The Vancouver Canucks have placed forward Ilya Safonov on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract, clearing the way for the 25-year-old to return to Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League.
The move follows Safonov’s decision to leave the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Canucks and rejoin Ak Bars Kazan, the club where he spent the bulk of his professional career before seeking an opportunity in North America.
Vancouver had signed the 6-foot-4 center to a one-year deal worth $950,000 in June after acquiring his rights from the Chicago Blackhawks the previous summer.
The Blackhawks had selected him in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Draft, but Safonov never signed an entry-level contract and continued developing in the KHL.
His arrival in the Canucks organization represented a calculated bet on a physically imposing, established professional who had shown scoring touch in Russia’s top league.
That bet did not yield an NHL roster spot. Safonov spent the early portion of the season in Abbotsford, where he recorded four assists in 12 games while primarily serving as a fourth-line center.
With no clear path to the parent club, he and his representatives chose to end the experiment.
Through agent Dan Milstein, Safonov expressed appreciation for the relationships formed with Abbotsford’s coaching and development staff while acknowledging that the goal of playing in the NHL had not materialized.
He indicated he would look back on the experience fondly as he returns to competition in the KHL.
Safonov’s résumé in Russia made the North American trial understandable. After joining Ak Bars’ system as a junior, he progressed through the VHL and into the KHL, eventually earning an alternate captaincy.
His peak season produced a career-high 37 points in 64 games.
More recently, he posted 22 points in 51 games in 2024-25 and followed that with 33 points—including 16 goals and a plus-18 rating—in 68 games the next year, plus nine points in 20 playoff contests as Kazan reached the Gagarin Cup Final.
Those numbers prompted the Canucks to bring him over on a two-way deal with the expectation he would compete for a role in training camp.
His departure after roughly five months closes a brief chapter. Back in Kazan, Safonov is expected to assume a more prominent place in the lineup and help address center depth following the retirement of Kevin Hayes.
He will join a group that already includes several other players who were once drafted by NHL teams.
For the Canucks, the termination frees a roster spot and salary-cap room with minimal long-term consequence, given the short-term nature of the original agreement.
Safonov’s case illustrates the practical limits of late-round or post-draft European signings when immediate NHL playing time fails to appear.
