Every year, there’s at least a handful of names that hit the NHL waiver wire that come as a bit of a surprise to teams and fans alike.

For the most part, young players are waiver exempt, allowing them to be sent down and called up freely from the NHL to the AHL. But at some point, that clock runs out, and it becomes make or break time for these young players.

A good recent example is Vasily Podkolzin, who the Canucks were fairly certain wouldn’t be able to crack their NHL lineup after the numerous winger acquisitions they made in the offseason. This wasn’t a problem in years’ past, as the Canucks were able to send Podkolzin down to the AHL and give him the chance to fine tune his game and play big minutes in the AHL. But that precious waiver exemption status expired at the end of the 2023-24 season.

Given Podkolzin’s draft pedigree as the 10th overall pick in 2019, he was almost certainly going to be a player that numerous  teams would have put a claim in on. Instead of losing him for nothing, the Canucks elected to ship Podkolzin out to the Edmonton Oilers for a fourth round pick.

Which of course, is better than nothing.

So which Vancouver Canucks players are set to lose their waiver exemption status at the end of the 2024-25 season? Let’s dive in.

First, a reminder of the NHL waiver exemption rules, courtesy of our friends at Puck Pedia.

Note that only one of these criteria need to be met for a player to lose their exemption status, not all four.

These are the players who everyone hopes can do enough in camp to earn a spot on the big club roster, removing any possibility of them being claimed on waivers. They might pass through waivers, but they also might not, which would in turn, hurt the club’s overall depth.

Undoubtedly the biggest name on this list, Aatu Räty is doing everything in his power to use the final stretch of the Canucks’ almost certainly playoff-less 2024-25 season to prove he can be a difference maker next season. Räty scored three goals on the Canucks’ most recent road trip, including a two-goal effort against the Columbus Blue Jackets, which was also arguably Räty’s best game in a Vancouver Canucks uniform.

Originally acquired in the Bo Horvat trade, Räty has taken a bit longer to develop than some may have hoped, but he’s got the tools to be an effective bottom six centre, and the Canucks are certainly hoping he’s ready to fill that role for them next season. As a near point per game centre in the AHL this season, there’s little chance that the Canucks would be able to sneak Räty through waivers should he not be able to stick with the NHL team next season.

The local product and a player that the organization has seen blossom into an effective all-situations player through his first few seasons in the AHL, Arshdeep Bains is a good development story for the Canucks. After being named an AHL all-star in his sophomore pro season, Bains is back to being a point producing and reliable winger with Abbotsford this season. While the defensive play and reliability has translated relatively well to the NHL level, the point production hasn’t as the 22-year-old has just one goal through 21 NHL games with Vancouver. Because of this, he’s not likely to be claimed, but he’ll still need to pass through waivers regardless.

Speaking of point producing AHL wingers who have struggled to do the same at the NHL level…

Linus Karlsson is a bit older at 25 years old, but the simple fact of the matter is that he appeared in playoff games for this team last season. Like Bains, Karlsson is reliable defensively, and while he’s shown just a touch more offensive prowess than Bains, he’s still struggled to put up the point totals at the NHL level. He’ll be 26 in November, and he’ll require waivers to be sent down to the AHL next season.

If you’re rushing to the comments to tell me that Arturs Silovs doesn’t deserve to be called a fringe NHLer at this point, go right ahead. After a standout performance in the playoffs in 2023-24, Silovs’ season quickly went from bad to worse to the point we’re at now, where the NHL team can’t trust him to play games, as we saw on this most recent road trip. Funny enough, some of the most successful waiver claims of all time have been goaltenders — Chris Osgood turning in a winning season for the Islanders immediately comes to mind — so hey, never say never when it comes to the Canucks’ ability to sneak Silovs through waivers next season.

From there, the Canucks players who lose their waiver eligibility are almost certainly going to pass through the NHL waiver wire just fine. It will be Akito Hirose, Ty Glover, and Cole McWard rounding out our list and joining the list of already waiver eligible AHLers like Nils Aman, Christian Wolanin, Jett Woo, Guillaume Brisebois, and Phil Di Giuseppe.