The Vancouver Canucks announced on Friday night that they have traded forward Daniel Sprong to the Seattle Kraken for future considerations. He was signed as a free agent late in the offseason to a one-year $975,000 contract to add more depth scoring to the lineup.
General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that F Daniel Sprong has been traded to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for future considerations. pic.twitter.com/EpI5HhB7W5
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 9, 2024
There were concerns with Sprong’s defensive game when he was signed, but head coach Rick Tocchet said that he and the coaching staff would work with him to address those issues. He started the season on the second line with Elias Pettersson and Nils Hoglander, but quickly fell to the fourth line and then was banished to the press box as a healthy scratch. When he did return to the lineup, he was back to seeing limited minutes on the fourth line.
Sprong finishes his brief Canucks tenure with only one goal and three assists in nine games, averaging 11:39 of ice time. His season-high was 15:19 against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 30 and recently saw only 9:32 against the Los Angeles Kings in a game where the Canucks were missing Brock Boeser for the majority of it. You would think as an offensive player, he would get more ice time with one of their top scorers out. But he didn’t. Clearly, he wasn’t trusted by the coaches to play a regular shift, and will now return to Seattle where he had a career-high 21 goals and 46 points in 2022-23.
The move may be a surprising one, but with Dakota Joshua returning soon and Jonathan Lekkerimaki looking like he could be ready for the NHL, something had to give with the roster. Sprong was the odd man out, probably because of his one-dimensional game. The Canucks will see him back in a Kraken jersey on Dec. 28 when they face Seattle in a matinee affair at Rogers Arena.
