Important update regarding the Canucks and their prospect Jack Malone

This is a big weekend for the NCAA as the semi-finals of the Frozen Four were held last night, followed by the finals on Saturday in Minnesota. The Canucks had a number of prospects involved in the tournament including one by the name of Jack Malone, who is playing for Boston College.

However, it appears that the Vancouver Canucks no longer have the signing rights to Jack Malone, according to Rick Dhaliwal, making him an unrestricted free agent.

The Canucks drafted Jack Malone back in 2019 in the sixth round, 190th overall. Malone spent the majority of his collegiate career with Cornell University before switching over to Boston College ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Malone, 23, is having the best season of his NCAA career and is hoping to wrap it up with a Frozen Four championship on Saturday. In 40 games, he's recorded 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists), 12 penalty minutes and is a plus-eight.

A trio of other prospects saw their season come to a close on Thursday as well, including Jacob Truscott, who was playing with the University of Michigan. It's unclear what Truscott's plans are at this time and whether or not he'll want to sign in Vancouver.

In the other game on Thursday, Boston University saw their season end in overtime against the University of Denver. Boston University's roster included Canucks prospects Aiden Celebrini and Tom Willander, but it's not expected that either will leave college this spring and sign an entry-level contract with Vancouver. In Willander's case, he'll likely stay for one more year at BU before making the jump to professional hockey in the Canucks system, while Celebrini may be at least a couple years away from signing his first NHL contract.