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Ethan Bear Activated From IR

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Before their game against the Los Angeles Kings kicks off, the Vancouver Canucks have announced that defenseman Ethan Bear has been activated from the injured reserve. Bear is been out of the Canucks lineup for almost a month now, having not played since the team took on the Boston Bruins on February 25th.

Originally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2015 NHL Draft, Bear played three seasons in Edmonton, scoring a career-high 21 points during the 2019-20 season. After a down year in 2020-21, Bear was shipped off to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Warren Foegele. With an already deep defensive core, Bear decided to request a trade away from the Hurricanes, waiting until he was traded to the Canucks on October 28th.

In his first full year in Vancouver, Bear has managed to score three goals and 11 assists through 46 games played. Although he has managed to secure a +5 +/-, Bear is also on the Canucks penalty kill, which is currently a league-worst 68.18%. Things haven’t been all bad for the Canucks in Bear’s absence, as the team has gone 7-3-0 in their last ten games, beating strong teams such as the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Canucks Sign Aidan McDonough

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The Vancouver Canucks announced they have signed Aidan McDonough to an entry-level contract. General Manager Patrik Allvin announced the contract is a two-year deal, as McDonough elected to forego free agency and join the Canucks.

McDonough was a seventh-round pick of the Canucks in 2019. He has gone on to prove he should have been drafted much higher due to a stellar college career at Northeastern. He became a trusted offensive producer for them from day one of his college career and just wrapped up his fourth consecutive season as one of the team’s top offensive players.

McDonough scored 66 goals and 124 points in 124 games at Northeastern. This season was his best as he put up 20 goals and 38 points in 34 games. He helped Northeastern to a third-place finish in the Hockey East conference but they were eliminated on Saturday by Providence who pulled off a 2-1 upset victory in overtime.

The 23-year-old could have waited until this summer and became an NHL free agent, but instead elected to sign with the team that drafted him. The Canucks sure can use the help as they sit 25th in the league standings with 61 points in 65 games. They traded away Bo Horvat, signalling a retooling of the roster that has proven not to be good enough to compete with the best teams in the league, so it would not have been good to lose one of their best prospects to free agency this summer.

The 6-foot-2 and 201 pound forward will likely get a chance to jump right into the NHL lineup. The Canucks are not chasing down a playoff spot so they can afford to test him out right away and Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK reports he will join the team immediately.

Canucks Begin Extension Talks With Noah Juulsen

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The Canucks have started extension discussions with defenseman Noah Juulsen, report Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal in a column for The Athletic (subscription link).  The 25-year-old has played in eight games with Vancouver so far this season with five of those coming this month as he plays his way into a regular role.  Juulsen, a 2015 first-round pick by Montreal, also has 20 points in 49 games with AHL Abbotsford this season.  He’s on a two-way contract worth $750K in the NHL and $250K in the minors and has a chance of remaining a restricted free agent if he plays in 16 of their final 17 games this season.  An early extension for Juulsen would obviously take that particular consideration off the table.

Canucks Sign Phillip Di Giuseppe To Two-Year Extension

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The Vancouver Canucks have announced via a press release that the team has signed forward Phillip Di Giuseppe to a two-year, two-way contract extension. Di Giuseppe will make $775K in the NHL and $500K at the AHL level. General Manager Patrik Allvin was very happy to report the signing as he described Di Giuseppe by saying, “He has been a reliable forward when called upon in Vancouver this year and has been an impactful player and leader with Abbotsford each of the past two seasons.”

In his second season within the Canucks organization, Di Giuseppe has only received playing time in Vancouver this season. In 13 games this year, he has registered two goals and two assists. In his limited time in Vancouver, Di Giuseppe has also spent time on the penalty kill as well. With a league-worst 68.75% penalty kill percentage, the Canucks have used a rotating door when establishing who will be on the ice when they are a man down this year.

In the minor leagues, Di Giuseppe has been far more productive. Combined over the last two years, Di Giuseppe has played 69 games for the Abbotsford Canucks, registering a total of 25 goals and 43 assists. As Vancouver begins to establish more prospect depth in the minor leagues, and Abbotsford competes for a playoff position, Di Giuseppe will be a valuable part of the Canucks organization for the next two seasons.

Aidan McDonough Expected To Sign With Canucks After NCAA Season

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With his college career set to come to an end over the next few weeks, Canucks prospect Aidan McDonough would soon be facing a choice.  He could sign with the team that drafted him or wait a few months and hit unrestricted free agency in mid-August.  It appears he’ll be choosing the former as CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports (audio link) that McDonough will be signing with Vancouver once his college campaign comes to an end.  McDonough’s advisor Glen Giovanucci confirmed the report to Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston.

The 23-year-old was a seventh-round pick by the Canucks back in 2019 (195th overall) but has certainly outperformed his draft stock, quickly becoming a key producer at Northeastern.  McDonough reached the 20-goal mark and surpassed the point-per-game plateau for the second year in a row with his 20 goals and 18 assists in 33 games leading the Huskies in scoring.  Over his four-year college career, he’s averaging just over a point per game with 124 in 123 appearances.

