Canucks sign Cole Clayton to one-year, two-way contract
The Vancouver Canucks are keeping around a piece of their recently acquired depth on defense.
On Tuesday, the team announced that they have signed defenseman Cole Clayton to a one-year, two-way contract.
General Manager Ryan Johnson announced today that the #Canucks have agreed to terms with defenceman Cole Clayton on a one-year, two-way contract. DETAILS | vancanucks.co/4uJDkVX
Clayton, 26, was acquired by the Canucks as part of the deal that sent forward Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks in January.
The Strathmore, Alberta native played 32 games for Vanouver’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Abbotsford Canucks following the trade, where he had no goals and six assists while racking up 27 penalty minutes. Prior to the trade this past season, he played 33 games for the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, where he had two goals and three assists for five points.
Clayton went undrafted following his junior career with the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Medicine Hat Tigers, where he led all WHL defensemen in scoring with nine goals and 21 assists for 30 points over 23 games in his final season of 2020-21.
He began his professional career with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters of the Columbus Blue Jackets organization in the 2021-22 season. That year, he put up two goals and 14 assists for 16 points in 55 games. In the 2022-23 season, he notched four goals and six assists for 10 points in 47 games. His career-best campaign came in 2023-24, when he registered five goals and 15 assists for 20 points in 59 games, and then contributed a goal in eight postseason games. In the 2024-25 season, he scored just one goal and added 14 assists for 15 points in 63 games, and then went scoreless in six playoff games.
Clayton then signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Sharks organization ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Standing at 6’2″ and weighing roughly 200 pounds, Clayton is a right-shot defenseman with good size for the position.