Canucks Announce Four Roster Moves
The Canucks will get some help tonight versus Nashville as the team announced (Twitter link) that forward Dakota Joshua and defenseman Noah Juulsen have been activated off injured reserve. To make room on the roster, winger Kiefer Sherwood was placed on injured reserve while winger Max Sasson was assigned to AHL Abbotsford.
Joshua had missed nearly the last four weeks with a leg injury. It has been a tough year overall for him as his start to the campaign was delayed while recovering from testicular cancer. Upon returning, he wasn’t as impactful as he was last season. He has two goals and two assists through 24 outings although his physicality is still present as he has 83 hits while logging 12:21 per night with limited time on special teams.
As for Juulsen, he landed on IR retroactively last week with an undisclosed injury. He winds up missing a little over two weeks with the issue. Juulsen has played in 32 games this season, predominantly on Vancouver’s third pairing. He’s still looking for his first point but does have 57 blocks and 89 hits in 16:34 of playing time per night, the highest that number has been since the 2018-19 season.
Sherwood has been a nice addition to Vancouver’s bottom six group this season. He has recorded 13 goals and eight assists in 47 games while recording a league-high 273 hits; for comparison, no other player has reached 185. He left last Thursday’s game with an undisclosed injury and assuming they back-date his placement, Sherwood will be eligible to return as soon as Friday versus Dallas.
Sasson loses his roster spot to make the activations happen. He has been up with Vancouver for six separate stints this season, spanning 24 games altogether where he has two goals and four assists in a little over 10 minutes a night. After putting up 42 points in 56 AHL games last season, Sasson’s per-game numbers are down a bit with Abbotsford this year although he still has nine points in 16 outings.
Canucks President Confirms Internal Rift
Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford told the media today that there doesn’t appear to be a way forward with the current roster and the ongoing issues between forwards J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson (as per Gary Mason of The Globe and Mail).
Rutherford told Mason that everyone involved in the situation has tried to work on a solution, including Pettersson and Miller, but whenever the group reaches a resolution, the issues reappear, and the rift grows.
No specific details are mentioned about what is the issue between the two players; Rutherford does say that the issue has had an impact on their entire locker room. Rutherford believes that the issues have impacted the Canucks ability to remain consistent, evidenced by their inability to put a string of wins together. After winning the Pacific Division last season, Vancouver came into the season with sky-high expectations but has stumbled to a 22-17-10 record.
Individually, both Miller and Pettersson have been impacted on the ice as their offensive numbers have taken a severe hit this season. Pettersson has just 11 goals and 20 assists in 43 games, which is well off the career-high 102 points he put up two seasons ago or even the 89 points he managed last year. Miller, on the other hand, has totalled nine goals and 25 assists in 39 games, which falls well below last year’s career year of 37 goals and 66 assists.
The trade talk around both players has been going on for quite some time but it has intensified in recent weeks. The Canucks are unlikely to get equal value on a one-for-one trade of either player, which Rutherford concedes in the interview. He believes the Canucks will have to take whatever assets they can accumulate and turn them into something else. Those words would lead one to believe that Vancouver intends to try and get back into Stanley Cup contention whenever this situation is resolved.
Canucks Recall Aatu Räty
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 Receiving Interest In Elias Pettersson
Over the past few weeks, the expectation has been that if Vancouver winds up moving one of its top two centers, that player was likely to be J.T. Miller. Last weekend, a potential deal was close enough that the Canucks pondered scratching him but the move never materialized and Miller remained in the lineup that night.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, various reports indicated that Carolina was in discussion with Vancouver about both Miller and Elias Pettersson with various proposed offers for either one. Ultimately, neither of those happened with the Hurricanes instead pivoting to adding Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall from Colorado and Chicago respectively.
But with discussions for Miller not seemingly going well, it appears that teams are still calling about Pettersson. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Sabres are believed to be among the teams showing a lot of interest in the 26-year-old. The Fourth Period suggests that the Senators could be a team to keep an eye on as well.
Pettersson is in the first season of an eight-year, $92.8MM contract, or a cap hit of $11.6MM per season. Notably, since this is the final of his original RFA-eligible years, Pettersson doesn’t have any form of trade protection. Miller, on the other hand, has a full no-move clause which could make things more complicated for the Canucks.
Two years ago, Pettersson put up his first 100-point season, picking up 39 goals and 63 assists in 80 games. He wasn’t quite able to reach those numbers in 2023-24 but still managed 34 goals and 55 helpers, giving him another season of over a point per game. While that wasn’t elite production, it was still legitimate top-line numbers at a premium position.
Unfortunately for both Pettersson and the Canucks, the decline in output has continued into this season. He has 11 goals and 19 assists through 42 games, putting him fifth on Vancouver in scoring. While some believe his struggles are at least in some part related to the apparent rift between him and Miller, it’s clear that the Canucks are expecting much more from him either way.
