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Aatu Raty

Canucks Re-Sign Four Players

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The Canucks have re-upped depth center Max Sasson on a one-year, one-way contract worth $775,000, per PuckPedia. The deal was first announced by his agent, Gold Star Hockey’s Dan Milstein. The team also announced they’ve agreed to terms with winger Arshdeep Bains on a two-year deal to keep him off the RFA market. It’s a two-way deal in 2025-26 before changing to a one-way deal in 2026-27, per PuckPedia. Additionally, the Canucks announced a two-way contract for defenseman Guillaume Brisebois for 2025-26. Center Aatu Räty has also signed a two-year, one-way extension worth $775,000 per year, PuckPedia reports.

Of the group, the three forwards have the greatest chance of being on next season’s opening night roster. One-way commitments out of the gate to Räty and Sasson indicate Vancouver anticipates both making the jump to full-time NHL duties to help shoulder the likely loss of pending free agents Brock Boeser and Pius Suter tomorrow.

Räty, 22, is the most important player of the group. The Canucks evidently recognize that as he’s the only player receiving a multi-year one-way commitment from them today. Once a top prospect in the 2021 draft class, he ended up slipping to the Islanders in the second round and was traded to Vancouver in the Bo Horvat deal in 2023 shortly after making his NHL debut.

He didn’t see any NHL ice in 2023-24 but re-emerged as a call-up option this past year. He didn’t look out of place at all as a bottom-six center when given the chance, and that’s the role he’ll look to grab on a more consistent basis starting in the fall. He averaged 10:39 per game for Vancouver in 2024-25 over 33 appearances, scoring seven goals and 11 points with a minus-four rating. He was great on draws, particularly for a young player, winning 57.7% of his faceoffs. He’s a decently physical piece as well, ranking 10th on the team with 80 hits despite his limited workload.

Räty also would have required waivers starting next year, a risk the Canucks certainly aren’t willing to take. He’ll be on the roster come October and could even begin the season with as big of a role as third-line center if Vancouver can’t make any notable free agent additions down the middle in the coming days.

Sasson, 25 in September, won’t be too far behind Räty on the Canucks’ center depth chart. He also saw significant NHL ice last season, except in his case, it was his first NHL call-up. He scored three goals and seven points in 29 games for Vancouver, routinely slotting in down the middle and winning 42.7% of his draws while averaging 10:20 per game.

When on assignment to AHL Abbotsford, Sasson managed 32 points in 41 games – his second straight season with strong minor-league production after signing with Vancouver as a free agent out of Western Michigan in 2023. He’s still waiver-exempt for another year, though. If there’s a roster crunch in camp, he could be the odd man out as a result.

Bains would also require waivers to head back to the AHL, so that’s something to watch. Another undrafted free agent signing, he’s also been an extremely productive AHL piece over the last few years. He scored 43 points in 50 games for Abbotsford this year after nearly reaching a point per game in 2023-24, but the winger has just one goal in 21 NHL appearances over the last two years. Whether his minor-league track record is enough to keep him on the NHL roster remains to be seen, but he could also be a trade candidate if he makes the club and starts slow out of the gate to avoid losing him for nothing on the wire.

Brisebois is the longest-tenured Canuck of the group by a significant margin. A third-round pick back in 2015, he’s settled in as an AHL depth piece and occasional call-up. The 6’2″ lefty played three NHL games this past season in a January call-up, his first action with Vancouver since March 2023. He’ll be 28 next month and has three points and a minus-seven rating in 30 NHL games with the Canucks.

He’s been one of the key defensive minds on Abbotsford’s blue line, helping the minor-league club to its first Calder Cup championship in franchise history a few days ago. He posted five points and a plus-three rating in 48 regular-season games for the AHL Canucks this season.

Minor Transactions: 4/17/25

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With several teams seeing their 2024-25 seasons come to an end in recent days (with more to come tonight), there has been an influx of players being returned to the minors.  We’ll keep track of the moves that have not been already covered here.

