Canucks about to lose one of their prospect's rights

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Cooper Godin
May 30, 2024 (5:00 PM)

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Every year, June 1st has been an essential date for teams around the National Hockey League regarding signing drafted prospects to entry-level contracts.

After a few years, if these drafted prospects go unsigned, the team that selected them loses their exclusive signing rights, making the player an unrestricted free agent. That could be the case with one Vancouver Canucks prospect on Saturday afternoon.

In a post on social media, CapFriendly shared their list of prospects that will become free agents at2 pm. PT5 pm. ET on June 1st if they're not signed by the team that drafted them. On their list is Vancouver Canucks prospect Viktor Persson, who the team selected in the seventh round, 191st overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

"The unofficial start to the off-season calendar has always been the June 1, Must Sign By date.

Below is this year's list of players that must be signed to an ELC by 5 pm ET on Saturday, June 1; otherwise, the team will lose their exclusive signing rights."

Persson, 22, came over to North America for the 2021-22 season, playing in the Western Hockey League for the Kamloops Blazers. This decision brought him a lot closer to Canucks, allowing staff to view him in person and see how he's developing.

However, after the season, he decided to go back overseas and signed with Pelicans in Finland's top division, Liiga, for the 2022-23 campaign. In January 2023, Persson suffered a shoulder injury that shut him down for the remainder of the season, and he hasn't played since. He missed the entire 2023-24 campaign despite signing with Pelicans for an additional year.

The odds of Patrik Allvin and the Canucks signing Viktor Persson are very slim, and he'll become an unrestricted free agent here in North America on Saturday at2 pm. PT5 pm. ET.