Canucks place Erik Brannstrom on waivers

The Vancouver Canucks have announced that they’ve placed defenseman Erik Brannstrom on waivers.

Brannstrom finds himself on the waiver wire after appearing to fall out of favour with Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet, having been a healthy scratch for the past six games and not playing since December 31st against the Calgary Flames. With Quinn Hughes healthy and back in the lineup and Filip Hronek getting closer and closer to a return, the Canucks are probably looking to make space on their roster with eight defensemen currently on the NHL squad, not including Hronek.

This is the second time Brannstrom has been placed on waivers, as the Canucks also did so after acquiring him from the Colorado Avalanche at the end of training camp. He obviously cleared waivers and remained on the Canucks so far this regular season.

However, Brannstrom has probably seen his stock raise a little bit since he was placed on waivers the first time, as even with the recent healthy scratches, he did at least have a solid start to the season. He currently has 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points in 28 games this season, and has been the Canucks’ best defenseman at driving offense outside of Hughes and Hronek with a 2.2 5v5 on-ice expected goals for per 60 minutes.

Brannstrom is currently on a one-year, $900,000 contract, and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2024-25 season.

The Canucks will look to build off of Saturday’s 3-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs when they wrap up their five-game road trip against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday at 5 p.m. PST. Vancouver currently sits in fourth in the Pacific Division with a 19-13-10 record, good enough for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.