The Vancouver Canucks announced on Tuesday morning that the organization has placed Vitali Kravtsov on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination. Kravtsov, 25, signed a one-year, $775,000 two-way contract with the Canucks in early August this past offseason. He wanted to make a return to the NHL after scoring 27 goals and 31 assists for 58 points in 66 regular season games with the Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. The Vladivostok, Russia native finished sixth in league scoring, and his efforts helped his team finish first in the Eastern Conference with a 38-17-6 record. After that successful season, Kravtsov wanted to make his return to the NHL. The Canucks still held his rights after acquiring him from the New York Rangers in February of 2023, in a trade that sent William Lockwood and a 2026 seventh-round pick the other way. The Rangers drafted Kravtsov ninth overall in the 2018 NHL draft – two picks after the Canucks selected Quinn Hughes. He played one-and-a-half seasons in New York, sc
