Vancouver

Canucks

“Basically, I’ve been left with a lot of different things,” said Sutter. “With my lungs and my breathing and any exertion, I just can’t do it. I stop and feel like I have to cough something out and just feel like I can’t get oxygen into my body. And if I do too much, I get short of breath and when I try to take a deep breath, I just can’t get it. That’s how it feels.” He hasn’t been able to do any cardio as a result. “I’m obviously still hopeful I can come back and play, but I just don’t know when that is going to be,” Sutter said. “I just want to feel normal again. Then I can start thinking about training and preparing but for now, it’s about taking care of myself and worrying about hockey later. I know for me there’s only a few years left at best.”

DiPietro has slid in the Canucks’ depth charts and the belief is that he’d have a better chance of establishing himself at the NHL level elsewhere. Ferris believes the Canucks have “dropped the ball” when it comes to DiPietro’s development, and the fact that he stated that publicly should underscore the desire to move on. We’ve entered a bit of a quiet period of the offseason, but Ferris is hoping that opportunities for a trade will be present after that stretch is over. If not, a loan to Europe is also a possibility. DiPietro had a 2.95 GAA and .901 save percentage in 34 AHL contests this season.

Virtanen had been charged in January based on a claim that Virtanen took the woman to a hotel in West Vancouver in September 2017 where he allegedly sexually assaulted her. Virtanen didn’t deny the encounter with the woman, but said she was an “enthusiastic participant.” The woman testified that she repeatedly said “no,” but Virtanen didn’t stop. Virtanen’s defense lawyer argued that the woman’s story was full of inconsistencies while the Crown council said that she had a “firm” memory of the critical details. Ultimately the jury came back with the not guilty verdict.

“If [trying to sign him] doesn’t work, we have to get the best return we can for him,” said Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford on Friday during a segment of the CHEK television’s Donnie & Dhali - The Team. “But I think when the impatience should come on J.T. Miller is when we get closer to the trade deadline, and if we don’t have him signed at that point, making sure that we get a return for him. But I don’t see where there’s any urgency until we get to the trade deadline.” Miller has one more season left on his current contract, which has an average annual value of $5.25 million, and he is looking for a big pay increase.

DiPietro can make $70,000 in the minors and he’d come with a $840,000 cap hit if Vancouver calls him up. He had a 2.95 GAA and .901 save percentage in 34 AHL contests last season.

The deal is worth $750,000 in the NHL and $350,000 in the AHL. Wolanin had one goal, one assist, five shots, 13 blocks and five hits in nine games with Buffalo and Los Angeles last season.

Miller was outstanding last season, finishing ninth in NHL scoring with 99 points, by far a career-year for the 29-year-old. Miller has one more season remaining on his current contract which will pay him $4.5 million with a cap hit of $5.25 million. The Canucks and Miller are not close on a new contract and it was thought that Vancouver would try and deal him, rather than losing him for nothing after the 2022-23 season. “Well, I didn’t get any calls today,” Canucks GM Patrik Allvin said. “Hey, he was our best player last year. I think (president of hockey operations) Jim [Rutherford] mentioned there has been teams kicking tires, checking in. It hasn’t gone much further than that. We’re really excited to have J.T. here for another year. I believe he’s excited and ready to come back, and who knows, anything could happen over the next couple of weeks, months, but we’re happy to have him back.” Stay tuned.

Di Giuseppe played the entire 2021-22 season with Abbotsford of the AHL where he had 12 goals and 24 assists in 42 games. He is a depth forward who will make $750,000 in the NHL and $475,000 in the minors.

Delia a 1-4-1 record for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2021-22 with a 3.85 goals-against average and .899 save percentage in eight appearances. He will provide the Canucks with a depth option in the crease.

Joshua has three goals and eight points in 30 contests with the St. Louis Blues last season. He also had nine goals and 20 points in 35 AHL contests. “We are so pleased to be able to sign a player with this type of upside,” said Canucks GM Patrik Allvin. “Dakota is a big body, has a heavy game, plays hard, and is a good skater. Ryan Johnson and Trent Cull were very impressed with his skillset when he played six games for the Utica Comets the year we shared our farm team with St Louis. Adding him to our roster will definitely make us a tougher team to play against.”