Canucks: Could the team be without Brogan Rafferty next year?

The Vancouver Canucks might be without one of their better prospects next year.

On Tuesday afternoon, Craig Button joined Rick Dhaliwal and Don Taylor on “The Donnie and Dhali Show” to discuss defenceman Brogan Rafferty.

The 26-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and, according to Dhaliwal, isn’t interested in returning to Vancouver.

Rafferty initially signed with the Canucks after playing three years of college hockey in the NCAA with Quinnipiac University. During his time in Connecticut, Rafferty registered 10 goals and 55 assists in 116 games before inking a one-year entry-level deal with the Canucks in April 2019. He would go on to play his first two NHL games later that month, recording zero points while registering three shots, one takeaway and an average TOI of 13:21.

Because his first deal was signed towards the end of the 2018-19 season, Rafferty later re-upped with the team on a two-year, two-way contract in July 2019. According to Button, Rafferty was promised a lot of opportunity from the Canucks organization, something they failed to deliver on for the past two seasons.

Button and Dhaliwal went on to discuss Rafferty’s dominance in the American Hockey League during the 2019-20 season, and how he appeared ready for a promotion to the NHL.

Rafferty put up seven goals and 38 assists in 57 games with the Utica Comets, and was named to the All-Star team for the first time in his career. Rafferty finished the season fifth in team scoring, and third amongst all AHL defencemen, only three points behind Carolina Hurricanes’ prospect Jake Bean.

A smooth-skating blueliner with strong hockey IQ and good positioning, most people believed Rafferty could eventually slide into a bottom-pairing defensive role with the Canucks, while being able to refine his speed and physicality. Unfortunately, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rafferty found himself in a less-than-ideal situation heading into the 2020-21 campaign.

Rafferty stood out during training camp, showcasing his creative passing and play-making abilities, but wasn’t able to secure a roster spot and ultimately found himself on the taxi squad for opening night.

Fortunately, Rafferty was able to slot into the line-up early on in the season, recording one assist in just under 14 minutes against the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately, this was short-lived, as Rafferty found himself back on the practice squad the next day. He would stay in that role for the next seven weeks, only hitting the ice during practice. He was eventually loaned to the Manitoba Moose.

Rafferty wasn’t the only prospect who was caught between a rock and a hard place this year.

Netminder Michael DiPietro also found himself stuck on the taxi squad for most of the season, serving as the team’s third goalie instead of playing games and developing in the AHL. He was eventually reassigned to Utica at the end of April, suiting up for four contests while posting a record of 3-1-0. Before that, DiPietro hadn’t played in a game since March 2020.

Again, not exactly ideal circumstances for either of the team’s two brightest prospects.

Button, who currently holds the role of TSN’s Director of Scouting, ended off the segment by posing a question that has likely been on the minds of most Canucks’ fans for the past two years – why were the Canucks so reluctant to give Rafferty an opportunity?

Of course, there are a lot of factors to consider when trying to answer this question.

Some of these were out of the organization’s control, namely the executive decisions and subsequent repercussions of the global pandemic that affected every club in the league. Other factors, however, could’ve been avoidable, and mainly stem back to the poor ongoing asset management, as well as the numerous and questionable transactions regarding the team’s current crop of roster defencemen over the past few years.

Whatever the answer may be, and however management actually led themselves to be in this situation, the Canucks ultimately dropped the ball when it came to developing this right-handed defensive prospect. And because of that, there’s a very realistic possibility that another NHL team may benefit from Rafferty’s services next year.

What are your thoughts on Rafferty’s time in Vancouver so far? Let us know in the comments!