Vancouver Canucks

CHAISSON: Vancouver Canucks misspell Alex Chiasson’s name on his jersey

Alex Chiasson is a 10-year NHL veteran who won the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018. Four seasons later, he’s still not getting the respect he deserves.

Chiasson, who was not offered a contract by an NHL team over the offseason, signed a PTO in late September with the Vancouver Canucks. Chiasson made the team out of training camp, signing a one-year deal on Tuesday. Three nights later, Chiasson took the ice for the Canucks in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

His last name was misspelled on the back of his jersey.

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By Ian Oland 1 day ago

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In NHL debut, Seattle Kraken could miss up to five players to COVID protocol

The NHL is set to debut its 32nd franchise in a media orgy of celebration tonight, so maybe not a great time for a bunch of them to go on the COVID protocol.

Up to five players on the Seattle Kraken could miss the team’s first game due to to COVID.

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By Peter Hassett 5 days ago

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Braden Holtby bought out by Vancouver Canucks

Former Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby will be an unrestricted free agent for the second time in three years.

Tuesday, Rick Dhaliwal first reported that the Vancouver Canucks are buying the Holtbeast out of the final year of his contract, giving the team several million in salary cap savings a day before the start of free agency.

The Canucks finished dead last in the North Division last year, putting up a record of 23-29-4.

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By Ian Oland 3 months ago

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The Vancouver Canucks are looking to move Braden Holtby

The Vancouver Canucks are one of several NHL teams that have been overhauling their roster this summer despite not having much money available to spend. So general manager Jim Benning has gotten creative.

The Canucks traded their 2021 first-round pick to ship out $12 million of salary — Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel — to the Arizona Coyotes for Oliver Ekman-Larsson and the rights to RFA Conor Garland (who could end up with an AAV of $4 to $5 million). Vancouver also bought out Jake Virtanen, netting $2.5 million of savings next season, and added RFA center Jason Dickinson from the Stars for a third-round pick.

Now, a year after signing Braden Holtby as an unrestricted free agent, the Canucks are looking to move their backup netminder either via buyout or trade after Thatcher Demko locked down the starting spot. Holtby has a cap hit of $4.3 million.

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By Ian Oland 3 months ago

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Nate Schmidt makes impossible catch, wins home-run derby in Vegas charity softball game

Last night was the Battle For Vegas, a charity softball game played by professional athletes to raise money for developmental disorders and autism causes. The game was well represented by Las Vegas athletes, with Raiders running back Marcus Allen captaining one team and Knights forward Reilly Smith captaining the other. But the highlight of the night and its biggest star was a player not from Vegas at all — at least not anymore.

Folks, it’s Nate Schmidt. Here comes a Schmidtuation Update.

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By Peter Hassett 3 months ago

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Jay Beagle part of mega trade between Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes

Former Capitals forward Jay Beagle will have a new home after a massive multi-player deal between the Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes on Friday before the start of the 2021 NHL Draft.

The deal will see Beagle, Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, the ninth selection in tonight’s first round, a second-round pick in 2022, and a seventh round pick sent to Arizona in exchange for defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and forward Conor Garland.

The deal allows the Canucks to clear a bunch of contracts that they did not have in their future plans while also adding one massive contract in Ekman-Larsson and a talented, young scorer in Garland.

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By Chris Cerullo 3 months ago

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Report: Braden Holtby drawing interest from Seattle Kraken, up to eight teams ahead of Expansion Draft protection lists being due

Former Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby had his worst statistical season as a pro with the Vancouver Canucks during the 2020-21 season. Serving as Thatcher Demko’s backup, Holtby posted a 7-11-3 record with a 3.67 goals against average and a .889 save percentage.

But hours before NHL teams must submit their protection lists for the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft (5 PM), the Holtbeast is reportedly a coveted player as some league GMs see value in the 2018 Stanley Cup champion as both a player and a leader in the locker room. Holtby’s season stats also seem skewed when considering how dysfunctional and bad defensively Vancouver was.

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By Ian Oland 3 months ago

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Braden Holtby turns himself into a human windmill to make the second greatest save of his career

Braden Holtby is behind one of the greatest saves in NHL history. Nicknamed The Save, Holtby reached his stick out and turned away an Alex Tuch one-timer in Game Two of the 2018 Stanley Cup. The Save preserved the Capitals’ late lead and propelled them to four straight wins, clinching the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup. There was nothing Holtby had done in the past nor would do in the future that would ever elipse the importance and brilliance of that stop.

With that context established, Holtby did his absolute best to outdo himself in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. Holtby, who signed a two-year deal with Vancouver Canucks over the offseason, went absolutely mad scientist and turned himself into a human windmill to make a pad save on Wayne Simmonds FROM UPSIDE DOWN ON HIS BACK.

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By Ian Oland 6 months ago

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Canucks to play 19 games in 31 days after 21 players test positive for COVID-19

The NHL announced on Saturday that the Vancouver Canucks will be allowed to begin practicing again on Sunday, April 11, and return to action on Friday, April 16 in a game against the Edmonton Oilers. The return comes after the Canucks postponed eight games due to a severe COVID-19 outbreak.

A COVID-19 variant swept through the team causing nearly the entire roster (21 players) and four staff members to test positive for the disease, including all four former Capitals players: Braden Holtby, Nate Schmidt, Jay Beagle, and Travis Boyd. The Washington Post described the Canucks’ outbreak as “the worst in the NHL this season — and perhaps in North American professional sports since the start of the pandemic.”

After an investigation, the Canucks said that the source was a single person who contracted the virus in a “public exposure location.” The investigation was conducted by club officials and Vancouver Coastal Health.

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By Eliza Kravitz 6 months ago

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