Report: Vancouver Canucks among teams showing interest in UFA forward Miles Wood

The Vancouver Canucks are among the teams interested in the services of New Jersey Devils pending unrestricted free agent forward Miles Wood, Vancouver hockey insider Rick Dhaliwal reported Wednesday.

Wood, 27, is the Devils’ longest-tenured player. The six-foot-two left wing racked up 13 goals and 27 points in 76 games with the Devils during the 2022–23 regular season; he added two goals in eight games during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“The Canucks are one of many teams showing interest in UFA forward Miles Wood,” Dhaliwal said on Wednesday’s episode of Donnie & Dhali – The Team on CHEK TV. “He’s 27, six-foot-two, 195, left winger. 13 goals last year in New Jersey, 76 penalty minutes.

“Grit, energy, he can play higher up in the lineup. Wood is really, really hard to play against,” Dhaliwal continued. “Bottom line, that’s why they’re after him.”

The Devils originally selected Wood in the fourth round (No. 100 overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft. The Buffalo, N.Y. product made his NHL debut with the Devils in the 2015–16 season and scored a career-high 19 goals and 32 points two seasons later to help the Devils make a surprise appearance in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Wood missed all but three games of the 2021–22 season after undergoing right hip surgery, but he returned to the Devils in 2022–23 and put together another solid season in a bottom-six role. He averaged a career-low 12:06 of ice time in 76 games with the Devils last year.

The Devils had signed Wood to a one-year, $3.2 million contract for the 2022–23 season after he had filed for arbitration as a restricted free agent. Now set to become a UFA on July 1, Wood will likely cost less on a per-year basis but could negotiate a deal with more term.

Through 402 career games over parts of eight regular seasons with the Devils, Wood has amassed 78 goals and 148 points. He’s added two goals in 13 career playoff contests.