Report: Canucks already working to minimize impact of expansion draft.

The Vancouver Canucks made a very minor move on Wednesday but it's the long term implications of that move that make it notable.

According to a report from the Vancouver Province the Canucks announced that they agreed to terms on a one year extensions with veteran back up goaltender Richard Bachman, extending his contract through the 2017-2018 season.

The Province's Patrick Johnson believes this move was designed to mitigate the potential damage from the expansion draft and it makes perfect sense.

Under the NHL’s expansion draft rules, every team is required to have two forwards, one defenceman and one goalie available for selection.

Last week, the team signed Jacob Markstrom to a three-year extension, leaving him and the draft-exempt Thatcher Demko as the only goalies under contract heading into 2017-18. As things stood, Markstrom would have had to be exposed for the draft which will stock the new Las Vegas squad.

Bachman’s contract was set to expire after the 2016-17 season, he’s now on board through the end of the 2017-18 season.

You can expect a number of teams will follow suite, and furthermore you can expect a number of transactions throughout the season to address this specific problem.

[pub]