The Vancouver Canucks have announced on Saturday that they have acquired forward Vitali Kravtsov in a trade with the New York Rangers. As part of the deal, the Canucks gave up forward Will Lockwood and a seventh-round pick in 2026.
The news comes after Kravtsov requested a trade from the Rangers in early February. The 23-year-old appeared in 28 games in NHL this season, contributing with three goals and three assists for a total of six points. However, he hasn’t played for the New York team in more than two weeks.
“We are excited to add Vitali’s combination of size and skill to our group,” said Canucks’ general manager Patrik Allvin in a statement. “He is a smart player and a former first-round pick with a good set of skills. We look forward to welcoming him to Vancouver to continue developing his game with our coaching staff.”
Kravtsov had a strained relationship with the Rangers organization for a while now. Despite being taken ninth overall in 2018, he had trouble getting on the ice and requested to be traded several times. He will leave New York with just 58 games with the organization under his belt.
Lockwood, on the other hand, has only 15 NHL games since being taken in the third round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He is yet to play a game this season and has zero NHL points in his career.
