Chris Driedger could have a path back to the National Hockey League.
The goaltender has been signed by the Vancouver Canucks to a professional tryout agreement, the team announced Thursday.
Driedger, 32, spent last season playing in the KHL for Traktor Chelyabinsk, posting a 3.05 goals-against average and .897 save percentage in 23 games.
A native of Winnipeg, Driedger last played in the NHL during the 2023-24 season.
He was signed by the Florida Panthers as a free agent ahead of the 2024-25 season and then traded to the Winnipeg Jets for Kaapo Kahkonen on March 6, 2025, but saw game action only with each team's AHL affiliate.
In 67 career NHL games with the Seattle Kraken, Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators, Driedger has a 31-24-5 record, 2.45 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and five shutouts.
The six-foot-four, 210-pound netminder was drafted by the Senators as the 76th-overall pick in 2012.
Vancouver currently has a tandem of veteran goaltenders in Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen, though Demko's injury status is uncertain ahead of training camp.
Driedger has also played in 217 career American Hockey League games, spending time with the Binghamton/Belleville Senators, Springfield Thunderbirds, Coachella Valley Firebirds, Charlotte Checkers and Manitoba Moose, and amassed a 106-78-24 record with a 2.74 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage and eight shutouts.
The Canucks also announced on Thursday that they have hired Sean Finn as an amateur scout after he spent seven seasons in the KHL.
-- with files from The Canadian Press
