Former Vancouver Canucks Around The World: NHL Metropolitan Division

Former members of the Vancouver Canucks will take the spotlight in this off-season article series. From those skating with new NHL teams heading into the 2026–27 season to those who are now playing for international clubs, these featured players have skated in at least one game at the NHL level as a member of the Canucks.

Today’s segment will take a look at the 11 former Canucks that are set to compete for teams in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division during the 2026–27 season.

Jalen Chatfield, Carolina Hurricanes

While Chatfiled may have only played in 18 games with Vancouver, the defenceman was part of the Canucks organization for much longer than that. Prior to making the jump to the NHL with Vancouver, Chatfield playaed for the Canucks’ then-AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, from 2017–18 to 2019–20. After his 18 games with Vancouver in 2020–21, he signed with the Hurricanes in free-agency.

After five seasons with the Hurricanes, Chatfield became a Stanley Cup champion in 2025–26, winning the trophy alongside Carolina after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in six games during the Stanley Cup Final. The defenceman had a goal and seven assists in 19 post-season games. He’ll enter the final season of a three-year contract with the Hurricanes come the start of 2026–27.

Conor Garland, Columbus Blue Jackets

As a Canuck, Garland quickly made a name for himself as a hustling, no-quit player who put effort into every shift that he played in. He set a new career-high in points in his first season with the Canucks in 2021–22, scoring 19 goals and 33 assists in 77 games. In every near full-season he played for Vancouver in, he consistently registered season point-totals of above 45.

Though he signed a six-year contract extension with Vancouver during the 2025 off-season, he was traded ahead of the 2026 Trade Deadline and now plays for the Blue Jackets. In his first 21 games with Columbus, he scored five goals and two assists. Four of these goals came within his first three games with his new team.

Danton Heinen, Columbus Blue Jackets

Vancouver acquired Heinen by signing him to a two-year contract during the 2024 free-agency period. The forward only ended up skating in 51 games for the Canucks though, scoring six goals and 12 assists, before he was shipped back to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a trade package for defenceman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor.

Heinen was traded once again in 2025, this time being sent to Columbus along with two picks in exchange for Egor Chinakov. The forward skated in 33 games with the Blue Jackets in 2025–26, putting up five goals and five assists. Columbus signed him to a one-year, $1M extension during the off-season.

Erik Gudbranson, Columbus Blue Jackets

A veteran defenceman who spent three seasons with the Canucks, Gudbranson came to Vancouver via trade with the Florida Panthers. In his first year with Vancouver, 2016–17, he averaged a near career-high of 20:20 minutes per game, but saw his ice time drop slowly in the following seasons. He was traded to the Penguins in 2019 in exchange for Tanner Pearson.

After stints with the Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, Ottawa Senators, Nashville Predators, and Calgary Flames, Gubranson seems to have found a fit in Columbus, having spent the past four seasons with the Blue Jackets and re-upping with the team with a one-year extension. In 2025–26, he scored a goal and two assists in 37 games but missed most of the season due to various injuries.

Bo Horvat, New York Islanders

The captain of the Canucks for four of the nine seasons he spent with the team, Horvat quickly established himself as a leader as his time with Vancouver went on. The forward put up his first 20-goal season with Vancouver in 2016–17, registering his first 30-goal year in 2021–22. After 621 games with the Canucks, Horvat was traded to the Islanders in January of 2023.

After being acquired by New York, Horvat signed an eight-year contract that enters its fourth year at the start of the 2026–27 season. Though injuries slightly derailed his season, Horvat notched the fourth 30-goal season of his NHL career in 2025–26, putting up 31 goals and 26 assists in 68 games. He was also named to Canada’s 2026 Winter Olympic team.

Mar 3, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing J.T. Miller (8) controls the puck against New York Islanders center Bo Horvat (14) during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

J.T. Miller, New York Rangers

Miller was acquired via draft-day trade in 2019, with the forward immediately setting a then career-high (72 points) in his first year with the Canucks in 2019–20. He continued to follow these efforts up with more career-highs in 2021–22 (99 points) and 2023–24 (103 points), before he was traded to the team that drafted him, the Rangers, in January of 2025.

