Minor news: Tyler Motte traded back to Rangers, Canucks sign Bednard to PTO

What do you do when there’s not enough league-wide news to warrant an Around the League column, plus there’s a minor Canucks signing that fans still certainly want and deserve to know about? Simple! You dust off the minor news headline! From what I can see, the last time we did one of these was in 2021, with Jayce Hawryluk heading to the SHL coming as our number one story. Good times.

But today, we’re bringing it back, because we’ve got some certified minor news!

Did you have to do a double-take when you read that? You’re not alone. You may have found yourself hoping that the Canucks somehow convinced the league to let Connor Bedard skip the draft process altogether because he just became the third player in CHL history to score 100 points in back-to-back seasons before turning 18. Bedard joins Sidney Crosby and John Tavares on that list, but the Canucks will have to keep losing games and wait and see like the rest of us if what feels like fate for so many in this city actually comes to fruition.

Instead, the news today is that the Canucks have signed goaltender Ryan Bednard to a PTO.

The 25-year-old Bednard has spent this season in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers and more recently, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Bednard currently ranks tied for second among ECHL goaltenders this season in wins with 20 while ranking tied for seventh in save percentage with a .921 to his name.

After being drafted by the Florida Panthers in the seventh round at 205th overall during the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the 6’5, 207-pound goaltender is currently playing in his fifth professional season. He has 11 AHL games under his belt, posting a 5-5-0 record with one shutout, a .900 save percentage and a 3.23 goals-against average.

With Arturs Silovs currently picking up starts at the NHL level and Thatcher Demko slated to travel with the Canucks on their upcoming road trip, the Canucks have been acquiring AHL backup goaltenders like they’re free candy lately. Rylan Parenteau was signed to a PTO on February 8th, and he’s yet to play a game. Jake Kupsky was signed back at the start of December to serve as Silovs’ backup while Collin Delia went up to the big club.

Kupsky was injured after while backchecking, Vasily Podkolzin went down hard into his goaltender during the Canucks’ game on February 3rd and has yet to return to action.

Tyler Motte is heading back to the New York Rangers, the same team the Canucks dealt him away to at last year’s trade deadline in exchange for a fourth round pick.

The Senators sat Motte out from their game against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday for trade-related reasons, and just shortly after, the deal was done.

The Rangers sent Julien Gauthier and a 2023 conditional seventh-round pick to Ottawa in return. Per the Sens, the condition on the pick is: “should the Rangers advance past the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the pick will improve to the lower of the Rangers’ or the Winnipeg Jets 2023 sixth-round selection.”

Motte has three goals and six assists through 38 games with the Senators so far this season.