The Vancouver Canucks announced a trade late into Tuesday morning as they made a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins for a right-shot defenceman with NHL experience.
Jack Rathbone and Karel Plasek are the two players heading the other way as Rathbone just wasn’t able to crack a spot with the NHL club over the past couple of seasons due to the depth on the left side of defence and Rathbone’s inability to defend well at the NHL level.
At one time, Rathbone was a very exciting NCAA prospect who many wondered if he would even sign with the Canucks or not. He just never found the level that was required to get consistent ice time in the NHL and he was stretchered off the ice in consecutive seasons with some scary-to-watch injuries.
The 24-year-old Rathbone finished up his Canucks career with two goals and three assists in 28 NHL games while being much more productive in the AHL with 18 goals and 46 assists in 86 games with the Utica Comets and Abbotsford Canucks. This feels like a good chance to give Rathbone a fresh start. He clearly has a lot of offensive talent in the AHL but we will have to see if he can find success with a new organization and new opportunities.
The other piece going out of the organization is Karel Plasek, who went back to Czechia after an injury-filled 2021-22 season with the Abbotsford Canucks. Plasek played for CCzechia at the 2019 and 2020 World Junior Championships and was back in North America this season to give the AHL another go.
Now for the players coming in from Pittsburgh.
Mark Friedman is a 27-year-old, 5’11”, right-shot defenceman who was drafted in the third round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. He has played in 65 NHL games, recording four goals and eight assists. In his 214 AHL games, Friedman has 11 goals and 56 assists to go along with 137 penalty minutes.
Here’s a look at Mark Friedman’s HockeyViz from his 65 NHL games.
Defensively, he looks pretty good but it’s a small sample size in the NHL. Friedman also fought Brady Tkachuk last season, so he’s got some bite.
We will have to watch more of him to bring a breakdown of the player type.
As for the second player in the deal, Ty Glover was thrown in from the Penguins.
Glover was born in Salford, England and played two seasons with Western Michigan in the NCAA. He was a teammate with current Abbotsford Canuck Max Sasson.
Coming in at 6’3″ and over 200 lbs, Glover can bring some size to the AHL club and is still just 23 years old, so he has time to grow on the farm.
We will get into the tape on both of these guys and have more to come here at CanucksArmy.
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