  • The Ducks have returned wingers Nikita Nesterenko and Sam Colangelo to AHL San Diego, per a team release. Nesterenko played in a career-best 20 games with Anaheim this season, potting four goals and two assists.  With the Gulls, he has 13 goals and 21 assists in 48 contests.  As for Colangelo, he had ten goals and two helpers in 32 NHL outings while he’s just shy of a point per game in the minors with 35 points in 38 contests.
  • The Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned defensemen Kirill Kudryavtsev and Victor Mancini, forwards Aatu Raty, Linus Karlsson, Max Sasson, and Ty Mueller, along with goaltender Nikita Tolopilo to AHL Abbotsford. Raty, Sasson, and Karlsson saw the most action with Vancouver this season with Raty being the most productive with 11 points in 33 appearances.  Mancini got into 16 games after being acquired in the J.T. Miller swap, while the other three all made their respective NHL debuts in recent days.  They will be big additions to an Abbotsford team who has been the hottest team in the league over the last several weeks.
  • The Devils announced that they’ve returned forwards Mike Hardman and Marc McLaughlin to AHL Utica. Both players were recalled on Wednesday and suited up in their regular season finale.  Hardman had an assist in two NHL games while contributing 35 points with the Comets.  As for McLaughlin, his NHL season wrapped up with two goals and three assists in 14 games between New Jersey and Boston while adding 19 points in 48 outings between their respective AHL franchises.

Vancouver’s Hoglander And Pettersson Out Day-To-Day

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Vancouver Canucks coach Rick Tocchet stated that forwards Nils Hoglander and Elias Pettersson are each day-to-day, per NHL.com reporter Mike Morreale. Tocchet also added that Aatu Raty will likely join the team ahead of their matchup in New Jersey on Monday.

The status of Hoglander and Pettersson for tomorrow’s tilt against the Devils are not known, nor are the exact injuries they sustained. Both were unable to play in the third period of a 5-3 loss at the New York Rangers on Saturday, per an NHL release. Tocchet noted that both were, “pretty sore and banged up, so we’ll see what 24 hours does.” He added that he wasn’t sure if they’d be available against the Devils.

In 66 games, Hoglander has put up 21 points and a plus-6 rating in a bottom-six role. The 24-year-old was Vancouver’s second round choice in the 2019 draft and is coming off of a breakout season where he posted 24 goals and a plus-23 rating. While he hasn’t found that type of offensive success this year, he has established himself as a reliable depth piece for the Canucks moving forward.

Petterson, on the other hand, is clearly a staple to Vancouver’s success. The four-time all-star has posted five seasons with 30-plus goals with the Canucks and has registered 457 points in 471 career games. However, Petterson has struggled this season to the tune of 45 points in 64 games. He has recorded a minus-10 rating and has seen his career-high faceoff percentage of 50.8 last season dip down to 47.5 this year.

Despite Petterson and Hoglander’s dip in offense this season, the Canucks find themselves just three points out of the final wild card spot in the west. The team’s -17 goal differential speaks to their offensive struggles, but a return to health for both players will be key during the stretch run. The Canucks, who have 12 games remaining on the season, are already without center Filip Chytil (upper body).

The Canucks recalled Raty on Sunday in the event Hoglander or Petterson can’t go on Monday. He has appeared in 21 games with Vancouver this season, recording four points. He’s added an impressive 39 points in 41 games in the AHL.

Vancouver Canucks Recall Aatu Räty

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As expected, the Vancouver Canucks have had to make a recall for the injured Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander. Vancouver announced they’ve recalled center Aatu Räty from their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.

Räty’s pathway to the NHL is a well-known story. The Oulu, Finland native was projected to be one of the top players available in the 2021 NHL Draft until a disappointing pre-draft campaign dropped him down to the 52nd overall pick. Although drafted by the New York Islanders, New York traded Räty to the Canucks after only a year and a half of play in the organization.

