Back in the offseason, it was revealed that Canucks prospect Michael DiPietro had requested a trade. To this point, there hasn’t been a move made but as president Jim Rutherford told Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province (Twitter link), it wasn’t for a lack of effort on their end:
We were open to it and when a player like that requests it, Patrik made teams aware that we would be willing to give him a chance (with) someone else, but nothing came along.
DiPietro was once a fairly highly-touted goalie prospect after a strong junior career but that has yet to translate into much success in the pros. Last year, he posted a .901 SV% along with a 2.95 GAA in 34 games with AHL Abbotsford, numbers that don’t scream NHL-ready by any stretch. He accepted his qualifying offer this summer and he’ll be battling for the backup job in the minors as things stand this season.
More from Vancouver:
- Tyler Myers isn’t the only Vancouver defender dealing with an injury as Travis Dermott has been out of the lineup recently as well. As Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province relays, the team has now acknowledged that Dermott is dealing with a concussion which means he’s out indefinitely. It feels like a make-or-break year for the 25-year-old. He’s in the final year of his contract and has had a limited role the last few seasons with limited offensive production (seven points in 60 games last year). Owed a $1.75MM qualifying offer next summer, that might be a bit pricey for a depth defender but Dermott will have to wait for a little while now to start making his case.
- GM Patrik Allvin told reporters including Harman Dayal of The Athletic (Twitter link) that winger Phillip Di Giuseppe is expected to miss two-to-four weeks with a lower-body injury. The 28-year-old had a nice season with Abbotsford in 2021-22, collecting 36 points in 42 games. Injured players can’t be waived so he’ll start the year on season-opening injured reserve and then be waived for assignment when he’s cleared to return.