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Canucks: Final roster decisions and the waiver wire

As a key deadline approaches, who will Ryan Johnson grab off the waiver wire this weekend?

Published Sep 25, 2026  •  Last updated 1 day ago  •  4 minute read

Canucks GM Ryan Johnson. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

As Canucks GM Ryan Johnson sat down with his team of pro scouts on Thursday morning, they had clear questions in mind.

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With pre-season games Thursday and Saturday, then the opening of the regular season on Tuesday in Edmonton, time is running short to decide how Johnson’s inaugural NHL opening night roster will shake out.

NHL teams must set their rosters by Monday afternoon. In past years, the Canucks’ general manager had to think about setting the roster up for maximum injured-reserve value. Sometimes, the question of what to do with on-the-edge prospects, especially in terms of waiver eligibility, came up.

This year, neither of those are a factor. Johnson’s roster is going to be one of the lowest-paid in the league, although they won’t come close to the floor unless a blockbuster trade takes place. Of the remaining players on the bubble, there is maybe one who is of real concern in being exposed to waivers.

What’s in front of Johnson is much more conventional: How many goalies, defencemen and forwards does he keep, and how does he use his No. 1 waiver list priority this weekend?

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Let’s look at each of these questions.

First of all, is Johnson going to go with two or three goalies? The rookie GM has signalling his inclination to go with two, as he said to nhl.com at the end of August.

“Is it something I’m pining to do? I don’t like it for the goalies, and I think it’s challenging on the coaches,” he told the league website about whether he would consider keeping three goalies to start the season. So, not an outright ‘no’, but hardly an endorsement of the concept.

As it stands, expect Thatcher Demko to start the season on injured reserve. He has been skating, but hasn’t been seen anywhere near the main group. There are three goalies in camp at the moment — Kevin Lankinen, who will surely be on the team, plus Nikita Tolopilo and Chris Driedger. Tolopilo played a bunch for the Canucks last year, but struggled. You wonder if the Canucks would prefer to give him more time in the AHL — the only thing is that he would needs waivers. Would another team want to grab him for a look to start the season?

Driedger, brought in for veteran experience in the pre-season, is only here on a tryout. There are going to be some goalies on waivers this weekend … would one of them be preferable?

As of Thursday afternoon, eight defencemen remained in camp, with both Guillaume Brisebois and Vincent Mancini remaining on the roster.

Brisebois is a constant good-news story, a guy who two management teams in a row have seen enough of to say he is worthy of an NHL contract. On the other hand, he’s suffered injury after injury, and has only played 336 professional games since turning pro with Utica in 2017. He does need waivers to be sent to the minors, although it’s hard to imagine another NHL team claiming him at this point.

If he does stay, he is the perfect character guy to take on a role that sees many nights in the press box.

There’s also Mancini, a toolsy prospect who hasn’t played well in the first two games of the pre-season. He doesn’t need waivers to be sent to Abbotsford, but he is also on a one-way deal, meaning he would be collecting his NHL wage even if he’s in the minors. He is set to make $950,000 this season, although his cap hit is an even $1 million.

He has done nothing to suggest he deserves minutes over a veteran like Luke Schenn, so what makes the most sense: Having him sit in the press box most nights, or sending him to the AHL where at least he would get to play big minutes?

Braeden Cootes has had a strong pre-season, but surely is bound for the AHL, where he would get to be the top centre. He will be an NHL regular soon enough.

Assuming he’s eventually farmed out, there is still the question of whether the Canucks keep one or two extra forwards to start the year. That will be determined by how the rest of the roster shakes out — if only two goalies start the year on the NHL roster, then it stands to reason there will be either two extra defencemen or two extra forwards.

If it’s two extra forwards, then the answer here is simple: Arshdeep Bains, Max Sasson and Aatu Raty will all make the team. All three need waivers to be sent to the minors. One will be in the lineup any given night.

If it’s only one forward, then one of these guys will be waived, unless an alternate demotion takes place: Jonathan Lekkerimäki ends up in Abbotsford. He doesn’t need waivers, but Johnson has made it pretty clear that he would prefer to have the Swedish sniper make the team and sort himself out as an NHLer.

This is the last question in play. Will Johnson spot a player out there who intrigues? What if, say, Ottawa waives Leevi Meriläinen? The young goalie had a tough go last year, but he sure looks like the kind of netminder that Canucks goalie scout Ian Clark would like.

And what if a forward or defenceman makes a big impression?

Johnson has the top waiver priority, and you have to think he’s going to use it to grab someone this weekend. When you are a rebuilding team, you should turn over every stone that you can.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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