Elliotte Friedman: Canucks Place Forward on Waivers After Making Big Trades
The Vancouver Canucks made two huge trades on Friday, and in the aftermath, they've now waived a 31-year old veteran forward on Saturday.
After months of speculation, the Vancouver Canucks traded J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers on Friday, but then shocked the NHL world by following it up with another trade, acquiring Drew O'Connor and Marcus Pettersson from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With one roster forward going out and two coming back in with those deals, a follow up move needed to be made on Saturday, and according to Elliotte Friedman, that move is waiving 31-year old veteran Philip Di Giuseppe.
The former second-round draft pick has over 300 games of NHL experience under his belt, including 101 with the Canucks over the past three seasons, and with his time split between Abbotsford and Vancouver, he's no stranger to waivers at this point.
In 20 games this season, Di Giuseppe has tallied 1 goal and 6 points in a rather small role with the team, and with both O'Connor and Filip Chytil coming back in the deal, it's unclear if he'll find a consistent role again in 2024/25 with Vancouver.
With so much speculation around Elias Pettersson however, Di Giuseppe is the perfect depth role player to have around the group, as he can slot anywhere into the Canucks lineup, with the team needing that depth moving forward.
There's expected to be some interest in Di Giuseppe on waivers, but if he clears, don't expect to see him in the AHL for too long, as the team will likely bring him back once they have some clarity on their lineup as he will be a major help as they look to battle in the Western Conference Wild Card race.
