Canucks Make Several Roster Moves

On top of having a potential trade on the horizon to shake up the roster, the Canucks have made several roster moves today.  The team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Zeev Buium, winger Brock Boeser, and center Marco Rossi have all been activated off injured reserve.  To make room on the roster, center Filip Chytil was placed on IR retroactive to February 18th.

Buium was the centerpiece of the return in the Quinn Hughes trade back in December.  He’s in his first full NHL season (after a brief stint with Minnesota in the playoffs last year) and has shown some flashes of the dynamic offensive upside that made him the 12th overall pick in 2024.  While he’s still going through the ups and downs of his first taste of NHL action, Vancouver has been deploying him in a top-four role when he has been healthy and he has six points in 20 games since the swap.  Buium had been out for the last month due to a fractured cheekbone.

Boeser, meanwhile, missed the last month with a concussion.  The 29-year-old has struggled by his standards this season, potting 12 goals and 13 assists in 50 games.  Two years ago, he had a career-high 40 goals and 73 points and reached the 50-point mark for the fifth time last season, earning him a seven-year, $50.25MM agreement to remain with Vancouver in the opening day of free agency last summer.  While this season is a write-off for the Canucks in terms of the standings, he’ll certainly be looking for a big finish to show he can still be a top contributor.

Rossi also came to Vancouver in the Hughes trade but hasn’t had a chance to showcase himself much since then.  Injured at the time of the swap, he only got into eight games with his new team before sustaining a lower-body injury in late December, one that took nearly two months to return from.  With the Canucks lacking capable options down the middle, it’s fair to say that they will be giving Rossi a big role over these next couple of months to try to determine what the best spot on the depth chart will be for him moving forward.

As for Chytil, his tough injury luck continues.  While this particular injury isn’t a recurrence of the concussion symptoms he has battled frequently in recent years, it’s one he sustained in practice after taking a puck to the face.  Chytil was also supposed to be a part of Vancouver’s solution down the middle after being acquired last season but has played in just 27 games with the Canucks since then, including 12 this season where he has three goals.  The retroactive placement makes him eligible to be activated at any point moving forward once he’s cleared to return.