Vancouver Canucks defenceman Erik Brannstrom has cleared waivers and will now report to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks.

The Canucks acquired Brannstrom from the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, sending Tucker Poolman and a fourth round pick back to the Avalanche. The trade enables Vancouver to accrue cap space by staying out of LTIR, as Poolman’s $2.5 million cap hit was going to make that very difficult for them to accomplish.

Poolman was signed to a four-year contract worth $2.5 million annually during the 2021 offseason. He played just 40 games with the Canucks in his first season before departing with concussion-like symptoms. He attempted to comeback the season after, appearing in three games before going down with the same issues. He spent the entirety of last season on LTIR, and projects to do the same this season as well.

Brannstrom signed with the Avalanche this past offseason. Once a top prospect and a pivotal piece in the trade between Vegas and Ottawa that saw the Golden Knights acquire Mark Stone, Brannstrom has struggled to find consistent success at the NHL level to this point in his career. Brannstrom, who just turned 25 a month ago, spent the past two seasons with the Ottawa Senators, tallying 20 points last season and 18 points the year prior.

Brannstrom now joins what can only be described as a crowded Abbotsford Canucks blue line that features Christian Wolanin, Akito Hirose, Guillaume Brisebois, and prospects Elias Pettersson and Kirill Kudryavtsev all on the left side. Competition in Abby should be fierce, and it will be interesting to see how first year head coach Manny Malhotra configures his blue line.

The Canucks also claimed goaltender Jiri Patera back from the Boston Bruins, and because they were the only team to do so, Patera can now report right to the AHL without needing to clear waivers again. Read more about that situation by clicking here.