Photo credit: Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks had some real tough calls to make and 13 players paid the price earlier today.
Patrik Allvin made the announcement, four players on waivers and nine sent to Abbotsford, including the team's top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Elias D-Pettey Pettersson.
An important cultural change is giving the Canucks staff a hard time
Rick Tocchet addessed this media availability with a certain amount of confidence. He highlighted one thing that drastically changed over the past two seasons, and it's making the staff's job way more complicated. The fact that the youngsters are now pushing for jobs is a clear indication that things are on the right track development wise.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Elias D-Pettey Pettersson, Kirill Kudryavstev, Aatu Raty, Arshdeep Bains or Vilmer Alriksson, they all left strong impressions and showed that if they're not ready for the NHL, they aren't too far away:
Canucks place a good veteran on waivers: Tocchet full of praises
Due to these changes and the fact that the youngsters are pushing for a spot, the Canucks had no other choice but to make tough calls. A veteran who had been with the team for the past two seasons, Phil Di Giuseppe was waived for the purpose of assignment to Abbotsford.
The Canucks' pilot addressed the roster transaction and had nothing but good words for Di Giuseppe:
As trainin camp near its end, Allvin and Tocchet will have to make tough calls once more. With Arshdeep Bains and Aatu Raty pushing for a roster spot, Teddy Blueger, Pius Suter, Kiefer Sherwood and Daniel Sprong will have to be excellent to keep their job at the NHL level.
