Vancouver Canucks make 17 cuts and four players are on waivers
The Vancouver Canucks made major cuts to their preseason roster on Monday, as they inch closer to the start of the regular season.
A total of 17 players have been cut, led by 21-year-old defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev.
He’ll report to the Abbotsford Canucks, along with forwards Danila Klimovich, Ty Mueller, Vilmer Alriksson, Chase Stillman, Anri Ravinskis, Chase Wouters, and Nikolai Knyzhov. Goaltenders Aku Koskenvuo and Ty Young, as well as defencemen Joe Arntsen and Jayden Lee, have also been sent to the AHL.
Four other players will likely report to Abbotsford in short order, but they’ll have to clear waivers first: goaltender Jiri Patera, defenceman Jimmy Schuldt, and forwards Joseph Labate and MacKenzie MacEachern.
Defenceman Parker Alcos, meanwhile, has been sent back to junior.
That’s a lot of cuts (@Canucks/X)
There aren’t any surprises among the names cut today, though Kudryavtsev is notable. Kudryavtsev showed well in camp and had a strong first season of pro hockey in Abbotsford last year, as he even made it into a pair of NHL games.
But the competition on the blue line is stiff. Nine defencemen remain in camp, with Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Elias Pettersson, Victor Mancini, and Tom Willander all on the bubble.
Bubble forwards still on the roster include Braeden Cootes, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Aatu Räty, Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson, Max Sasson, Nils Åman, and Vitali Kravtsov.
Patera is on waivers, where he was claimed twice last year — once by Boston and again by Vancouver five days later. It would seem less likely that the 26-year-old Czech netminder would get claimed this time around, given he appeared in just seven AHL games last season.
Schuldt, Labate, and MacEachern are also likely to clear.
The Canucks are 2-2-0 so far in preseason, with two games to go. They play on the road Wednesday against the Calgary Flames and Friday at home to the Edmonton Oilers.
The puck drops on the regular season on Oct. 9 at Rogers Arena, against the Flames.
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