Canucks trade journeyman defender to Predators

The Vancouver Canucks have been an extremely busy team in terms of recent trades, and now they've completed another transaction – though this one didn't hold quite the same magnitude.

On Friday, the Canucks traded depth defenseman Mark Friedman to the Nashville Predators in return for future considerations. A journeyman depth blue liner, Friedman had played sparingly with the Canucks this season and has spent the majority of his career playing in the minor leagues.

Friedman was originally selected with the 86th overall pick by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2014 NHL Draft after playing in the Greater Toronto Hockey League. After playing sparingly with the Flyers while mostly suiting up for their American Hockey League affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms, he was waived and subsequently claimed by the rival Pittsburgh Penguins. He later scored his first career NHL goal against the Flyers, the team that drafted him.

Between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Friedman played in a total of 49 games for the Penguins while also playing more in the AHL. He was later traded to the Canucks with Ty Glover in exchange for Karel Plasek and Jack Rathbone.

He's played in five games for the Canucks this season, registering zero points; he's also played in 20 games for the AHL affiliate Abbotsford Canucks, scoring a goal with five assists.

In 93 career NHL games, he's scored four goals with nine assists.

The trade of Mark Friedman is the latest Canucks trade in recent days 

The Canucks made a pair of significant trades in recent days. First, they sent J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers in exchange for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Additionally, they traded forward Danton Heinen and defenseman Vincent Desharnais to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor. The Canucks then signed Pettersson to a six-year, $33 million contract extension.