Canucks Reassign Erik Brännström, Arshdeep Bains

The Canucks sent defenseman Erik Brännström and winger Arshdeep Bains to AHL Abbotsford today, per general manager Patrik Allvin.

Brännström heads back to the minors with fellow defender Derek Forbort, who’s ready to return from a brief personal leave, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK reports. Forbort never landed on the non-roster list, so the Canucks’ active roster is now at 21 players with the two reassignments.

The Canucks had three games over the past week with Forbort out and Brännström on the roster. The 25-year-old Swede played in all of them, recording an assist and a +2 rating while averaging 13:23 per game. The 2017 first-round pick struggled to control possession quality in his limited and sheltered minutes, posting a 33.3 xGF%. It was quantity over quality for Brännström, who controlled total shot attempts at even strength with a 52.1 CF%.

It was an okay showing for the recent trade pickup from the Avalanche, but not enough to keep him in the NHL. On Oct. 6, Vancouver acquired Brännström, who signed a one-year, $900K deal with Colorado over the summer, via trade, sending defenseman Tucker Poolman the other way to give the Avs some long-term injured reserve flexibility. He was placed on waivers that same day and cleared without incident. He had three assists and a +3 rating in two games for Abbotsford before getting the call-up to replace Forbort.

Bains, meanwhile, was left off the Canucks’ opening night roster but was recalled ahead of their second game of the season. The 23-year-old has made three appearances and scratched twice since. He’s still looking for his first NHL point after going scoreless this year and also in an eight-game trial last season. The hometown kid posted a -1 rating and had just one shot on goal while in the lineup this season, averaging 12:38 per game.

However, the pending RFA is still an intriguing prospect. An undrafted free agent signing out of WHL Red Deer in 2022, he’s far from a finished product and will get a lengthy runway to continue to build confidence in Abbotsford. He posted 55 points (16 G, 39 A) in 59 games for them last year, earning a spot on the AHL All-Star Game roster.