Canucks bring back Kravtsov on 1-year contract
The Vancouver Canucks signed forward Vitali Kravtsov to a one-year, two-way contract, the team announced Tuesday.
The deal is worth the league minimum $775,000 in the NHL and $450,000 in the AHL, reports CHEK News' Rick Dhaliwal.
Kravtsov tallied 27 goals and 58 points in 66 KHL games last season with Traktor Chelyabinsk. The 25-year-old finished sixth in league scoring and ninth in goals. Kravtsov ranked second on Traktor in points behind Maxim Shabanov, who signed with the New York Islanders as a free agent in July.
The Canucks owned Kravtsov's signing rights, as Vancouver extended him a qualifying offer before he returned to the KHL in 2023. The team acquired Kravtsov from the New York Rangers the same year for William Lockwood and a 2026 seventh-round pick.
The Rangers drafted Kravtsov ninth overall in 2018, but he has struggled to break through in North America. He last played in the NHL in 2022-23, notching four goals and eight points in 44 games split between New York and Vancouver. He's managed just six goals and 12 points in 64 NHL contests over two seasons.
The 6-foot-2 winger will be a restricted free agent next summer.