At his age, McDonough is only eligible for a two-year, entry-level contract.  Dhaliwal notes that if McDonough’s season ends early enough, the first of those campaigns will be burned in 2022-23, allowing him to join Vancouver for the final few games this season to begin his pro career while setting him up to hit restricted free agency in 2024.

Agent: No Recent Extension Talks For Bear, Next Deal To Be One Year Or Three Years

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  • While the Canucks have had extension talks with defenseman Ethan Bear, his agent Jason Davidson indicated in an appearance on CHEK’s Donnie and Dhali (audio link) that there haven’t been any recent discussions since the All-Star break. The 25-year-old has rebounded relatively well this season, picking up 14 points in 46 games while averaging 18:16 per game since being acquired from Carolina in late October.  Bear is two years away from UFA eligibility and it’s worth noting that Davidson indicated that the contract will either be a one-year or a three-year agreement to avoid walking him right to the open market.

Vancouver Canucks Sign Kirill Kudryavtsev

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The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Kirill Kudryavtsev to a three-year entry-level contract, per a team release.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin issued the following statement regarding the signing:

Kirill has had a good season so far and our development team has been happy with his progress in the OHL. Our group looks forward to the opportunity to continue to work with him and get him ready for a pro career.

Allvin is entirely correct to say that Kudryavtsev has had a good season. The 2022 seventh-round pick has scored 45 points in 60 games for the Soo Greyhounds, a healthy increase from the 39 points in 68 games he scored in his rookie OHL season.

The Yaroslavl, Russia native doesn’t offer premier size standing at five-foot-eleven but he’s got a capable two-way game that should more easily translate to the professional game than some of the more high-octane styles of his peers in junior hockey.

Kudryavtsev has an entry-level deal in hand now, one that begins next season and pays him a league-minimum $775k base salary in the NHL, $80k in the minors (where he will likely spend time developing his game before he’s an NHL possibility) and a 75k signing bonus, according to CapFriendly.

With it, he’ll be able to enter Vancouver’s farm system and look to make a name for himself in what is a relatively thin Canucks defensive prospect pool.

Brandon Sutter Hoping To Resume NHL Career

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It’s been nearly two years since Brandon Sutter appeared in an NHL game. The former Vancouver Canucks forward finished the 2020-21 season with a loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and entered the offseason as an unrestricted free agent.

After playing through a five-year, $4.375MM contract as an important leader and role player for the Canucks, he wouldn’t fetch a ton on the open market. He ended up signing a one-year, $1.125MM contract to stay in Vancouver.

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t play a single game on that contract. After showing up to training camp in September 2021, Sutter experienced some unexplained fatigue and was given time to try and recuperate away from the group. By October, he was ruled out indefinitely with long-term symptoms of COVID-19. He would miss the entire season.

Last summer, as a UFA once again, Sutter admitted that he was still dealing with the symptoms and wasn’t sure if he would ever play again. Many assumed that would end his NHL career, given his age and situation.

Not so fast, says the 34-year-old veteran. Speaking with Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV today, Sutter explained that he is finally feeling better and that there is “light at the end of the tunnel.” He hopes to play again and will try to catch on somewhere in the fall.

Landing an NHL job will be difficult, but there was a time when Sutter was considered an integral two-way center. As a fourth-line option, perhaps he still has enough juice left to be a helpful addition to a club looking for leadership and work ethic, even in a part-time role.

Arturs Silovs Returned To AHL

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  • Arturs Silovs was sent back down to the AHL by the Vancouver Canucks, per a team release. Silovs was called up yesterday on an emergency loan as Canucks backup goaltender Collin Delia was sick and unavailable to play. Silovs got the start last night, stopping 29 shots and helping the Canucks beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 in a shootout. The 21 year old now returns to the Abbotsford Canucks but has proven himself capable at the NHL in four starts this season.

Vancouver Canucks Extend Guillaume Brisebois

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The Vancouver Canucks announced today, through a team release, that defenseman Guillaume Brisebois has signed a contract extension. It is a two-year contract with the first year being a two-way deal and the second season being a one-way agreement.

The two-way deal in 2023-24 means Brisebois will earn a different salary if he is sent to the American Hockey League. In 2024-25, he will earn the same salary whether he playing in the NHL or AHL which guarantees an NHL payday for that season. Capfriendly confirmed the deal is worth $775,000 per season. If Brisebois plays in the minor leagues next season, he will earn $375,000.

The 25-year-old defender has split this season between the NHL’s Canucks and the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks. He has one point in nine NHL games and one goal and six points in 36 AHL contests. Brisebois will add some depth to the Canucks blue line that saw Luke Schenn and Riley Stillman leave ahead of the trade deadline.

Brisebois was a third-round pick of the Canucks in 2015 and has appeared in 19 career NHL games for them so far in his career. He has also played 241 games in the AHL, taking strides this season to be among the most trusted defensemen in Abbotsford.

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