Nikita Tryamkin’s agent expects “tremendous demand” in ex-Canuck’s NHL return

Todd Diamond, the agent for Nikita Tryamkin, expects “tremendous demand” for his client this offseason as Tryamkin gets set to make his NHL return.

“There will be tremendous demand for Nikita,” Diamond told Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali — The Team. “Nikita has turned down a contract extension from his KHL Club. He is currently focused on the KHL season, then we will turn our focus to the NHL. Vancouver’s exclusivity is no longer a factor.”

The Canucks drafted Tryamkin in the third round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. After 79 NHL games with the Canucks, Tryamkin chose to return to Russia to play for his home club of Yekaterinburg Automobilist in the KHL.

Not to editorialize too much, but we wouldn’t lose sleep over this one if you’re a Canucks fan. We warned against the idea of the Canucks reuniting with the towering blueliner when talks picked up between the two sides two years ago when the club still had his NHL rights. This, of course, was before Tryamkin signed a two-year deal to stay in the KHL, which expires at the end of this season.

When the Canucks chose not to sign Tryamkin at that time due to a reported disagreement over an appropriate salary for the returning blue liner, we felt that the Canucks had dodged a bullet by not committing to an NHL contract with Tryamkin.

And in the two years since, the now 28-year-old defenceman hasn’t done much to change our minds.

But hey, if there indeed is “tremendous demand” and an NHL team signs him and makes good on their investment, good for Tryamkin!

Through 79 NHL games, Tryamkin recorded three goals and eight assists while racking up 74 penalty minutes.