Returning? Former Canucks Defensive Prospect Made Available to Vancouver For Free

The 2025-26 season is right around the corner and Friday marked the second day that teams around the National Hockey League could place players on the waiver wire in order to be assigned to the American Hockey League.

On Thursday, we saw a handful of names, most notably goaltender Connor Ingram and it's only going to get busier over the next couple of weeks, with Friday's wire including a former Vancouver Canucks prospect who left the club as a free agent back in early July.

In a social media post on Friday, TSN hockey insider Chris Johnston shared that a total of eight players were placed on the waiver wire on by their respective teams with the most notable names being Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Ivan Fedotov, who they recently acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers, as well a pair of former first round picks - Liam Foudy and Julien Gauthier.

Also landing on waivers on Friday was former Vancouver Canucks defenseman Cole McWard, who was not issued a qualifying offer by the club this summer became an unrestricted free agent on Canada Day, and inked a one-year, two-way contract with the New York Islanders.

McWard, 24, joined the Vancouver Canucks organization as an undrafted free agent out of college in the spring of 2023 after two years with Ohio State University and went on to suit up in five NHL games before the 2022-23 campaign concluded, scoring his first goal in his second career game.

The Fenton, Missouri native would make one more appearance in the NHL with Vancouver during the 2023-24 campaign, spending the majority of his last two seasons in the organization with AHL Abbotsford, helping them win a Calder Cup championship back in June.

If McWard clears waivers on Saturday, which is widely expected, he'll then be assigned to the American Hockey League's Bridgeport Islanders ahead of the opening of their training camp later next week.