- The Canucks announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Thatcher Demko left tonight’s game versus Toronto early due to injury and did not return. Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston adds that Demko was seen wincing after making some saves during the warm up. The 29-year-old has been limited to just 19 games this season after missing the first two months while working his way back from an injured popliteus muscle in his left knee.
Canucks Rumors
Canucks Recall Linus Karlsson, Assign Victor Mancini To AHL
The Canucks have tweaked their roster for their final game before the break. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Linus Karlsson from AHL Abbotsford and have assigned defenceman Victor Mancini to Abbotsford.
Karlsson has been recalled now four times this season. In his first three stints, the 25-year-old played in a total of nine games with Vancouver, picking up a goal in just under 10 minutes a night of playing time. While offense has been hard to come by at the NHL level – he has just six points (all goals) in 82 career NHL appearances – that hasn’t been the case in the minors. With Abbotsford, Karlsson has a dozen goals and six assists in 17 outings after recording 60 points in as many games last season with them. Despite the promotion, he did not suit up against Toronto.
As for Mancini, he was one of the pieces of the recent J.T. Miller trade and was brought up earlier this week although he didn’t see any game action with Vancouver. The 22-year-old played in 15 games with the Rangers earlier this season, recording five points while logging a little more than 15 minutes a night, solid numbers for his first taste of NHL action. Mancini also has 23 AHL appearances on the campaign, all with New York’s affiliate in Hartford where he has 10 points. Mancini should get a chance to make his debut with Abbotsford on Tuesday against San Diego. He’ll likely be joined by Karlsson for that one with the forward likely to be sent back down following tonight’s game.
Predators Acquire Mark Friedman From Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks have traded defenseman Mark Friedman to the Nashville Predators in exchange for future considerations. Friedman has appeared in five NHL games this season and recorded no scoring, 10 penalty minutes, and a minus-four.
Friedman has spent the majority of this season with the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks. He’s recorded one goal, six points, 15 penalty minutes, and a plus-four through 20 games with the minor Canucks, continuing his service as a low-scoring, physical depth defenseman. That’s exactly what the Canucks were searching for when they acquired him via trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins early into the 2023-24 season. Vancouver sent defenseman Jack Rathbone and winger Karel Plasek back the other way. Friedman has appeared in 28 games with the Canucks since then. He’s only managed one point and an average of 12:34 in ice time in that span, but his 39 hits equates to the fourth-highest hits-per-60 (6.65) of any Canucks defenseman since the start of last season. He ranks behind Noah Juulsen (11.52), rookie defender Elias Pettersson (9.13), and Nikita Zadorov (8.07).
The Philadelphia Flyers originally drafted Friedman in the third round of the 2014 NHL Draft. He made his AHL debut two years later, and has since spent the last nine seasons bouncing between NHL and AHL lineups. His career as a depth forward has taken him through stops in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and now Nashville. In that time, Friedman has totaled 93 NHL games, 13 points, 80 penalty minutes, and 141 hits.
Friedman now seems destined to join a burly group of defenders with the Milwaukee Admirals, Nashville’s minor league affiliate. The squad carries plenty of heft thanks to captain Kevin Gravel, Jack Matier, and Spencer Stastney. The trio have served as the physical compliment behind more nimble blue-liners like Ryan Ufko and Nick Blankenburg. But an injury to Jeremy Lauzon and the departure of Alexandre Carrier have forced Gravel and Blankenburg into the NHL lineup, and dried out Nashville’s previously abundant defense depth. The Predators have erred on the side of physicality rather than finesse in addressing that issue, and now add the burly Friedman to their list of fringe NHL defenders.
Canucks Sign Marcus Pettersson To Six-Year Extension
The Canucks wasted little time getting pen to paper on a deal with one of their new acquisitions. The team announced that they’ve signed defenseman Marcus Pettersson to a six-year extension that will carry a cap charge of $5.5MM. GM Patrik Allvin released the following statement:
In just a couple of games, Marcus has already shown us the type of leadership, poise and character that we want in a top four defenceman,” said Allvin. “He has a calming influence on the ice, uses his long reach and hockey smarts to break up plays and has a good first pass to help us create more offensively. We are extremely happy to get this deal done and look forward to working with him in both the short term and long term.
