Vancouver Canucks make draft-day trade with Chicago Blackhawks for Safonov
The Vancouver Canucks weren’t as busy as expected at the NHL Draft this year, but they did complete one trade.
Ilya Safonov is heading to Vancouver, after Canucks GM Patrik Allvin completed a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for “future considerations.”
Safonov, 24, was drafted in the sixth round of the 2021 draft by Chicago and has yet to play an NHL game. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound centre has great size though, and spent the past four seasons playing professional hockey in the KHL with Ak Bars Kazan.
In 263 career KHL games, Safonov has recorded 95 points (49-46-95). His career-best season came in 2022-23, when the Moscow native had 37 points (19-18-37) in 64 KHL games.
CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that Safonov has one more year left on his contract, but that the young Russian will attend development camp in Vancouver next week.
The Canucks add Safonov to their organization, along with six prospects picked at the NHL Draft this weekend.
Vancouver drafted players in each of the first three rounds for the first time since 2018, led by centre Braeden Cootes of the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Canucks chose a goaltender in the second round in Aleksei Medvedev of the London Knights, before grabbing Kieren Dervin, a centre that has committed to Penn State University next season.
The Canucks didn’t draft a single defenceman this year, instead choosing to load up on forwards. They chose Swedish centre/winger Wilson Björck (committed to Colorado College next season) in Round 5, Hamilton-born right winger Gabe Chiarot (Brampton/OHL) in Round 6, and Tonawanda, New York centre Matthew Lansing (Waterloo/USHL) in Round 7.