The Vancouver Canucks have changed over the past year. Given the team’s record, it looks like the changes have worked extremely well, if not perfectly. So how do the moves look for some former Canucks?
How Five Former Canucks Fare
We’re keeping it to those Canucks who left the team for one reason or another in the past year. So those of you looking for an update on Chris Tanev in hopes of his return, you’ll have to wait. Though maybe not long, depending on Carson Soucy‘s health report.
Like the person who gets a raise soon after their spouse leaves, we wanted to have a little check-in with our exes. Nothing personal, of course! Just to see, y’know, how they’re doing.
Bo Horvat
History With Canucks: Drafted 9th overall in 2013. Scored 201 goals and 420 points in 621 games. Named captain in 2019. Traded away for a pick, a player, and a prospect.
New Team & Contract: New York Islanders. Signed 8x$8.5 million deal in February 2023.
Let’s start big.
Bo Horvat, of course, had been with Vancouver through some brutal, brutal years. He was famously the return for Cory Schneider, who was traded away in an attempt to resolve some of the Canucks’ goaltender anarchy of the early ‘teens.
Horvat had a rock-solid start in 2013-14 and even had a taste of the playoffs as a rookie. Then was dropped straight into the fire as a sophomore. An injury to Brandon Sutter meant Horvat got all the hardest match-ups pretty much immediately.
He made the best of it through some truly awful years with little complaint. Nine years in, and he had had enough. The new management group decided to put his negotiations on a back burner, he decided not to re-sign, and a trade was made.
How’s the Former Canuck Doing?
His team has definitely hit a stumbling block, but he personally is doing pretty well. There’s that contract, for one thing. That wasn’t happening in Vancouver. On the ice, he’s hit four goals and ten points in the Isles’ first 12 games. That’s pretty good!
The same can’t be said for the Islanders. Four losses in a row have tumbled them down the standings and out of a playoff spot. It’s the Islanders, though, who are a perpetual Team of Mystery. Between 35 and 45 wins in any given year is their modus operandi.
That might or might not be good enough for the playoffs.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
History With Canucks: Trade with Arizona Coyotes. Perpetual flashpoint for fans and final judgment for Jim Benning. Bought out, maybe you heard?
New Team & Contract: Florida Panthers. Signed 1x$2.25 million deal as a free agent.
Start big, continue big.
Of all the former Canucks we’re talking about, this is probably the one fans were happiest to see go. Not about him personally, but his cost – both in trade and his contract – was impossible to live up to.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson cost a LOT when the team traded for him, and cost Jim Benning his job when he couldn’t match that value. While his contract wasn’t his fault, it single-handedly came to represent everything the Canucks couldn’t do.
His buyout was inevitable, and last Summer was the time it made the most sense. Vancouver fans are going to be hearing his name until 2031 when the team will finally stop paying him.
How’s the Former Canuck Doing?
For a start, the Florida Panthers fans really appreciate him being there, so that’s a nice change. He’s stepped up in the season-long absence of Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, averaging almost 24 minutes a night.
He’s brought some scoring, too, with three goals and seven points in 13 Panthers games. Unlike the Islanders, they’re currently riding a four-game win streak to third place in the Eastern Conference. And he’s letting Vancouver pay him over $2 million for the next eight years.
So it’s not a longshot to say the former Canucks defenceman is doing much better than a year ago.
Luke Schenn
History With Canucks: Weird as it sounds, he was exactly what Vancouver needed. Twice. Traded away for a third-round pick.
New Team & Contract: Nashville Predators. Signed a 3x$2.75 million deal as a free agent.
If Filip Hronek hadn’t worked out so well with Quinn Hughes, there would be muttering aplenty about Luke Schenn. When Hughes had his initial five-game trial run in 2018-19, Schenn was the player who worked best with him.
Schenn went from a spare part with the Anaheim Ducks to playing mentor to Vancouver’s most important prospect. Then they didn’t offer him a contract, so he went to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Two Stanley Cups later, he came back to Vancouver to continue his role.
Last year, Schenn was sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a third-round pick. His work with the Canucks got him his deal with Nashville.
How’s the Former Canuck Doing?
Could be better, frankly. He’s only managed one game so far this season, October 10th against Tampa Bay. Unfortunately, his new team isn’t doing so well, either, with five wins in their first 14 games.
That record can’t be placed at Schenn’s feet, obviously, but the team should be having second thoughts. The wily veteran* is turning 34 soon and is one game into his new deal. They want the player, not the cap space from putting him on injured reserve.
Tanner Pearson
History With Canucks: Will be known as one of Benning’s best trades, coming to town in return for Erik Gudbranson. A wrist injury and repeated surgeries soured the relationship. Traded away for Casey DeSmith.
New Team & Contract: Thankfully recovered well enough to play the same role with the Montreal Canadiens that he did in Vancouver. In the final year of his Canucks-signed contract for 3x$3.25 million.
How’s the Former Canuck Doing?
Better than he could have been. The failed surgeries made for not just bad publicity but bad feelings all around. Team doctors were accused of messing up their job and the scent of potential lawsuits still hangs in the air. So still not great, exactly.
On the other hand, he’s producing in a reduced role with the Habs, scoring three goals and six points in 15 games so far. They are tied with Tampa Bay in points for eight in the Eastern Conference. That’s higher than expected, and Pearson has a role in it.
Should Montreal drop out of the race, he can still be moved to a contender. Again, not a great time, but he’s on the ice and productive after missing a calendar year.
Spencer Martin
History With Canucks: A shining light in a miserable season. Then a much dimmer one in a slightly brighter season. Then lost on waivers.
New Team & Contract: Waiver-wire pickup by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Playing out the second season of a 2x$763K deal signed in Vancouver.
Ah, what a glorious story Spencer Martin was! Originally drafted by the Colorado Avalanche, Martin played three games with them before getting sent to the minors. After five years of frankly mediocre numbers in the AHL, he made his way to Vancouver for “future considerations.”
Martin put together the best professional season of his career, earning a call-up to Vancouver. Then he decided he couldn’t lose – not in regulation, anyway. He went 3-0-3 with a .950 save percentage and a 1.74 goals-against average in the NHL. He earned his two-year deal.
The next year he did what he could to prevent a total collapse by the Canucks. He went 6-1-1 in his first eight games of the 2022-23 season, but holes appeared when December did. By the time he was sent back to the minors in February he had a ten-game losing streak, all in regulation.
How’s the Former Canuck Doing?
Opportunity knocked in Columbus, and Martin answered. The Blue Jackets are, alas, a fairly miserable team right now, but Martin himself has found his footing. He isn’t pulling off those S-tier numbers he did when he first came to Vancouver, but no one expected that.
Paired with Elvis Merzlikins, Martin has a .905 save percentage and 3.26 goals against average. Middle-of-the-pack numbers, which is fine for a backup goaltender in the NHL. If he continues this pace, he may get another NHL deal at the end of this season. And that’s pretty darned good.
*All veterans are wily
Main Photo Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