Of course, Allvin’s familiarity with the 28-year-old is much more than just a couple of games. He was with Pittsburgh at the time that then-GM Jim Rutherford (who now is in Vancouver’s front office) acquired him so they are quite familiar with what Pettersson brings to the table. That familiarity undoubtedly played a role in the Canucks flipping the first-round pick they acquired in the J.T. Miller trade last week (along with Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais, and Melvin Fernstrom) to Pittsburgh for Pettersson and Drew O’Connor.
Pettersson has played in 49 games this season between Pittsburgh and Vancouver, potting three goals and 15 assists along with 86 blocks and 60 hits while logging more than 22 minutes a night of ice time. That has him at a 30-point pace which would match his career-high offensively from last season; that uptick in production certainly didn’t hurt his value as he was heading toward his first run at unrestricted free agency this summer which is now on hold for a long time.
For his career, Pettersson has played in 493 NHL games over parts of eight seasons between Anaheim, Pittsburgh, and now Vancouver. After struggling early in his tenure with the Penguins, he has since established himself as a legitimate top-four blueliner for the last three years. That track record was good enough for Vancouver to target him and waste little time locking him up through the 2030-31 season.
The deal represents a nice raise for Pettersson. He’s in the final year of a five-year contract signed back in 2020, one that carries a cap hit of just over $4MM. He’ll add nearly $1.5MM per season to that number now while also landing some extra security. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (Twitter link) that Pettersson will have a full no-move clause in the first three seasons of the contract. In the final three years, his trade protection will come in the form of a 15-team no-trade clause.
With this signing, Vancouver now has a little under $76MM in commitments for next season, per PuckPedia. Included in that is nearly $27MM in spending on their top five blueliners with Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, Tyler Myers, and Carson Soucy all signed through at least 2025-26 as well with the latter now in trade speculation. That should only intensify with Pettersson now guaranteed to be sticking around for the long haul.
Afternoon Notes: Hughes, Pederson, Puljujarvi
A busy day across the NHL has started with bad news in Vancouver. Vancouver Canucks superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes won’t travel with the team for their Thursday matchup against the San Jose Sharks, per Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor. This will be Hughes’ third straight absence due to a lower-body injury. This is just a one-game road trip for Vancouver. Hughes was red hot prior to injury, with 14 points over his last 10 games and over 25 minutes of average ice time. Hughes’ absence was preceded by Vancouver’s acquisition of veteran defenseman Marcus Pettersson and rookie Victor Mancini. The Canucks still triumphed without their Norris Trophy favorite on Tuesday, beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-0. Pettersson and Tyler Myers each carried extra minutes in Hughes’ absence.
Despite coming off a win and setting up to face a last-place Sharks team, the Canucks are still going to sorely miss Hughes. He has been a force this season, currently sitting with 59 points in 47 games – a mark that leads both the Canucks and all NHL defensemen. He’s once again a favorite for the Norris Trophy, which he won last year, and an emerging candidate for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. Hughes has notably played through injury this year, including a hand injury at the turn of the year. He’s still tracking for a 100-point season despite that, and will be aiming to get quickly back to that pace once his lower-body injury subsides. Hughes is currently listed as out day-to-day.
Staying in Western Canada, the Edmonton Oilers will be without depth forward Lane Pederson for the remainder of the season after he underwent a successful shoulder surgery. Pederson managed an impressive 12 points in 18 AHL games before falling to injury. He’s been a hot scorer in the minors for a few years, netting 24 points in 18 games in 2022-23 and 52 points in 66 games last year. He was rewarded with 27 NHL games in 2022-23 – split between the Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets – but recorded a moot six points and 26 penalty minutes. Pederson will now focus on working his way back to full health in advance of next season’s training camps, where he’ll work to climb up an NHL call-up chart.