Both Buffalo and Ottawa have younger centers on long-term deals that would seemingly serve as starting points for a Pettersson offer. Dylan Cozens is only two years removed from a 31-goal, 68-point season and is signed through 2030 at $7.1MM per year. Meanwhile, Josh Norris has a 35-goal campaign under his belt from 2021-22 and checks in at $7.95MM per season through 2030.
Neither player is a number one middleman but would give Vancouver a serviceable second option behind Miller. Of course, those would only be the starting point of offers and finding the other pieces needed will determine whether a swap gets past the finish line. And again, other teams are believed to be interested as it’s not too often that a top-line center in his prime becomes available.
At this point, it doesn’t look like the Canucks are getting the types of offers they’re hoping for to get a Miller trade done. As a result, a Pettersson move looks like it’s starting to become a bit more palatable so expect GM Patrik Allvin to be fielding more calls about his young center in the coming days.
Canucks Notes: Sherwood, Joshua, Friedman
The Vancouver Canucks fit in a practice early this morning before traveling to St. Louis to begin a three-game road-trip. The skate brought plenty of updates. Most notably, third-line forward Kiefer Sherwood did not travel with the team, per Jeff Patterson of Rink Wide: Vancouver. He is expected to miss Monday’s game, at least, after also sitting out of the team’s Saturday win over Washington. There is hope that he could join the team partway through the trip. No specifics of Sherwood’s injury have been disclosed.
Sherwood is having a career year in his first season with the Canucks. He ranks fourth on the team with 13 goals – just behind Jake DeBrusk (17), Brock Boeser (16), and defender Quinn Hughes (14). Sherwood has totaled 21 points through 47 games, putting him just six games shy of his career-high in scoring with 34 games still on the schedule. It has been a long road to land Sherwood in an everyday NHL role. He originally debuted with the Anaheim Ducks in 2018-19, but only managed 12 points in 50 games as a rookie. He spent the next three seasons making only spot starts at the top flight, through trips with Anaheim and the Colorado Avalanche, before spending the full season with the Nashville Predators last season. That’s when he set a career-high 27 points – a number he’s poised to smash now with the fourth club of his seven-year career.
In other Canucks news, forward Dakota Joshua made his return to the practice sheet on Sunday. Joshua has missed Vancouver’s last 10 games with a leg injury. He was placed on injured reserve on January 6th. Joshua has had an up-and-down season. A summer cancer diagnosis forced him to sit out the first month of the season, but he was a routine presence in the Canucks lineup between November and early January. He’s managed just four points and 20 penalty minutes through 24 games – but was riding a seven-game scoring drought prior to injury. He seems to be nearing a lineup return, likely giving him a chance to break his cold spell on Vancouver’s upcoming trip.
Ahead of the road trip, Vancouver also assigned defenseman Mark Friedman to the AHL. Friedman has only played in five NHL games this season – two coming last week. He hasn’t managed any scoring through the appearances, with 10 penalty minutes and a -4 his only notable stat changes. He’s been slightly more productive in the minors, with one goal and six points in 20 appearances with the Abbotsford Canucks. Friedman has served as a top AHL call-up for nearly every year of his nine-year career. He’ll continue to fill that role with this move, with Vancouver opting to carry rookie defenseman Elias Pettersson for their road trip instead.
Canucks, Kevin Lankinen Have Had Extension Talks
The Canucks began preliminary extension discussions with goaltender Kevin Lankinen as soon as he became eligible to sign a new deal on Jan. 1, Thomas Drance of The Athletic relayed earlier this week.
Nothing is close on the matter, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic added Friday, and it will likely take until the NHL sets next season’s salary cap ceiling until negotiations kick into overdrive. Of course, that announcement will come much earlier than normal – potentially even before the trade deadline – according to a report from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet this week. Their talks have also moved to the backburner in recent weeks with most of the Canucks’ front-office resources dedicated to working out a J.T. Miller trade, something that’s still on the horizon after he almost became a Ranger for the second time last weekend.
While the fit in Vancouver for Lankinen has been spectacular, whether the Canucks will be willing to dole out what it will take to retain him is questionable. After inking a one-year deal worth just $875K in training camp, Lankinen carried a heavy workload while starter Thatcher Demko continued to rehab the complex knee injury he sustained during last year’s playoffs. He remains the team’s No. 1 option with Demko struggling after his return, boasting a 16-8-6 record and .903 SV% through 30 appearances. He’s already just seven games short of the career high he set during his rookie season with the Blackhawks in 2020-21, and he’s set a new career-best mark in shutouts with four.
His numbers across the board are pretty average, but considering the struggles of Demko (.867 SV%, 3.47 GAA) and third-stringer Arturs Silovs (.847 SV%, 4.11 GAA), he’s been among the team’s most valuable players and one of the main reasons they’re still in the conversation for a playoff spot amid an injury-plagued campaign. That positions Lankinen to cash in with an AAV of around $4MM on a multi-year extension, LeBrun opines, twice as much as his previous career-high cap hit. He made $2MM on a one-year deal with the Predators while backing up Juuse Saros last year.
