The Vancouver Canucks made some major trades last Friday. This Friday, they made a much more minor one.
The Canucks announced on Friday afternoon that they have traded Mark Friedman to the Nashville Predators for future considerations.
Friedman played a total of 28 games for the Canucks in the NHL, as well as 24 games for their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. The 29-year-old defenceman is now heading to his fourth NHL team.
"Future considerations" means that the Predators will complete the trade at some point in the future by sending the Canucks an asset, such as a player or draft pick. The specifics of that future compensation can be built into the trade with a performance-based clause dependent on games played or similar.
When it comes to future considerations, they always have to be fulfilled. It could be as simple as swapping seventh-round picks in the future or sending an AHL-caliber player back to the team at some point. Generally speaking, those future considerations don't have any impact at the NHL level.
So, why did the Canucks move Friedman for essentially nothing?
One reason is that Friedman was unlikely to play another game for the Canucks. Friedman got called up for a two-game stint with the Canucks in late January and it became readily apparent that head coach Rick Tocchet and assistant coach Adam Foote did not trust him overly much. The two games were ugly losses to boot, with the Canucks coughing up a third-period lead to the Buffalo Sabres and then getting embarrassed by the Edmonton Oilers two nights later.
Friedman's previous game up with the Canucks was a woeful 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins where he was a minus-3 and Tocchet said the entire coaching staff was pissed off at the team's performance. In other words, Friedman hadn't exactly made a strong case to stay up with the Canucks this season.
The Canucks also now have a log jam on the right side of their defence. The addition of Victor Mancini, who will likely be sent down to the AHL before too long, means the Canucks would have had too many right-shot defencemen in Abbotsford for all of them to get ice time.
Along with Friedman and Mancini, the Canucks have Cole McWard, Jett Woo, and Christian Felton in the AHL. It's understandable that the Canucks might not have wanted a 29-year-old veteran taking ice time away from younger players.
The trade also brings the Canucks down to 46 contracts out of a maximum of 50, which gives them a little bit more flexibility. Considering how much cap space the Canucks have available, they could be very active heading into the trade deadline and can add players without a contract going out.
The Canucks also need to keep in mind that they'll need a contract space open for Tom Willander if they intend to sign their top defenceman prospect at the conclusion of his NCAA season. He's also another right-shot defenceman added to the mix. They might want to keep open the possibility of signing NCAA free agents.
In other words, there are a lot of reasons why trading Friedman is beneficial for the Canucks. But another reason is that they're arguably doing right by Friedman.
The Predators are pretty thoroughly out of the playoff picture and may soon be trading any number of their players for prospects and picks. That could include right-shot defencemen like Luke Schenn and Nick Blankenburg, in which case there could be an opportunity for Friedman to get back to the NHL. Alternatively, if the Predators call up some of their younger players from the AHL, there could be more minutes available for Friedman with the Milwaukee Admirals.
That means ice time for Friedman that he might not have been able to get with the Canucks. As a pending unrestricted free agent, Friedman would likely appreciate the opportunity to prove himself heading into the offseason.
In the right circumstances, Friedman could still be a seventh defenceman for an NHL team. That's the role Friedman played in the 2023-24 season for the Canucks, regularly giving a consistent effort when called upon no matter how long he had spent in the press box. This trade potentially gives him the chance to prove he can do that again for another team.
