Canucks place Ilya Safonov on waivers to terminate contract
The Vancouver Canucks announced Wednesday that forward Ilya Safonov was placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination.
The news comes one day after Safonov’s agent, Dan Milstein, confirmed to Daily Faceoff Vancouver/Canucks Army that his client left the Canucks’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, to head back to Russia to play in the KHL.
“Ilya valued his time with the Canucks organization and built strong relationships with the coaching and development staff in Abbotsford,” Milstein said Tuesday. “While he did not reach his goal of playing in the NHL, he leaves grateful for the opportunity and will always look back on his time in Vancouver fondly.”
Safonov was originally drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. He was traded to the Canucks after the 2024-25 season, then signed a one-year, two-way contract with Vancouver last summer.
But 12 games into the North American portion of his professional career, he has just four assists with Abbotsford.
Safonov, a native of Moscow, had 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points in 68 games with Kazan Ak-Bars in the KHL. He also had two goals and seven assists for nine points in 20 Gagarin Cup games.
His best season came in 2022-23, he posted a career-high 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points and was named a KHL All-Star.
Through seven KHL seasons, he had 65 goals and 63 assists for 128 points in 331 regular-season games. He also had 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points in 79 playoff games.
