The Vancouver Canucks made an intriguing move on Friday as they acquired forward Lukas Reichel from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick. The 23-year-old was drafted 17th overall in 2020 and has 174 games of NHL experience so far in his career. As for this season, Reichel has four points in five games while averaging 9:52 of ice time a night. 

Acquiring Reichel provides the Canucks with much-needed depth to their forward. Vancouver is currently missing a handful of players due to injury, including second-line center Filip Chytil. Speaking to the media after the trade was announced, GM Patrik Allvin explained why the organization made the decision to trade for Reichel. 

"Yeah, definitely something that we had felt here over the last two games," said Allvin. "When we played in Pittsburgh, in Nashville, that we wanted to see if we can find something that could help us with little bit more experience. The familiarity here with Kevin Dean being in Chicago over the last three years, and obviously Lukas, as a younger player that was drafted in the first round. Played center in the American Hockey League. Hasn't played as much center in Chicago here early on in his career, but we definitely see the experience that he has, and the acquisition cost for us was intriguing here to make this move."

Despite being considered a top prospect, Reichel has struggled to adjust to life in the NHL. He has 58 points during his career and has seen his average ice time decrease over the past three seasons. According to Allvin, Reichel has been on the team's radar as the organization feels a change of scenery could be what's needed to spark the former first-round pick. 

"I was fortunate to see him playing in Berlin his draft year. Appreciated his competitiveness, his skill set and his ability to skate. Over time, you've been waiting to see if this guy would be able to take it to the next level and establish himself as an NHL player. It's been for most of the young players, a little bit of an up and down and until you establish yourselves. But you can see the skill set, you can see the speed in his game. And even in the summer, this was a player that we talked about.  Potentially track him to see if he didn't find his level in Chicago. Could it be a change of scenery type of player? Obviously, talked to Kevin Dean here since he got hired on some of the players that potentially could be available. And then we continue to talk about Lucas and what Kevin had to say about him, and obviously, like him as a person and character, too. So we're excited to get him in here and continue to work with him."

The big question when it comes to Reichel is, can he be an impactful center at the NHL level? While he was drafted as a center, the German-born forward has played both down the middle and on the wing. As Allvin explained, Vancouver has faith that Reichel can play down the middle and is willing to give him the opportunity to show that he can be a full-time center. 

"We definitely believe that he has the ability to do that, and we'll definitely give it a try here. I mean, again, I think it's our job as an organization and with our coaches and the development staff we have, it's our job to help him to take his game to the next level. What intrigues us is his speed coming through the neutral zone, and his skill level there. Those are the things that make us excited about him. And he's still young, so I believe there is more to come."

Ultimately, trading for Reichel has the potential to be a low-risk, high-reward move. The acquisition cost was low for a speedy, playmaking forward with the potential to be an impactful middle-six center. On paper, this looks like a big win for Allvin and his team as the Canucks add some much-needed offence to a lineup that has struggled to score this season. 

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