As a Canucks forward, Lane Pederson didn’t play against the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night in Vancouver’s 6-1 loss.
Having just been plucked off waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pederson could get that opportunity Saturday night.
The Blue Jackets and the Kraken wrap up their pre-All-Star-break schedule with a 7 pm tilt this evening at Climate Pledge Arena, and with Columbus having just played in Vancouver, it’s just a hop, skip and a jump for everyone involved.
The Canucks waived Pederson on Friday with hopes of sending him to AHL Abbotsford. The Jackets, the team with the fewest points in the National Hockey League, responded by putting Gustav Nyquist on injured reserve and snagging Pederson off waivers Saturday morning.
Canucks Performance
The 25-year-old, right shot forward picked up a goal, two assists and fifteen penalty minutes in eleven games with Vancouver this season after being called up in mid-December. That odd number in the PIM category came from his first and only career NHL fight in the 1st period on January 12th against Pierre-Edouard Bellemare of the Lightning in Tampa.
Pederson earned a serious look from the NHL Canucks after lighting things up offensively with the Abbotsford Canucks after being acquired with defenceman Ethan Bear on October 28th from the Carolina Hurricanes. Pederson tallied 17 goals and 7 assists over 18 games with Abby.
His NHL career has seen a total of 8 points in 55 games. He performed in a brief stint with current Canucks forward Conor Garland and defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and the Arizona Coyotes in 2020-’21 and then saw 29 games last season with the San Jose Sharks.
Meanwhile, the Canucks enter their extended break with a 2-and-0 home record and an 0-and-1 road record under new head coach Rick Tocchet. They next play at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey against the Devils on February 6th.
The Canucks are firmly in 6th place in the Pacific Division with a record of 20-26-and-3 and 43 points.
