Vancouver Canucks put Brännström on waivers and could lose him for nothing
The Vancouver Canucks have seen enough of defenceman Erik Brännström and have placed him on waivers this morning.
After being traded to the Canucks shortly before the season, the 25-year-old Brännström has had quite a strange year on the West Coast. For a time, he was thriving in Vancouver, but he has recently fallen out of favour.
He was a regular in the Canucks lineup for the first three months of the season but has recently been a healthy scratch for the past six games. Brännström has yet to play a game in 2025 with his last appearance coming in a 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on New Year’s Eve.
Daily Hive’s Noah Strang was the first to report the news and the Canucks later confirmed the move as well.
General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that D Erik Brännström has been placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Abbotsford (AHL).
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 12, 2025
It appears that Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet prefers bigger defencemen in the lineup rather than the five-foot-10 Brännström. All of Noah Juulsen, Derek Forbort, and Vincent Desharnais have played more than the young Swede of late, signalling that he has fallen way down the depth chart as compared to the start of the season.
Even AHL tweener Gulliame Brisboise seems to have surpassed the former first-round pick.
Brännström has just three goals and eight points through 25 games this season. Every other NHL team will have a shot at claiming him over the next 24 hours. Putting the defender on waivers indicates that the Canucks are either confident that he will go unclaimed and report the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks or that they are not overly worried about another team potentially grabbing him.
We will find out his fate at 11 am PT on Monday morning.