The Vancouver Canucks are staying busy in the NHL offseason. With their sights fixed on a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the team in Vancity is making moves to its lineup. Now, a former first-round selection who played in Russia last season is back in town to join Elias Pettersson and company.
Sometimes going back to someone’s roots is just what a player needs to find his best game. That might’ve been the case for Vitali Kravtsov, who spent the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). After a strong production back in the Motherland, the former 9th overall selection by the New York Rangers in 2018 is retuning to Vancouver.
Kravtsov hasn’t been able to establish himself in the NHL. The former first-rounder played in 48 games with the Rangers, but tallied just 10 points. New York traded him to Vancouver in 2023, but his production wasn’t any better in British Columbia. The Canucks let him walk as a restricted free agent (RFA) that year, and the forward left for Russia.
Now, the 25-year-old is back in the NHL, fixated on redemption and making his presence felt in Vancouver. As reported by insider Cam Robinson, the Canucks signed Kravtsov to a one-year, two-way contract. Therefore, the Russian skater will have to prove his value in the AHL affiliate Abbotsford Canucks, in order to be called up to the big leagues.
Vitali Kravtsov #74 of the New York Rangers skates in warm-ups prior to the game against the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden on September 26, 2022 in New York City.
Long time no see
Upon returning to Rain City, Kravtsov will reunite with several familiar faces. Not just Pettersson and some of the players who were in Vancouver back in 2023. One curious reunion will be with former Rangers forward Filip Chytil, who played with Kravtsov in Manhattan.
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The last time Chytil and Kravtsov shared the ice was on February 10, 2023, when the New York Rangers clashed with the Seattle Kraken. The Broadway Blueshirts defeated the Kraken by a score of 6–3 on home ice. Needless to say, neither Chytil nor Kravtsov could have imagined the paths they would take afterward—or that they would meet again in Vancouver years later.
Address the faceoff dot
“I do think [the Canucks] number one priority is to bring in another player that can play the middle of the ice,” Cam Robinson stated on the Sekeres and Price podcast.
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Kravtsov’s return to the organization could be a big addition for Pettersson and company, but it leaves the lineup’s main concern unaddressed. On that note, UFA Jack Roslovic is still the main target for the Canucks in the NHL offseason.