Jumping to the East coast, the Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned forward Jesse Puljujarvi to the minor leagues. The former top-10 pick has been a healthy scratch in three of Pittsburgh’s last four games. This will be his second stint in the minor leagues, after spending a brief, three-game trip with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in late January. Puljujarvi recorded three points and a minus-two in the appearances – far more production than he’s managed at the NHL level, where he only has nine points in 26 appearances. The routine trips to the minor leagues are the start of a poor pattern for Puljujarvi, who joined the Penguins partway through last season in an effort to maintain his NHL career. He’s struggled to do that up to this point, and will now be tasked with trying to find his groove once again with a productive stint in the minor leagues.
Canucks Reassign Linus Karlsson, Recall Nils Åman
The Canucks swapped depth forwards on the active roster Wednesday, reassigning Linus Karlsson to AHL Abbotsford and recalling Nils Åman in his place, per a team announcement. Their active roster remains full.
Karlsson, 25, has suited up in seven straight games for the Canucks, adding to his first two appearances of the season in December. He’s scored once in his nine combined appearances, notching a plus-one rating and eight shots on goal while averaging 9:59 per game.
The 6’1″, 178-lb forward can play both wings but has routinely skated on the right this year with Nils Höglander at left-wing and either Teddy Blueger or Elias Pettersson down the middle. His possession impacts haven’t been significant, controlling only 48.9% of shot attempts at even strength despite a 59.6 oZS%.
In the minors, the former Swedish Hockey League Rookie of the Year has produced over a point per game with Abbotsford since the beginning of last season. His 18 points in 17 games this year are good for a team-leading 1.06 per game, still ranking third with 12 goals despite his significant time spent on the NHL roster. He had 60 points in 60 AHL games last year to lead the team in scoring.
Karlsson was a third-round pick of the Sharks in 2018 but was acquired less than a year later in a swap of Swedish prospects, sending out Jonathan Dahlén the other way. He’s now in his third professional season in North America after coming over from his native Sweden in 2022.
Åman has far more NHL experience than his counterpart, skating in 116 games for the Canucks over the past three seasons. His role with the club has steadily decreased since appearing in 68 games as a rookie in 2022-23, though, and he’s spent most of the season in Abbotsford with only five NHL appearances to his name. He has two assists and a minus-three rating in that quintet of contests, averaging 10:42 per game and going 10-for-23 on faceoffs.
The 6’2″ center has seven goals and 21 assists for 28 points in 32 AHL games, leading the team in outright scoring. He and Karlsson both came over from the SHL in the same offseason, although he was signed as a free agent after the Avalanche, who selected him in the sixth round in 2020, relinquished his signing rights.
With only 12 forwards on the roster, Åman will presumably draw into the lineup Thursday against the Sharks for the first time since Nov. 9.
Canucks, Sharks Discussed Cody Ceci Trade
The Sharks nearly dealt pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Cody Ceci to the Canucks before sending him to the Stars along with Mikael Granlund over the weekend, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period said Tuesday.
Evidently, Ceci was a backup plan for Vancouver in case they couldn’t pull off their Friday evening two-part blockbuster, sending J.T. Miller to the Rangers before flipping a newly-acquired first-round pick to the Penguins as part of a deal to land Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor. It was discussed enough that “some folks within the San Jose Sharks organization thought [he] was going to Vancouver” earlier in the day, Pagnotta said.
Despite their Pettersson pickup (not to be confused with Elias Pettersson or the other Elias Pettersson), it can be assumed the Canucks are still looking to add another defenseman – especially a righty like Ceci. While he’ll be finishing out the year in Dallas, the Canucks are now believed to be shopping lefty Carson Soucy, who’s been playing on his off side, as they look to realign their blue line and perhaps look for a more cost-effective solution behind Filip Hronek and Tyler Myers on the depth chart.
While Vancouver has plenty of immediate cap space (over $12MM), Soucy has one year left on his deal at a $3.25MM cap hit. That’s a decent chunk of change that would be better spent as flexibilty in extension talks with their newest Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Pius Suter, and Kevin Lankinen.
Next up on the Canucks’ wish list would likely be the Canadiens’ David Savard, who carries a pricier $3.5MM cap hit but is on an expiring deal and could be made more affordable with salary retention. They’d likely need to find another deal for Soucy or pull the trigger far enough in advance for Montreal to flip him again before the deadline, though, as his role for next year would be muddy with up-and-comers Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher pushing for full-time NHL roles.
