, Vincent Desharnais had enough of a market in free agency to secure a two-year, $4MM contract with Vancouver.  However, things haven’t gone as well as planned and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Canucks are looking to find a better fit for the blueliner.

In 2023-24, Desharnais played in 78 regular season games with Edmonton.  He averaged a little less than 16 minutes a night but logged big minutes on the penalty kill, making him a serviceable bottom-pairing defender.  The 28-year-old also chipped in with 11 points, 122 blocked shots, and 135 hits.  Desharnais also suited up in 16 of Edmonton’s 25 playoff contests, picking up 41 blocks and 40 hits while logging 17:15 per night.

Unfortunately for Desharnais and the Canucks, he hasn’t been able to play at the same level this season.  He has been a healthy scratch multiple times already and his playing time has dipped a bit as well to just 15:08 per night while recording two assists, 23 hits, and 23 blocks.  With Derek Forbort now healthy and Erik Brannstrom and Noah Juulsen playing well, Desharnais might be the seventh defenseman for the time being or at least be in a timeshare for playing time.  It’s safe to say they were expecting him to be a regular when they signed him.

It’s worth noting that more than half of Desharnais’ total contract is paid in the form of signing bonuses; his base salary each season is the $775K league minimum.  That means nearly half of the total compensation of the contract has already been paid out which might make him a bit more appealing to more budget-conscious teams.  But with his early struggles and a $2MM cap charge for next season, the Canucks likely won’t be able to command much for Desharnais’ services.

However, if they can clear his contract, that would give them more ammunition from a cap space perspective to try to make a splash on the trade front closer to the trade deadline.  While Filip Hronek is on LTIR, Vancouver has largely been able to stay out of using it, meaning they continue to bank extra room on a daily basis.  Accordingly, it’s possible that GM Patrik Allvin looks to make that the priority over maximizing the trade return.  Either way, it’s a situation that the Canucks likely weren’t anticipating when they signed Desharnais just over five months ago.

Canucks Recall Four From AHL

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The Canucks have brought up some reinforcements before their game tonight against Boston.  The team announced (Twitter link) that forwards Aatu Raty and Max Sasson along with defenseman Mark Friedman were recalled from AHL Abbotsford, reversing the paper assignments from Friday as expected.  However, they also revealed that they’ve recalled goaltender Arturs Silovs using the emergency goaltender exemption.

Raty, Sasson, and Friedman have all been shuffled back and forth in an effort to keep Vancouver out of LTIR and banking as much cap space as possible.  Raty has four points in 20 games so far this season while Sasson has four assists in nine outings with the Canucks.  Playing time has been harder to come by for Friedman who has suited up just twice so far.

As for Silovs, he has spent most of the season on Vancouver’s roster with Thatcher Demko being sidelined for the first couple of months.  However, he wasn’t able to play at the same level as he did last season and in the playoffs as he struggled to a 4.11 GAA and a .847 SV% in his first seven outings, leading to his re-assignment to the minors recently.

Vancouver only had three open roster spots (stemming from the three paper demotions yesterday) which meant that the Canucks had to use this exemption.  Teams are limited to using this for a maximum of two times per season and Silovs can only be on the roster on this exemption for 48 hours.  He’s taking the place of Kevin Lankinen as head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters including Sportsnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor (Twitter link) that the netminder is dealing with the flu.

Raty, Sasson, And Friedman Papered To Abbotsford

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  • The Canucks continue their frequent roster shuffling, announcing (Twitter link) that forwards Aatu Raty, Max Sasson, and defenseman Mark Friedman were assigned to AHL Abbotsford. Sasson has been moved back and forth quite often over the last few weeks while Friedman was papered down earlier this week.  Raty’s last assignment was in mid-November and considering he already has 20 games with Vancouver under his belt, it’s safe to say he’ll be back up quickly as well.

Canucks Expected To Activate Derek Forbort

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In addition to getting J.T. Miller back in the fold, the Canucks will also have defenseman Derek Forbort in the lineup tonight against the Panthers, head coach Rick Tocchet told Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650. He’s coming off injured reserve, which the Canucks have the roster space to do without a corresponding move.

Forbort has spent most of his brief time in Vancouver on the injured list. After signing a one-year, $1.5MM deal in free agency, Forbort played three games before taking a leave of absence for personal reasons. He then sustained a knee injury in his return to the lineup on Nov. 2 that did not require surgery but has nonetheless kept him out since. He began skating with the team in a regular jersey earlier this week, per Batchelor, signaling a return was imminent.

The veteran shutdown presence averaged 16:30 per game when in the lineup earlier this season, posting an assist and a -2 rating. Vancouver did control 51.8% of shot attempts with Forbort on the ice at even strength, but his minutes were quantity over quality – they lost the expected goal battle 2.7 to 1.4.

Before signing in Vancouver, the 2010 first-round pick had spent the last three years with the Bruins. His final season in Beantown was nothing to write home about, posting just four assists in 35 games while averaging under 18 minutes per game for the second season in a row. He joined Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen as UFAs who left Boston for Vancouver.

Forbort will play a bottom-pairing role alongside Mark Friedman in his return to the lineup, multiple reports indicate. Erik Brännström and Vincent Desharnais are projected to be healthy scratches.

Canucks To Activate J.T. Miller From Non-Roster List

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Canucks center J.T. Miller told reporters Thursday that he’ll return to the lineup tonight against the Panthers after missing the last 10 games while on personal leave (via Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650).

Vancouver announced over three weeks ago that Miller, who led the team in scoring last season with 103 points, was taking an indefinite leave of absence. Trade rumors immediately popped up regarding the 31-year-old pivot. While there may have been legitimate interest from some parties, including the Rangers, a move away from Vancouver was never something the player or the team even remotely considered, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said last week.

Miller was off to a semi-slow start offensively. He still managed six goals and 16 points in his first 17 games of the year, but he was tracking toward finishing under a point per game for the first time since the 2020-21 season, and his 18:24 ATOI was his lowest since arriving in Vancouver via trade in 2019. Elias Pettersson shifted up to center Vancouver’s top line between Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser in Miller’s absence, erupting for six multi-point games in his last 10 outings and compiling two goals and 13 assists for 15 points in total.

As such, head coach Rick Tocchet may very well opt to keep that red-hot trio together. DeBrusk has been scorching hot on Pettersson’s wing with 10 goals in 10 games without Miller, while Boeser has seven points in eight games since returning from a suspected concussion. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Miller take reps between Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland on the second line, bumping Pius Suter back down to a more comfortable third-line role.

The Canucks currently have two open slots on the active roster, so they won’t need to make a corresponding move to accommodate Miller’s return. They did, however, make one move earlier Thursday, reversing a paper transaction that sent defenseman Mark Friedman to AHL Abbotsford yesterday. He’s back up and will be available tonight versus Florida.

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