Photo credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
A pair of former Vancouver Canucks have been placed on the National Hockey League’s waiver wire on Sunday as the holiday roster freeze comes to a close.
The National Hockey League’s holiday roster freeze concluded at midnight ET, with teams free to make trades, signings, waiver placements, along with being able to call up and send down players to & from the American Hockey League.
With another roster freeze set to come into effect in February during the NHL’s Olympic break, the next month is going to be quite busy as teams prepare for the trade deadline in March, and for the Vancouver Canucks, who have utilized the waiver wire on a few occasions throughout December, General Manager Patrik Allvin has the chance to bring back a pair of former players to the club on Monday morning.
Pair of former Vancouver Canucks placed on NHL’s waiver wire
The National Hockey League’s waiver wire was very active on the first day after the holiday roster freeze, with a total of six players being put on it by their respective clubs, one of which – David Tomasek (Edmonton Oilers), for the purpose of contract termination as he’s reportedly heading back to Europe to play in the Swedish Hockey League.
On Sunday morning, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they’ve placed former Vancouver Canucks forward Danton Heinen on waivers after activating Blake Lizotte off injured reserve (IR).
“Forward Blake Lizotte has been activated from Injured Reserve.
Forward Danton Heinen will be placed on waivers at 2:00 PM ET and designated non-roster.” the Penguins said.
In 41 games since joining the Pittsburgh Penguins, Heinen has 13 points (four goals, nine assists), eight penalty minutes and is a plus-four.
Meanwhile, the New York Islanders have placed former Vancouver Canucks defenseman Ethan Bear on waivers according to Stefan Rosner of NHL.com.
Bear, who signed with the New York Islanders back on Canada Day, has yet to play at all during the 2025-26 campaign due to a suspected wrist injury that saw him land on Season Opening IR (SOIR) in October.”The #Isles have placed Ethan Bear on waivers.
He opened the season on Season Opening IR with what looked to be a wrist injury. Must clear waivers.
Was told a few weeks ago that he was two weeks away from returning so that checks.” Rosner said.
The Regina, Saskatchewan native spent the entire 2024-25 season in the American Hockey League with the Hershey Bears where he registered an impressive 46 points (ten goals, 36 assists) in 62 games.
By virtue of sitting dead-last in the National Hockey League’s overall standings, the Vancouver Canucks get the first crack at placing a waiver claim on anyone today, including Danton Heinen & Ethan Bear, however it would be pretty surprising if Patrik Allvin were to attempt to bring back either player.
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily