Ex-Canucks winger Zack MacEwen available for free on waivers
A lot of Vancouver Canucks fans were upset when the team lost Zack MacEwen on waivers two years ago.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound forward was a nice story, carving out an NHL career despite being undrafted out of junior. The PEI native rose the ranks quickly in the Canucks organization, making his NHL debut on February 16, 2019, less than two years after the team signed him as a free agent.
With 245 career penalty minutes in 188 NHL games, MacEwen has proven himself as a fourth liner who isn’t afraid to drop the gloves.
The Philadelphia Flyers claimed MacEwen off waivers in 2021, and he went on to play a career-high 75 games for them in 2021-22. He racked up 110 penalty minutes that season, which put him into the top 10 in PIMs among NHL enforcers.
MacEwen was traded to the Los Angeles Kings at the trade deadline last March and signed with the Ottawa Senators in free agency in July.
And now he’s available to everyone in the league, as the Senators put him on waivers today.
MacEwen (OTT) on waivers
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 19, 2023
MacEwen, 27, is signed to a three-year contract paying him a league-minimum annual salary of $775,000.
Will the Canucks make a claim?
They can fit MacEwen under the cap due to his low salary, but they would have to send someone else down to the minors to make room for him. The three-year term on MacEwen’s contract might also scare teams away.
Rick Tocchet would surely love to add grit and toughness to his lineup, but can MacEwen do enough other things to make him fit in on an NHL fourth line? MacEwen played 11:34 per game last season, scoring 10 points (4-6-10) in 56 games.
We’ll find out what NHL GMs think of MacEwen by 11 am PT Friday, when waiver decisions become public.