WATCH: Canucks recognize Eriksson, Roussel in return to Rogers Arena

Former Vancouver Canucks forwards @Loui Eriksson and @Antoine Roussel made their returns to Rogers Arena on Tuesday as members of the visiting Arizona Coyotes.

The Canucks traded Eriksson and Roussel to the Coyotes in July 2021 as part of the deal which sent @Oliver Ekman-Larsson and @Conor Garland to Vancouver. Both Eriksson and Roussel are in the final years of the pricey long-term unrestricted free-agent deals they signed with the Canucks under Jim Benning’s managerial tenure.

Roussel, 32, has three goals and five points in 37 games with the Coyotes this season. He signed a four-year, $12 million contract with the Canucks back in 2018 that he initially managed to live up to before being hampered by injuries in years two and three.

Eriksson, 36, has one goal and nine points in 36 games this season. His six-year, $36 million contract with Vancouver looked like a miss from the first game he played in blue and green and he managed just 90 points in 252 games over parts of five seasons with the team.

When the two former Canucks were acknowledged on the Rogers Arena jumbotron during the first period of Tuesday’s game, one of them received a decidedly stronger reaction than the other.

Fellow Canucks forward @Jay Beagle and three draft picks also became Arizona property in the trade. Beagle may never play another game in Rogers Arena due to a lower-body injury that could keep him out through the remainder of the 2021–22 season (the final year of his contract).

The Coyotes and Canucks remain tied at zeroes through one period of play.