The Vancouver Canucks have many players likely departing via free agents this season, including 2014-15’s leading scorer Radim Vrbata and long-time veteran top-four defenseman Dan Hamhuis. Needless to say, the Matt Bartkowski experiment yielded mixed results and the Yannick Weber experiment failed to meet expectations.
The 2015-16 season was highlighted by younger players taking over veterans’ roles. The result was the AHL demotion of veteran wingers Chris Higgins and Brandon Prust. Both cleared waivers and both stayed put in Utica as GM Jim Benning failed — or refused to — pull the trigger on any trades this past Trade Deadline.