The Vancouver Canucks have decided to make defenceman Erik Brännström a healthy scratch for Tuesday night’s contest against the St. Louis Blues.

CanucksArmy’s Irfaan Gaffar first made the report on X/Twitter:

The Canucks acquired Brännström earlier in the offseason in a trade that sent Tucker Poolman (and his $2.5 million long-term injured reserve money) along with a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche.

The 25-year-old defenceman started his Canucks tenure down in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks. His time there was short-lived as he tallied three assists in two games, quickly earning a call-up to Vancouver.

Since getting the call-up, Brännström has played in all 23 games, scoring three goals and four assists for seven points with six penalty minutes and an even rating in 14:57 minutes of average ice time. The former first-round pick had a stretch of four games where he scored two goals and four points but has since struggled to find the scoresheet. In the following nine games since then, he’s tallied just one goal and has a minus-three rating.

It is expected that Mark Friedman will make his season debut for the Canucks in Brännström’s place.

Friedman has played just eight games for Abbotsford this season due to sustaining a head injury on a scary hit. Before his injury, he scored one goal and three assists for four points with a plus-five rating. The club recalled him on November 29th, but he has yet to suit up in a game. Last season in Vancouver, Friedman played 23 games, registering one assist and a plus-four rating in 12:14 minutes of average ice time.

Derek Forbort has been out since sustaining November 2nd after sustaining a lower-body injury in practice. However, he was seen this morning skating on a pair with Brännström. Forbort is considered a game-time decision for tonight’s game, per Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet.

We will know more about defensive pairings closer to game time, but the Canucks will take on the Blues without Brännström tonight.