Vancouver Canucks are saying goodbye to Russian winger for second time

The Vitali Kravtsov redemption tour is over.

After signing a one-year, league minimum contract with the Vancouver Canucks back in August, the 25-year-old winger is now leaving the organization.

The Canucks announced on Tuesday that they were placing Kravtsov on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination.

Kravtsov rejoined the Canucks organization in August after playing 16 games for them in the 2022-23 season. He took a stab at cracking the NHL once again after finishing among the top 10 in KHL scoring last season.

He mentioned during training camp that he spent the offseason training with talented Russian NHLers, such as Kirill Kaprizov and Igor Shesterkin. Unfortunately, their brilliance didn’t rub off on him.

Even during training camp, the former top-10 pick didn’t seem to be brimming with confidence when asked if he thought he could make the Canucks NHL squad out of camp.

“I don’t know, everyone is so good.”

“I can shoot, I can make plays, but I need to translate from here to there,” he said. “It’s going to be hard.”

The Eastern Russia native had a so-so preseason with the Canucks and was inevitably sent to Abbotsford before the final roster cut deadline.

He has just one goal and four points in 10 AHL games with the Abbotsford Canucks.

Kravtsov took a pay cut to try and become an NHL player once again. His contract was worth $775,000 at the NHL level and $450,000 in the minors.

Reports suggest that the top KHL players, like Kravtsov was last season, make around US$1 million.

The Canucks now have 45 players under contract across the organization after terminating Kravtsov’s contract. That leaves them with room to add five more players without subtracting anyone throughout the season.

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