Vancouver Canucks GM Patrik Allvin has announced on Wednesday that defenceman Mark Friedman is being sent to the team's AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.
The demotion comes one day after Friedman worked his way into the starting lineup, taking the place of Erik Brannstrom against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night in a somewhat surprising lineup move.
The Canucks would go on to lose to the St. Louis Blues 4-3 in overtime, with Friedman ending up on the score sheet with one shot on goal and four hits.
Brannstrom played in all 23 games since his call up to the Canucks, and has 7 points in those games playing just shy of 15 minutes a game - his healthy scratch comes as a bit of a surprise.
Friedman hasn't played much this season, the D-man suffered a scary head injury in October and has been limited to 8 games played in the AHL.
Wednesday night was Friedman's first NHL appearance of the season, and he'll play a prominent role on Abbotsford's blue line.
Vancouver Canucks currently running skeleton crew
The Vancouver Canucks have started to get healthier as a team, welcoming players back throughout the last month and on Tuesday of course seeing Thatcher Demko make his long awaited return to game action.
As of right now, the team is running with just six D and twelve forwards - with no extras on the roster.
Vancouver will accrue extra cap space by doing so - but the roster move could also signify that Derek Forbort is nearly ready to return to the lineup for the Canucks.
