The Vancouver Canucks have enhanced their ahead depth by buying 23-year-old German winger Lukas Reichel from the Chicago Blackhawks in change for a 2027 fourth-round draft choose on Friday. Vancouver Common Supervisor Patrik Allvin formally confirmed the transfer.
The choose initially belonged to Chicago and was beforehand acquired by the Canucks in June 2024 as a part of the Ilya Mikheyev commerce. The transfer comes amid accidents to the Vancouver ahead corps, together with the latest placement of middle Teddy Blueger on injured reserve.
Reichel, a 6-foot, 170-pound ahead, was initially chosen seventeenth total by the Blackhawks within the 2020 NHL Draft. He has stacked up 58 factors (22 objectives, 36 assists) and 32 penalty minutes throughout 174 NHL video games, all with Chicago. This season, Reichel has recorded 4 factors (two objectives, two assists) in 5 video games, rating tied for sixth in group scoring.
He additionally holds a powerful AHL monitor file, with 116 factors (42 objectives, 74 assists) in 121 video games for the Rockford IceHogs, incomes a variety to the 2023 AHL All-Star Sport. Internationally, Reichel has represented Germany in a number of competitions, together with the 2020 World Junior Championships and the 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025 World Championships.
Seen as a gravitational middle within the Blackhawks’ rebuild plans alongside Connor Bedard, Reichel’s tenure in Chicago failed to satisfy preliminary expectations. After a promising begin in 2022-23, when he scored seven objectives and eight assists in 23 video games, Reichel struggled to take care of offensive manufacturing. Prior to now two seasons, he totaled simply 13 objectives whereas getting used largely in a bottom-six function.
The Blackhawks experimented with Reichel at each wing and middle, however he did not safe a constant top-six function, ending final season with an 8-14–22 line and a faceoff win charge below 40%. These elements finally led Chicago to make him out there for commerce. The transfer additionally frees up roster house for the Blackhawks, giving youthful prospects like Ryan Greene a greater alternative to safe NHL enjoying time.
For the Canucks, Reichel presents a versatile offensive choice who can play all three ahead positions. With the absence of Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger, Vancouver is prone to make the most of him in a top-six or second-line function, doubtlessly centering between veterans Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser. Reichel is within the again half of a two-year, $2.4 million contract, carrying a $1.2 million cap hit, giving the Canucks low-risk flexibility.
Whereas Reichel’s earlier expertise contains challenges in consistency and defensive play, his velocity, skating capacity, and offensive creativity provide Vancouver an opportunity to handle its fast ahead depth points.