Anything much higher than $4MM would be a considerable risk for a 29-year-old netminder who’s on pace to start 30 games for just the second time in his career. However, outside from a sophomore slump with Chicago in 2021-22, he’s largely been an above-average option in limited starts and an average one with a more extended workload. Pairing him with Demko, whose $5MM cap hit next season stands to be a bargain if he can recapture his pre-injury level of play, could create a serviceable tandem at worst for less than $10MM against the cap and gives Vancouver a safety net past next year if Demko can’t rebound or tests free agency.
Silovs Assigned To Abbotsford
- After bringing him up on an emergency basis last night, the Canucks announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Arturs Silovs has been sent back to AHL Abbotsford. The 23-year-old started the season as Vancouver’s backup but struggled considerably, posting a 4.11 GAA and a .847 SV% in seven games, resulting in his demotion once Thatcher Demko returned. In the minors, Silovs has fared a lot better, putting up a 2.53 GAA and a .906 SV% in eight outings with Abbotsford.
Canucks Place Noah Juulsen On IR, Recall Elias Pettersson And Linus Karlsson
The Canucks have made a trio of roster moves heading into Thursday’s game against Edmonton. The team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Noah Juulsen has been placed on injured reserve. In corresponding moves, defenseman Elias Pettersson and forward Linus Karlsson were recalled from AHL Abbotsford.
Juulsen has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. The 27-year-old has played in 32 games with Vancouver this season and is still looking for his first point. However, he has 57 blocked shots and 89 hits while averaging 16:34 per night, his highest ATOI since he was a prospect with Montreal over his first two professional seasons. The team indicated that Juulsen’s placement was retroactive to January 14th, meaning he has already missed the required seven days and can be activated at any time once he’s cleared to return.
This is the second recall of the season for Pettersson, who has no relation to his namesake in Vancouver’s forward group. The 20-year-old was a third-round pick by Vancouver back in 2022 and he’s in his first full season in North America. Through 36 games in the minors, he has a goal and 12 assists and is still looking to make his NHL debut after his initial recall was only for one day.
As for Karlsson, the 25-year-old has been productive when available in Abbotsford. He’s their only forward averaging more than a point per game as he has 12 goals and six assists through 17 outings at the AHL level. That comes on the heels of a 2023-24 campaign that saw him collect 60 points in as many games. Despite his success in the minors, NHL opportunities have been limited thus far for Karlsson. He has just six games at the top level, two of which have come this season where he has been held off the scoresheet in a little over ten minutes per game.
With these moves, Vancouver’s active roster is now at the maximum of 23 players.
Oilers’ Connor McDavid, Canucks’ Tyler Myers Given Three-Game Suspension
Jan. 20th: The NHL Department of Player Safety has issued their punishments to McDavid and Myers. Both players have been issued three-game suspensions for cross-checking.
Jan.19th: Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid will have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety for cross-checking Vancouver Canucks forward Conor Garland on Saturday. Garland grappled with McDavid in the final seconds of Vancouver’s 3-2 win, and McDavid responded by hitting Garland in the face. In the ensuing scrum, Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers also cross-checked Oilers defender Evan Bouchard in the face. Myers will also have a hearing with Player Safety. Both McDavid and Myers received match penalties for their infractions. The date and time of either hearing are yet to be determined – as is whether the hearings will be virtual or in-person, which will change the length of suspension both players will be eligible for.
This news brings a peak to McDavid’s recent violent streak. He gained notoriety after, seemingly, inadvertently elbowing Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Johansson in the teams’ January 15th matchup. Johansson was placed on injured reserve with a concussion the next day. McDavid also earned scour with a high-stick against Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek in Saturday’s game, catching the defender up high after breaking into the zone. McDavid’s match penalty for cross-checking Garland was his first in-game penalty for any of these infractions – and, coupled with a game ejection, earned him a career-high 15 penalty minutes in one game.
It will be hard to determine how long either McDavid or Myers could miss with their looming hearing. Both players committed similar infractions, at the tail-end of an already-won game. But nine other players also received penalties for the late-game scrum, which could lead the league to react lighter to two big pieces of a larger scrum. Alternatively, this will be an opportunity for NHL Player Safety to send a message on stick infractions and headshots across the league, by coming down hard on the face of the NHL.
Canucks Recall Mark Friedman In Paper Transaction
Instead of recalling the recently reassigned Guillaume Brisebois, the Vancouver Canucks have gone in another direction. The Canucks announced they’ve recalled Mark Friedman from their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.
Vancouver is no longer dealing with any injuries to their defensive core indicating there were ulterior motives for Friedman’s call-up. It may be that the Canucks preferred a right-handed shot defenseman or one with more NHL experience to serve as their eighth defenseman.