Canucks Acquire Former Top Prospect Erik Brannstrom in Trade

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Liam McCormick
October 6, 2024 (12:10)

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The Vancoucer Canucks have acquired defenceman Erik Brannstrom from the Colorado Avalanche.

Brannstrom was a 15th overall draft pick of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017. He was dealt to the Ottawa Senators in the blockbuster deal that sent Mark Stone to Vegas, and Brannstrom went on to play parts of the next six seasons with the Senators. Brannstrom has clear offensive talent and skill, but was never able to put it together with Ottawa. Brannstrom was signed by Colorado in free agency on a one year deal for just $900K, but they're trading him before he played one game for them.

In exchange, the Canucks will be sending the Avalanche defenceman Tucker Poolman and a fourth round draft pick in 2025. Poolman is a 30 year old defenceman that's had major problems with injuries, so getting out of his deal and getting a former top prospect in return is great value for Vancouver. If the Canucks can get Brannstrom to rediscover what made him a special talent, this could be a steal of a trade - but that may be unlikely. Brannstrom has scored just 38 points in his last 150 games.

The Canucks have quite a few NHL bodies on their blue line already, so Brannstrom may just be a depth pickup for them unless he forces his way in the lineup with his play. The Canucks were expected to start the season with Derek Forbort and Vincent Desharnais on the third pairing, so perhaps one of them gets bumped out first.

Things got even more interesting when the Canucks placed Brannstrom on waivers right after acquiring him. The trade is less of a reclamation project, and more about getting out of Poolman's $2.5M contract and his injury uncertainty.

With plenty of players on the NHL waiver wire today, so players may be exchanging teams. Hockey is officially back with all this action!