He spent all of last season with the AHL Canucks, scoring 18 goals and 52 points in 72 games, with another two goals and two assists in six postseason contests. Räty isn’t considered the best forward prospect in Vancouver’s system, but his play last year vaulted him up to a heavily relied-upon depth candidate.

Räty made the Canucks’ roster of training camp this season but was reassigned a few days later on October 16th. Räty has had the highest number of games played this season, with 21 NHL contests under his belt after several recalls. Still, the young forward hasn’t had much responsibility at the NHL level, registering two goals and two assists in those games, averaging 9:30 of ice time.

He’s enjoyed a far more production season in Abbotsford. Räty is the AHL Canucks leading scorer with 17 goals and 39 points in 41 games. Furthermore, it appears Räty will have another opportunity to increase his career-scoring totals in the Calder Cup playoffs with Abbotsford hanging on to third place in the AHL’s hotly-contested Pacific Division.

Canucks Activate Kiefer Sherwood

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The Vancouver Canucks have activated forward Kiefer Sherwood off of injured reserve. Sherwood has missed Vancouver’s last four games with an undisclosed injury. His return brings some sense to Vancouver assigning Aatu Raty and, after he cleared waivers, Phillip Di Giuseppe to the minor leagues.

Sherwood is expected to return to the lineup in Sunday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. He’ll join a lineup full of new faces, including recent trade acquisitions Marcus Pettersson, Victor Mancini, and Filip Chytil. Sherwood should maintain his role on the team’s third line despite the lineup shuffle. He’s been one of the brightest performers in Vancouver’s bottom-six, boasting 13 goals and 21 points in 47 games this season. Sherwood has also recorded a staggering 273 hits – while no other Canuck has managed even 100 (Noah Juulsen has 99). In fact, Sherwood’s lofty hit totals lead the entire NHL by nearly 80 hits – with Philadelphia’s Garnet Hathaway ranked second with 197 hits. So long as he maintains his current hit pace, Sherwood is on track to finish the season with 453 hits – which would stand as an NHL record.

Sherwood has doubled down on the role of goal-scoring wrecking-ball after recording 10 goals, 27 points, and 234 hits in 68 games with the Nashville Predators last season. He seems to be finding plenty of comfort in his first year with the Canucks, sat just seven points shy of surpassing his career-high in scoring from last year. This news sets him up to continue pursuing new scoring heights, and the hit record, in a Canucks roster with plenty of minutes opened up by the trading of top forward scorer J.T. Miller.

Canucks Assign Aatu Raty, Waive and Assign Phillip Di Giuseppe To AHL

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2/2: Di Giuseppe has cleared waivers and will be assigned to the minor leagues, per Ben Kuzma of Postmedia.

2/1: Following their two trades from Friday night, the Canucks continue to tinker with their roster.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they have placed winger Phillip Di Giuseppe on waivers.  Additionally, they have assigned center Aatu Raty to AHL Abbotsford.

Di Giuseppe is on the wire for the second time this season after passing through unclaimed back at the beginning of October.  The 31-year-old spent the first two-and-a-half months in the minors with Abbotsford but was limited to only four games due to injury.  He was recalled in mid-December and aside from a brief papering down over the holiday break, he has been exclusively with Vancouver since then.

Di Giuseppe has played in 20 games with Vancouver so far this season, picking up a goal and five assists along with 54 hits while averaging 11:34 per game.  He has 101 appearances with the Canucks over the past three seasons, picking up 28 points while averaging nearly two hits per contest as he has had several opportunities in their bottom six.  Di Giuseppe is in the final season of a two-year, two-way deal that sees him receive the league minimum of $775K in the NHL and $500K in the minors.  He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

As for Raty, he has had five separate stints with the big club this season, the most recent of which started on Tuesday.  The 22-year-old has two goals and two assists in 21 games with Vancouver, playing almost exclusively on their fourth line.  That hasn’t been the case in the minors, however, as Raty is averaging a point per game on the farm with eight goals and 15 helpers with Abbotsford.  He’ll return to a much more prominent role with them for now but will almost certainly be among the top recall options whenever injuries arise once again.

