The Canucks have assigned center Nils Åman to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks and recalled winger Mackenzie MacEachern from Abbotsford in a corresponding transaction, according to a team announcement on Wednesday. The swap saves them $50,000 in cap space, although they’re not accruing anything at the moment by using long-term injured reserve to keep them compliant.
Åman cleared waivers at the beginning of the season and began the year in the minors. The 25-year-old center, now in his fourth season in the Canucks organization, had three assists and a minus-five rating in four games with Abbotsford. He was recalled early last week in the wake of Filip Chytil’s upper-body injury that’s still keeping him out of the lineup.
The Swedish pivot played in Vancouver’s first two games following his recall, making appearances on Oct. 21 against the Penguins and Oct. 23 against the Predators. He averaged just 8:40 of ice time per game and was held off the scoresheet, skating on the wing in a fourth-line role. He’s now been a healthy scratch in three straight following the team’s acquisition of Lukas Reichel from the Blackhawks.
The longer the Canucks keep Åman on the active roster, the more time burns off his temporary waiver exemption. As such, after swallowing up nine days of his 30-day allowance on the roster after clearing waivers at the beginning of the month, they’ll swap him out to stop the clock.
Up comes MacEachern, who, like Åman, has north of 100 games of NHL experience. He hasn’t appeared in a big-league game since December 2023 with the Blues, though. The 31-year-old signed a two-year, two-way contract with Vancouver this summer after spending the prior two years in St. Louis. It was his second stint with the Blues, who drafted him in the third round in 2012 and have been his home for eight of his 10 professional seasons.
While usually a productive minor-league force, MacEachern has struggled heavily in his first few weeks with Abbotsford. He’s been limited to two goals and no assists in seven games while carrying a team-worst minus-nine rating. It’s been a tough start on the whole for the reigning Calder Cup Champions, though. They’re 2-5-0 through seven games and have only scored 12 goals.