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8 waiver wire targets the Canucks could use their #1 waiver priority on

Photo credit: © Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

By Jeffrey Kennett

Sep 9, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 9, 2026, 00:17 EDT

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Finishing 32nd in the NHL comes with few consolations for the Vancouver Canucks, but one of them is about to become useful.

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), waiver priority before Nov. 1 is determined by the previous season’s final standings, leaving Vancouver atop the NHL’s waiver order when teams begin trimming their training camp rosters later this month. The Canucks finished last at 25-49-8, giving Ryan Johnson first crack at any player exposed before the order switches to the current standings.

That could be more important than usual this fall. Thomas Drance of The Athletic reported that Vancouver appears more interested in what could become available on waivers than the group of unsigned veterans still sitting in free agency. Johnson said the Canucks have already established a process for handling potential claims.

“We’re going to be ready,” Johnson told Drance. “There’s a lot of different things that could shake out.”

Vancouver currently projects to ice a forward group that includes Aatu Räty, Paul Cotter and Brendan Gallagher on the fourth line, with Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Linus Karlsson higher in the lineup. The Canucks also finished 31st in NHL scoring last season, so another young forward with some offensive ability would hardly be redundant.

One-way and two-way contracts don’t determine whether a player needs waivers, but those labels reflect how much a player is paid in the NHL and AHL. Waiver exemption is based on factors such as signing age and NHL experience, although salary can ultimately factor into roster decisions. A team may find it easier to send down a player earning $170,000 in the AHL than one earning his full $1.1 million salary there.

With training camp just around the corner, these are eight names worth watching as rosters shake out:

Philip Tomasino, C/RW, Ottawa Senators

Ottawa has one of the clearest roster squeezes in the league.

NHL.com currently projects William Eklund, Tim Stützle, Drake Batherson, Ridly Greig, Dylan Cozens, Claude Giroux, Warren Foegele, Shane Pinto, Andre Burakovsky, Fabian Zetterlund, Nick Cousins and Michael Amadio as the Senators’ 12 forwards. That leaves Tomasino on the outside looking in.

The 25-year-old signed a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa in July, carrying a $900,000 NHL cap hit and $600,000 salary in the minors. PuckPedia lists him as waiver-eligible.

Tomasino has enough NHL history to be more than a flyer. The 24th pick in the 2019 draft has 34 goals and 95 points in 218 career NHL games. His 2025-26 season went poorly at the NHL level, with one assist in nine games, but he produced 41 points across 52 AHL games.

Vancouver could give Tomasino a chance on either the wing or down the middle without taking on much risk. At 25, he needs to turn his offensive skill into steady NHL production soon, but a waiver claim would cost the Canucks nothing beyond a roster spot.

Of all the forwards who could realistically become available, Tomasino should be near the top of Vancouver’s list.

Fabian Lysell, RW/LW, Colorado Avalanche

Colorado’s offseason leaves Fabian Lysell in an awkward spot.

The Avalanche acquired the 23-year-old from Boston in June before signing him to a one-year, two-way contract at an $850,000 cap hit. His AHL salary is only $170,000, and he is now waiver-eligible.

Lysell also sits outside NHL.com’s projected Colorado forward group. The Avalanche are currently lined up with Artturi Lehkonen, Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Gabriel Landeskog, Nazem Kadri, Nicolas Roy, Jaden Schwartz, Brock Nelson, Zachary L’Heureux, Parker Kelly, Fedor Svechkov and Logan O’Connor. General manager Joe Sakic has said Colorado is comfortable entering the season with 12 forwards.

So Lysell will need to beat one of those forwards out for a spot in Colorado’s lineup, a monumental task on a team coming off a Presidents’ Trophy.

Boston’s 2021 first-round pick scored 17 goals and 42 points in 57 games for Providence last season. His NHL resume is thin — one goal and three points in 12 games — but his AHL production has been steady for several years.

A 23-year-old winger with first-round pedigree and a sub-$1 million cap hit is exactly the kind of bet the Canucks should be looking for. And Vancouver would have room to find out whether Lysell’s speed and puck skill can translate with an extended NHL look.