Miller, who’d spent six seasons with New York in his first stint with the team, was named the captain of the Rangers at the beginning of the 2025–26 season. He scored 17 goals and 36 assists in 68 games with New York and also won a Gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Including the 2026–27 season, Miller has four more years remaining on the seven-year contract he initially signed with Vancouver.

Marcus Pettersson, New York Rangers

Part of one of the most notable days in recent Canucks history, Pettersson was acquired in the second trade made by Vancouver on January 31, 2025. The defenceman was signed to a six-year contract extension only a couple of games after that, though he only ended up playing in one of them for Vancouver before being flipped to the Rangers for a 2030 first-round pick.

In his first and only full-season with the Canucks, Pettersson was one of only three players to skate in all 82 games for Vancouver. He put up three goals and 15 assists but struggled defensively at times. Pettersson still has five years remaining in his $5.5M AAV deal.

Andrei Kuzmenko, Pittsburgh Penguins

A former near 40-goal scorer for the Canucks, Kuzmenko was a highly sought-out free-agent when Vancouver first signed him in July of 2022. He put together an impressive 74-point campaign in his first NHL season in 2021–22 but quickly saw his play drop-off after. Kuzmenko was packaged up and sent to the Flames in the Elias Lindholm deal in 2023–24.

Since his time with the Canucks, Kuzmenko hasn’t quite hit that same offensive gear that he found in his first NHL season. He spent the 2025–26 season with the Los Angeles Kings, scoring 13 goals and 12 assists in 52 games. The forward missed a good chunk of the end of the regular season recovering from surgery for a torn meniscus, slotting in to play in one game during the Kings’ post-season run. He has since signed a one-year, $5M deal with the Penguins.

Artūrs Šilovs, Pittsburgh Penguins

Šilovs has had some of the most memorable moments in his career throughout the past few seasons, ranging from helping Latvia to their first medal at the IIHF World Championships in 2023, to being named MVP of the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs with Abbotsford. He made a name for himself in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs by backstopping Vancouver to Game 7 of the second-round after injuries to both Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith.

Traded to the Penguins during the 2025 off-season, Šilovs continued his stretch of notable play in pressure-filled situations by winning two of his three starts in Pittsburgh’s first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2026. He registered a SV% of .900 or higher in all three games, including allowing only one goal in the eventual series-clincher for the Flyers. With Stuart Skinner departing in free-agency, it appears Šilovs could take the role of starting goaltender for Pittsburgh.

Anthony Beauvillier, Washington Capitals

One of three pieces acquired in the Horvat trade, Beauvillier spent a total of 55 games with the Canucks split over 2022–23 and 2023–24. He put together 11 goals and 17 assists during this span of time. In November of 2023, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for a conditional fifth-round pick in 2024.

A couple more trades resulted in Beauvillier finding his way to Washington, with whom he signed a two-year contract extension with in 2025. He played in all 82 games for the Capitals in his first full season with the team, doing so for the first time in his NHL career, and scoring 15 goals and 13 assists.

Vincent Desharnais, Washington Capitals

Signed and traded by the Canucks within the span of less than a season, Desharnais skated in 34 games in his time with Vancouver, recording three assists. He was traded to the Penguins as part of the Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor deal, finding himself on the move a month later after also being traded from Pittsburgh to the San Jose Sharks.

Desharnais stuck with the Sharks for the 2025–26 season, playing in 53 games and logging a career-high average of 18:11 minutes played per game. He also put together a goal and six assists in this span. Notably, he signed a four-year, $4.2M AAV contract with the Capitals during the 2026 free-agency period.

Make sure you bookmark THN’s Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don’t forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site:

Vancouver Canucks 2026–27 Player Preview: Elias Pettersson (D)

How Much It Will Cost Canucks Fans To Attend A Game At Rogers Arena During The 2026–27 Season

Vancouver Canucks 2026–27 Player Preview: Marco Rossi

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.