The Vancouver Canucks have called up Linus Karlsson and Phil Di Giuseppe from AHL Abbotsford ahead of their two game road trip. In a corresponding move, the club sent defenceman Mark Friedman and goaltender Arturs Silovs down to the minors. General manager Patrik Allvin made the announcement on Tuesday morning.
General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that D Mark Friedman and G Artūrs Šilovs have been assigned to Abbotsford (AHL). F Linus Karlsson and F Di Giuseppe have been recalled from Abbotsford.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 17, 2024
On the heels of their 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night, the Canucks have a travel day on Tuesday ahead of their back-to-back games against the Utah Hockey Club and Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Di Giuseppe has appeared in just four games with the Abbotsford Canucks this season after suffering an injury early in the year. A “Rick Tocchet player” through and through, Di Giuseppe played in 51 NHL games last season, tallying five gaols and five assists. With all the additions the Canucks made to their forward corps this past offseason, Di Giuseppe found himself on waivers out of training camp, and likely would have been up with the big club sooner this season, had he been healthy. Expect him to get a look in the Canucks’ lineup on this road trip.
Similarly, Linus Karlsson has appeared in just seven AHL games this season after dealing with injuries. Karlsson, 25, appeared in four regular season games with the Canucks last season and two playoff games as well. In those six games, he has yet to record a point; but managed to put up 60 points in 60 AHL games last season. The Canucks have used him as a top six option in the past — particularly next to Elias Pettersson — so it will be interesting to see if he gets into any games on this two-game road trip.
Going back to Abbotsford, Arturs Silovs’ demotion shows that Kevin Lankinen is feeling well enough to return, as he was out with the flu bug that’s made its way through the Canucks’ locker room in recent days. Silovs was up on an emergency recall, with Thatcher Demko starting both of the Canucks’ last two games. Mark Friedman got into three games after being recalled by the Canucks on November 28th, but with Derek Forbort, Vinny Desharnais, and Erik Brännström all available, the Canucks chose to bring in some more reinforcements at forward rather than on defence.
After their two-game road trip, the Canucks will return home to take on the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
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