Canucks Recall Aatu Räty

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The Canucks have recalled center Aatu Räty from AHL Abbotsford, per a team announcement. Vancouver had an open roster spot after sending down defenseman Mark Friedman over the weekend, so no corresponding transaction is required.

Räty, 22, is amid his second season of NHL action, spending his brief career with the Islanders and Canucks. The 2021 second-round pick was sent to Vancouver in the 2023 Bo Horvat trade, recording four goals and three assists for seven points across 35 games with the two clubs.

Räty ranks as the Canucks’ fourth-best prospect in Scott Wheeler of The Athletic’s most recent rankings, and for good reason. In addition to his most extended run in the NHL earlier this season, skating in 20 games over the first two months of the campaign, he’s developing a strong minor-league track record that includes 23 points (8 G, 15 A) in 23 games played for Abbotsford in 2024-25. The natural center has also remained down the middle for nearly all of his NHL call-ups instead of being shifted to the wing, a testament to his two-way instincts.

The Canucks have a crowded group of NHL/AHL tweeners and a banged-up forward group with Dakota Joshua and Kiefer Sherwood on the shelf, so it’s not a shock to see them give Räty another chance. Whether he enters the lineup tomorrow against the Predators remains to be seen, though, as they still have 13 healthy forwards available.

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.

Minor Transactions: 12/13/24

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There have been plenty of minor moves around the hockey world today.  We’ll run down the ones with NHL connections here.

  • The Oilers announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Josh Brown has been recalled from AHL Bakersfield. The 30-year-old inked a three-year, $3MM deal with Edmonton over the summer but wound up clearing waivers and has spent most of the year with the Condors, picking up three assists and 50 penalty minutes in 16 games while playing just three times with Edmonton so far.  With Alec Regula not with the team yet, it’s possible that Brown’s promotion is merely a short-term one.
  • The Rangers have brought up some extra defensive depth in the absence of K’Andre Miller. The team announced (Twitter link) that veteran Chad Ruhwedel has been recalled from AHL Hartford.  Ruhwedel has only played once with New York this season but has recorded three assists in 11 games with the Wolf Pack.  The 34-year-old has 365 career NHL contests under his belt over parts of 13 seasons.
  • 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.
  • Veteran forward Gemel Smith has caught on with another team as he has joined AHL Bridgeport on a PTO, per a team release. The 30-year-old played in seven games with Syracuse earlier in the season, picking up four points.  Smith has 25 career points at the NHL level spanning 91 games over parts of six seasons.

Canucks To Activate Dakota Joshua From IR

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Canucks forward Dakota Joshua will make his 2024-25 season debut against the Islanders on Thursday, Ben Kuzma of Postmedia reports. He’ll need to be activated from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game. The Canucks recalled Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Aatu Räty from their brief demotions earlier today but left Arshdeep Bains on assignment to AHL Abbotsford, meaning he’ll say down for the foreseeable future while Joshua takes his roster spot.

Joshua had been held out of the lineup after undergoing successful offseason surgery to remove testicular cancer. He began practicing in a non-contact jersey a couple of weeks after the season started and had been upgraded to day-to-day last week.

He’ll play what Kuzma called “measured minutes” on the fourth line in his season debut tonight. Line rushes at practice this morning indicate that Joshua will play left wing alongside Räty and Höglander, per Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650.

Joshua, 28, enters his third season in Vancouver coming off a breakout 2023-24 campaign. The Ohio State product recorded career highs across the board last season with 18 goals, 14 assists, 32 points, and a +19 rating while averaging 14:23 per game across 63 contests.

Vancouver’s third line with him, Teddy Blueger and Conor Garland last season was their most consistently deployed at 361 minutes together, and for good reason. They controlled 58.4% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck, ranking eighth among the 41 forward trios to log at least 300 minutes together in 2023-24.

Luckily for Joshua, that breakout came in a contract year. He parlayed that performance into a four-year, $13MM extension with a 12-team no-trade clause.

The Canucks’ active roster is now full at 13 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders.

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