Vancouver Canucks center Lukas Reichel has been placed on waivers and designated non-roster waiver status following the blockbuster Quinn Hughes trade.
The Vancouver Canucks have placed center Lukas Reichel on waivers less than two months after they acquired him in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Reports of Reichel hitting the waiver wire came sometime earlier on Saturday. Following the Canucks’ blockbuster trade that sent superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild, Vancouver is over the roster limit.
In that trade with the Wild, the Canucks received Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, and Liam Ohgren. With that deal, their active roster consists of 24 players, one more than the league maximum of 23.
The Pittsburgh Penguins were required to make the same move on Friday after they dealt goaltender Tristan Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers for goalie Stuart Skinner and defenseman Brett Kulak.
Ultimately, blueliner Matt Dumba hit the wire and cleared on Saturday. The 31-year-old has been reassigned to the AHL and will join the Penguins' affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Nonetheless, Vancouver decided that Reichel was the player to be sacrificed on the waiver wire. The 23-year-old has played 14 games for the Canucks since he was acquired on Oct. 24.
Since arriving, he’s recorded one assist and a minus-5 rating while averaging 13:06 of ice time.
Reichel is in the final year of a two-year, $2.4-million contract. The German earns $1.2 million against the salary cap.
If Reichel isn’t claimed in the next 24 hours, he’ll be sent down to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks.
His last stint in the American League was in 2023-24 with the Blackhawks organization. He played 10 games for the Rockford IceHogs and notched one goal and eight points.
Prior to that, Reichel played two more AHL seasons, playing 111 games. In that time, he registered 41 goals and 108 points.
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