Canucks call up new trade acquisition Friedman, send down a defenceman
The Vancouver Canucks are making some roster moves after a weak showing in a 2-0 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The team has recalled defenceman Mark Friedman, acquired yesterday in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins. To make room for the new pickup, the Canucks have sent Akito Hirose down to the AHL.
Friedman is expected to slot in on the right side of the Canucks’ defence depth chart, likely sending Noah Juulsen to the press box as a healthy scratch.
The Toronto-born defenceman has played 65 games across parts of five NHL seasons with the Flyers and Penguins.
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His defensive analytics over that time frame look quite strong, although the sample size is too small to draw any major conclusions.
Mark Friedman, acquired by VAN, is a physical defenceman. His numbers generally look like the usual "good results in a small depth role" deal, except for the fact that he's drawn minor penalties at nearly double the rate of any other defenceman in the past three seasons. pic.twitter.com/2gFeOJCFTP
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 17, 2023
Friedman has a reputation as someone who plays larger than his 5-foot-11 frame. He took on power forward Brady Tkachuk, who has five inches and 35 pounds on Friedman, in a fight last season.
The new acquisition was also 15th among all NHL defencemen (minimum 300 five-on-five minutes) in hits per 60 minutes last season.
Hirose has been sent to Abbotsford to make room for Friedman on the NHL roster. The 24-year-old defenceman played the first two games against the Oilers this season, although he received less than 10 minutes of ice time in the second game.
When Carson Soucy returned to the lineup on Tuesday against the Flyers, Hirose was demoted to the press box. He will have more opportunities to play a larger role and continue his development in the AHL.
Hirose was re-signed by the Canucks during the summer after a strong showing in seven NHL games at the end of last year.
The Canucks play their next game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. It’s the third game of a five-game road trip where they have managed to collect two points thus far. The puck drops at 4 pm PT.