Canucks’ Carson Soucy On The Trade Block
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the Vancouver Canucks have made defenseman Carson Soucy available via trade after signing the veteran to a three-year contract just two summers ago in free agency. Soucy came over to the Canucks on July 1st, 2023, inking a three-year contract worth $9.75MM. The contract included a full no-trade clause until the end of this season, which will turn into a modified 12-team no-trade clause this summer.
The 30-year-old missed 42 games last year because of injuries and posted just two goals and four assists in 40 regular season games. His playoff numbers were significantly better as he tallied a goal and four assists in 12 playoff games. This season has once again been a struggle for the Irma, Alberta native as he has just eight points in 51 games to go along with a -15 plus/minus.
With Vancouver’s addition of defenseman Marcus Pettersson from Pittsburgh and some improved play from other Canucks defensemen, Soucy has been pushed down the depth charts and has been a healthy scratch as of late.
His contract could prove difficult to move, even without the NTC, which will certainly complicate things. Soucy would be a tough trade even without it due to his play not lining up with his cap hit. Soucy was once considered a solid penalty killer, but this season, that has fallen off a cliff. His underlying numbers have also taken a nose dive as Evolving-Hockey’s (subscription required) all-in-one goals above replacement stat ranks Soucy as the worst defenseman in the NHL (by that metric) and the third worst skater overall, giving him a -9.4. This means he has cost Vancouver 9.4 goals against compared to a replacement-level NHL player.
Given those numbers, it is easy to see why he has fallen down the depth chart and it is likely also why he finds his name in trade rumors as we inch towards the NHL Trade Deadline.
Canucks Notes: Miller, Trade Chatter, Hughes
In today’s episode of ’32 Thoughts’ with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Vancouver Canucks and their recent trade activity were the center of attention. Friedman originally broke the news that the Canucks were trading forward J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers on Friday night, and Friedman provided even more context to the move.
Friedman reported that a players-only meeting happened during Vancouver’s early road trip to Florida in mid-October. This meeting addressed the rift between teammates Miller and Elias Pettersson. While the Sportsnet insider did not disclose which players led the discussion, the focus was on encouraging Miller and Pettersson to improve their relationship for the team’s betterment.
Ultimately, Miller’s relationship with Pettersson didn’t significantly improve, prompting him to take a month-long leave of absence. Friedman noted that when Miller returned in mid-November, the Vancouver organization had committed to trading him at some point this year.
The news from Friedman contradicts many of the reports surrounding Miller in December. In early December, Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic reported the Canucks had publicly asserted they wouldn’t be trading Miller, and that he wouldn’t be requesting a trade from Vancouver.
As things turned out, Miller was indeed on the chopping block, being sent to the Rangers for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a protected 2025 first-round pick. Vancouver quickly moved the first-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins later that evening to acquire Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor. Friedman believes that will be the only first-round pick the Canucks will trade this season.
After last night’s overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver is 23-18-11 through 52 games and is two points back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Given their status as a bubble team at the moment, the Canucks’ first-round pick has a higher value than most prospective buyers as it could realistically become a lottery selection by the end of the year.
The Canucks are aware of this and have reportedly told interested teams they have no interest in moving their first-round pick unless they have a comfortable spot in the standings by the trade deadline. Vancouver traded their 2024 first-round pick to the Calgary Flames last season in the package for Elias Lindholm making it the first time since 2021 that they hadn’t made a first-round selection.
Vancouver’s position as a playoff contender may impact captain Quinn Hughes’ participation in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off starting next week. Hughes suffered a hand injury in the team’s recent game against the Dallas Stars, keeping him out of the lineup of last night’s contest. Friedman noted in his podcast that although no decision has been made, Vancouver could ask to withdraw from the tournament with Team USA to focus solely on getting healthy for their playoff run.
As arguably the team’s top defenseman, it would be a major blow to the American’s odds of winning the tournament. Still, Team USA has an easy choice for his replacement should he bow out in Washington Capitals’ blue liner, John Carlson.
Canucks Activate Kiefer Sherwood
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.