Canucks land rare edge in NHL's roster-cut scramble

Philip Tomasino heads a group of forwards the Vancouver Canucks could scoop up once NHL rosters get trimmed this month.

Under the CBA, waiver priority before Nov. 1 runs off last season's final standings. Vancouver finished 25-49-8, dead last in the league.

That gives the Canucks first crack at anyone exposed before the order flips to the current standings. Think of it like being first in line the day a going-out-of-business sale opens.

Vancouver's front office has told The Athletic it's more focused on what shakes loose on waivers than the unsigned veterans still sitting in free agency this fall. A process is reportedly already in place for handling claims.

The Canucks are already working with Aatu Räty, Paul Cotter and Brendan Gallagher projected on the fourth line, with Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Linus Karlsson higher up. Only two teams scored fewer goals than Vancouver's 216 last season.

Vancouver also finished with a league-worst minus-100 goal differential. Another forward with some scoring touch would not exactly be redundant here.

Tomasino carries a $1,750,000 cap hit in Ottawa and is waiver-eligible. He managed one assist in nine NHL games last season, a rough stretch for a player Ottawa's projected 12 forwards currently squeeze out of the lineup.

Would Vancouver regret passing on him? At 25, with real NHL scoring pedigree buried behind him, Tomasino should sit at the top of the Canucks' board.

He's not the only name worth tracking. Fabian Lysell, Jakob Pelletier, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Nikita Grebenkin and John Beecher all carry some form of waiver risk elsewhere in the league.

Six more forwards and two goalies worth watching

Colorado acquired Lysell from Boston in June and signed him to a two-way deal, and he no longer has waiver protection. The Avalanche finished first overall in the NHL last season and can afford to be picky up front.

Tampa Bay already tested the market with Pelletier last October, sending him through waivers before a big season with Syracuse. His new contract pays full salary in the minors, which makes him a cheaper gamble if it happens again.

Miroshnichenko is the least likely name to actually clear Washington's roster. He's 22, cost-controlled and coming off real AHL production with Hershey, and the Capitals have every reason to keep him or trade him instead of losing him for nothing.

Grebenkin is further along than most on this list. He put up 55 games, four goals and 14 points last season, and Philadelphia just signed him to a two-year extension worth $875,000.

Beecher already knows what a waiver claim looks like. Calgary picked him up off Boston's roster last November, and he landed with Florida this off-season on a two-way deal worth $900,000.

Over 35 games last season, Beecher managed three goals and seven points, hardly a scoring threat but a body that can handle bottom-six minutes and penalty-kill duty.

The goalie market might matter just as much. Ottawa carries Leevi Meriläinen as its third option behind Linus Ullmark and Samuel Ersson, and he can no longer be sent down without exposing him to a claim.

Meriläinen carries a $1,050,000 cap hit and posted a .859 save percentage across 20 NHL games last season. Vancouver's own crease situation gives that some weight.

Thatcher Demko is questionable for the start of the season with a hip injury, and Nikita Tolopilo still needs to clear waivers himself if the Canucks want to option him. Another capable arm at a reasonable price would not sit unused in Abbotsford for long.

Having first priority doesn't obligate Vancouver to use it. Every claim eats a roster spot and can shove somebody else onto waivers to make room.

Manny Malhotra's coaching staff and the front office can afford patience here, since nobody else in the league can jump the Canucks in line before November. What they do with that leverage over the next few weeks is the real story.