Andrey Pedan clears waivers, remains with Canucks organization

You can breathe normally again Canucks fans, Andrey Pedan cleared waivers on Friday and will remain property of the team. Mike Zalewski, Jayson Megna, and Michael Chaput also cleared, as expected.

Andrey Pedan has cleared waivers. #CanucksOn1040

— Matthew Sekeres (@mattsekeres) October 7, 2016

The 23-year-old, 6-foot-5 Lithuanian defenceman could have been claimed by any of the other 29 NHL teams, giving fans Frank Corrado flashbacks. Corrado was the topic of a season-long debate among Canucks fans after he was claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs last year.

Instead, the other 29 teams in the league have taken a pass. Pedan will report to the Utica Comets where he’ll get ample ice time. If he performs well, there’s a good chance we’ll see him in Vancouver sometime this season.

This is the other side of the coin to risk putting a player on waivers. If you lose the player, the GM gets criticized – as Jim Benning was last season – for losing an asset for nothing. But if you can get the player through, your prospect plays every night in the AHL instead of watching games from the press box in the NHL.

Will Pedan ever materialize into an NHL regular? Nobody knows for sure, but it looks like we’ll get a chance to find out the answer within the Canucks organization.

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