Lukas Reichel was traded to the Vancouver Canucks by the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday for a fourth-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
The 23-year-old forward has four points (two goals, two assists) in five games for the Blackhawks (4-2-2) this season. He had three points (two goals, one assist) in an 8-3 win at the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 15.
"I was fortunate to see him playing in Berlin his draft year. I appreciated his competitiveness, his skillset and his ability to skate," Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said. "Over the time, you've been waiting to see if this guy would be able to take it to the next level and establish himself as an NHL player. It's been for most of the young players a little bit of an up and down until you establish yourself, but you can see that speed in his game.
"We definitely believe that he has the ability to [play center] here and we'll definitely give it a try here. It's our job as an organization and with our coaches and the development staff that we have, it's our job to help him take his job to the next level. What intrigues us is the speed coming through the neutral zone and his skill level there. Those are the things that make us excited about him, and he's still young, so I believe there is more to come."
Reichel was one of six players selected for Germany's preliminary roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, along with forwards Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Nico Sturm of the Minnesota Wild and Tim Stutzle of the Ottawa Senators, defenseman Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings, and goalie Philipp Grubauer of the Seattle Kraken.
Selected by Chicago with the No. 17 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Reichel has 58 points (22 goals, 36 assists) in 174 NHL games with the Blackhawks.
"Even in the summer this was a player that we talked about, potentially tracking him to see if he didn't find his level in Chicago, could it be a change-of-scenery type of player," Allvin said. "Obviously, talked to (Canucks assistant and former Blackhawks assistant) Kevin Dean here since he got hired on some of the players that potentially could be available, and we continued to talk about Lukas and what Kevin had to say about him, and, obviously, he liked him as a person and character, too. So, we're excited to get him in here and continue to work with him."
When discussing Reichel, Allvin also mentioned that the Canucks (4-4-0) would be without forwards Teddy Blueger, Filip Chytil and Jonathan Lekkerimaki for some time. Blueger, who was placed on injured reserve on Friday, would be out "more toward two weeks" with an undisclosed injury, while Lekkerimaki will be out "two to three weeks" with an undisclosed injury. Chytil is in concussion protocol but has been making "some encouraging progress."
Each forward was injured in a 4-3 win against the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
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