On Friday afternoon, the Vancouver Canucks agreed to trade forward Daniel Sprong to the Seattle Kraken for future considerations.
Sprong was a standout at Canucks training camp and scored a highlight-reel goal in his preseason debut at the Abbotsford Centre. He opened the regular season in a top-six role on Elias Pettersson’s right wing but Sprong’s Vancouver tenure ends after just nine appearances.
General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that F Daniel Sprong has been traded to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for future considerations. pic.twitter.com/EpI5HhB7W5
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 9, 2024
For the Canucks, the motivation behind trading Sprong is somewhat multi-faceted.
Sprong, a rate-scoring stats all-star, is incredibly talented and a lot of fun to watch. His finishing ability is legitimately elite, he’s both big and exceptionally fast and he’s an underrated playmaker. Over the past few seasons, Sprong had established himself as one of the NHL’s most consistent sources of depth offense.
For all that Sprong does well, however, he has consistently struggled to ingratiate himself with NHL head coaches. Sprong’s play and awareness on the other side of the puck is a genuine drawback.
In mid-July, after the dust of the free-agent frenzy had largely settled, the Canucks discussed uncorking a big swing for the sort of scoring forward capable of giving the club a major offensive boost. However, the club opted instead to preserve cap flexibility for other matters — specifically an uncertain situation in net.
The Canucks were clear-eyed about Sprong’s limitations but decided to take a flier on his offensive potential. After a meeting with Rick Tocchet at which Tocchet laid out a pathway for Sprong to establish himself as a fixture in Vancouver’s lineup, Sprong decided to accept a one-year offer worth just under $1 million.
Sprong’s defensive game, ultimately, is the primary reason that the Sprong project reached a premature conclusion in Vancouver. His efforts to build the trust and comfort level required to play higher up the lineup were stalling in the short term and the club no longer felt confident about projecting him in a top-nine role, either.
What does it mean for Lekkerimäki?
An additional factor influencing the club’s thinking on the Sprong deal was the auspicious performances of some young wingers excelling in AHL Abbotsford, specifically Arshdeep Bains and Jonathan Lekkerimäki.
With Sprong on his way to Seattle and a couple of injuries, there’s suddenly a fair bit of uncertainty on the wings for Vancouver.
Top-line right winger Brock Boeser was injured on Thursday by a Tanner Jeannot hit, which resulted in a three-game suspension.
Dakota Joshua appears to be getting close to making his season debut following surgery to address a testicular cancer diagnosis, but he didn’t practice on Wednesday and took the option at the club’s morning skate in Los Angeles on Thursday. Joshua’s return is believed to be imminent, but it’s currently unclear if he’ll play Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers.
Meanwhile, the club has 21 players and 11 forwards on the NHL roster at the moment. Unless the Canucks opt to roll with 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Oilers, they’ll have to call up at least one additional player.
Lekkerimäki, the club’s first-round pick at the 2022 NHL Draft, is off to a scorcher of a start in the AHL. His performance — he’s scoring at a point-per-game clip while testing opposition goaltenders with over five shots per game on average — has obviously created a sense of internal excitement for the organization, and external curiosity among Canucks fans.
However, it doesn’t sound like the Canucks intend to have Lekkerimäki make his NHL debut on Saturday.
Lekkerimäki has performed to such a level that it almost demands the club take a look at whether or not he’s ready to be a difference-maker against NHL competition. He’ll get his chance in Vancouver in short order, perhaps as soon as next week.
Required reading
(Photo: Bob Frid / Imagn Images)
