Vancouver Canucks Organization Completes Trade Featuring Former NCAA Blue-Liner With No Clear Direction Yet

It's been a rough season for both of Vancouver's minor league affiliates as the American Hockey League's Abbotsford Canucks and ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings sit at the bottom of their respective Western Conferences early on in the 2025-26 campaign.

The two affiliates have combined for just seven wins in 30 games in 2025-26 thus far and for Kalamazoo, they're trying to doing everything possible to avoid missing out on the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in the last five seasons, leading the club to search for external help.

Last week, Kalamazoo announced the signing of forward Noah Kane, cousin of future Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Kane, and have also completed a trade involving a former NCAA defenseman.

In a press release on Friday, the Orlando Solar Bears announced that they've acquired former NCAA defenseman Ryan Dickinson from the Kalamazoo Wings in exchange for future considerations.

Dickinson, a native of Brighton, Michigan, joined the Vancouver Canucks organization in a trade with the Worcester Railers just two days before the 2025-26 campaign began and went on to suit up in six games for the Kalamazoo Wings where he went point-less with no penalty minutes and was a minus-five.

With Abbotsford returning defenseman Jayden Lee back to the Kalamazoo Wings nearly two weeks ago, there wasn't really a spot for Dickinson anymore, with the club looking to find him a new landing spot.

The 26-year-old defenseman is in his second full season of professional hockey after spending all of the 2024-25 campaign in Worcester following four years of college hockey - one with Ohio State University (NCAA) and three with SUNY-Oswego (NCAA III).

Dickinson could make his Orlando Solar Bears debut as early as Monday night as they host the Florida Everblades, ECHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues.