As a result of yesterday’s blockbuster trade with the Wild, the Canucks had some roster juggling to do after bringing in three players and only sending one out with only one roster spot available. They dealt with one of the extra slots by putting Marco Rossi on their injured reserve. But one player had to come off the roster and it will be winger Lukas Reichel, who will be placed on waivers at 1 PM CT, reports Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic (Twitter link).
Jeff Paterson of Canucks Army relayed (Twitter link) earlier today that Reichel had been removed from Vancouver’s active roster. Players can be waived with non-roster status and that’s clearly the move that the Canucks have made to get back to compliance.
This was not the plan for Vancouver when they moved a 2027 fourth-round pick to Chicago to acquire him back in October. Reichel had gotten off to a good start with four points in five games before the swap but had fallen down the depth chart, resulting in the Blackhawks giving him a fresh start elsewhere.
Reichel played big minutes upon being acquired, even spending time at center with Vancouver’s injury issues at that position. But the production simply hasn’t materialized as he has just one assist in 14 games following the swap. Meanwhile, his role diminished to the point where he has only played once in the last ten games. Over his career, Reichel has 22 goals and 37 assists in 188 NHL appearances.
The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Chicago back in 2020, going 17th overall. He’s in the second and final season of a two-year, $2.4MM pact and will be owed a $1.3MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights to become an unrestricted free agent. Based on how things are going, it seems likely that he’s heading towards a non-tender.
That said, players with first-round pedigree often get multiple opportunities so it’s not impossible to think that a team might be interested in taking a flyer on Reichel by 1 PM CT on Sunday, hoping that a different fresh start could get him going offensively. If not and he goes through unclaimed, Vancouver will ultimately clear $1.15MM of his $1.2MM cap charge off the books by assigning him to AHL Abbotsford which would allow them to get out of using LTIR and allow them to start banking salary cap room again.
Lukas Reichel needs to go to an organization that can actually develop him as he’s still young enough to develop his game. Coming from Chicago’s developmental system doesn’t help by any means (they failed him big time) and Vancouver isn’t exactly interested in developing talent as they can barely function in their current state as an organization. Hopefully, for his sakes, he lands with an organization that can actually help his development in making 3rd time the charm.
Europe is his best bet, problem is between the ears.
current state of the organization? They are dressing a bunch of rookies who are all developing. Canucks just don’t see Lukas as a top 9 player, which is saying something considering how many injuries they’ve endured. I feel like he’d be getting a shot if his work ethic was where it needed to be, but I’m guessing he’s not showing the team what they need to see for him to get ice time.
They plugged the winger in as centre and were shocked at how poorly he played. Didn’t give an extended look on the wing. We shouldn’t be shocked that they didn’t try to develop him at his natural position, or shocked that they’ve thrown away a draft pick. Clown show.
Pat Maroon has an opening for his executive assistant. Apply, Lucas.
The Wild will pick him up as the last part of the trade. I’m kidding, I think.
Kyle from Chicago seems to win at the trading..
Reichel needed a change of scenery but unfortunately ended up in Vancouver, Sorry for him. He has talent, as evidenced by they say he had what 5 points in his first 4 games? Important thing to note was that Reichel wasn’t a Davidson draft pick. Another Bowman whiff. Reichel wasn’t probably a first round pick and that might have something to do with the expectations heaped on him being too much too soon. He got passed by with the Hawks fairly quickly. 9 first round picks in 3 years will do that to a first round pick that shouldn’t have been anyway. Hopefully he finds somebody who will find a use for him. If he’s waived it might be the best thing for him. That way he’ll be able to pick where HE wants to end up instead of being sent somewhere and expected to produce right away. Hope he finds it, He’s probably not a star but he can be an NHL player in the right situation.
Pittsburgh has been a good place for developing young players lately…