The Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced on Friday afternoon that the club has traded defenceman Mark Friedman to the Nashville Predators in exchange for future considerations.
The Canucks first acquired Friedman at the beginning of the 2023-24 season in a trade that saw he and Ty Glover come to Vancouver in exchange for Jack Rathbone and Karel Plasek.
Friedman, 29, has spent most of his two years with the Canucks organization splitting time in Vancouver and Abbotsford.
Last season, Friedman tallied four points and a plus-5 rating through four games in Abbotsford. He then split time in Vancouver, suiting up in 23 regular season games, finding the scoresheet once, adding 21 penalty minutes and finishing with a plus-4 rating.
In the offseason, Friedman and the Canucks agreed to terms on a one-year, $775k contract extension. Friedman was named to the Canucks’ opening-day roster. However, he would get sent down to the AHL before playing his first game of the season.
With the Abbotsford Canucks, Friedman was a leader, playing in a top-pairing role on a blueline filled with young talent. He started hot, scoring one goal and three assists for four points through five games before taking a scary hit to the head. Friedman would miss the next month of action before returning. Shortly then after, he was called up to Vancouver.
The right-shot defenceman suited up in five games in the NHL. Friedman would go pointless with a minus-4 rating, averaging 14:04 minutes of ice time.
Friday’s have been a popular trade day in the NHL.
On January 24, the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall in a three-way trade that saw the Colorado Avalanche acquire Martin Necas and Jack Drury. On January 31, the Canucks traded JT Miller to the New York Rangers for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini and a first-round pick. Then, the Canucks flipped that New York Rangers first-round pick, along with Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais and Melvin Fernström, to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor.
Now, on February 7, the Canucks make another trade to send Friedman to the Predators.