Colorado could keep him as an extra forward or find a trade before exposing him, but if his name does appear on the wire, the Canucks should pick up the phone.

Jakob Pelletier, LW/C, Tampa Bay Lightning

There is already evidence that Tampa Bay is willing to risk Jakob Pelletier on waivers.

The Lightning placed Pelletier on waivers during training camp last October before assigning him to Syracuse. He responded with a huge AHL season, finishing with 28 goals and 77 points in 63 games.

But that production hasn’t cleared a path to Tampa’s lineup. NHL.com currently projects Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli, Gage Goncalves, Zemgus Girgensons, Yanni Gourde, Ilya Mikheyev, Pontus Holmberg, Dominic James and Conor Geekie up front. Based on that list, Pelletier has his work cut out for him to make the team.

His contract also looks different this time. Pelletier carries an $875,000 cap hit, and his deal pays him his full salary in the minors in 2026-27 and 2027-28. The former 26th overall pick has 29 points in 91 NHL games, and his track record says he is far too good for the AHL.

For Vancouver, the question would be whether his AHL scoring can finally follow him to the NHL, although at that price, finding out could be a worthwhile roll of the dice.

Ivan Miroshnichenko, LW/RW, Washington Capitals

Ivan Miroshnichenko would be one of the most surprising names to reach waivers, but Washington has a crowded bevy of forwards.

Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, Jordan Kyrou, Alex Tuch, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Tom Wilson, Aliaksei Protas, Ilya Protas, Ryan Leonard, Boone Jenner, Justin Sourdif and Anthony Beauvillier make up NHL.com’s current projected lineup, leaving the 22-year-old Russian outside the lineup.

The Capitals selected Miroshnichenko 20th overall in 2022. He scored 14 goals and 34 points in 41 games for Hershey last season and added three points in 13 NHL appearances. His contract is also cost-friendly, carrying a $925,000 cap hit for each of the next two seasons; however, both years are one-way salaries.

Washington has plenty of reasons to avoid exposing a 22-year-old former first-round pick, and they could easily keep him as the 13th forward or find a trade instead of losing him for nothing.

That lowers the odds of Miroshnichenko actually reaching Vancouver, but his age and scoring upside would make him an easy claim if Washington ever takes the risk.

Nikita Grebenkin, LW/RW, Philadelphia Flyers

Nikita Grebenkin is closer to being an established NHL player than most of the young forwards on this list.

The 23-year-old won a Flyers roster spot out of camp last season and played 55 games, recording four goals and 14 points. Philadelphia signed him to a two-year extension in August carrying a $1.1 million cap hit, and the contract pays him his full salary at either level.

Philadelphia’s current projection still leaves him outside the opening 12. Alex Bump and Denver Barkey are among the younger players projected into the lineup, while Noel Acciari occupies a fourth-line spot after being brought in as a free agent.

Grebenkin brings a different profile from Lysell, Pelletier, or Tomasino. At 6-foot-2 and roughly 210 pounds, he has shown an ability to work along the boards and win puck battles. The Flyers themselves cited that part of his game when discussing his extension.

Philadelphia clearly likes him, so losing his job in September is far from a certainty, but competition from Bump, Barkey and the rest of the Flyers’ forward group at least puts his name into consideration.

John Beecher, C/LW, Florida Panthers

Florida has so much forward depth that a useful bottom-six player is almost guaranteed to get squeezed.

John Beecher currently falls outside NHL.com’s projected Panthers lineup, which has Sandis Vilmanis, Lars Eller and Garnet Hathaway forming the fourth line.

Beecher signed a one-year, two-way deal with Florida worth $850,000 in the NHL and $525,000 in the AHL this summer. The 25-year-old is waiver-eligible and was already plucked off the wire just last year when Calgary picked him up from Boston last November.

His offensive ceiling is lower than the first few names on this list, with only 28 points across 165 career NHL games. On the other hand, size, centre depth and penalty-killing ability could give him a role in Vancouver’s bottom six. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound forward could battle with Räty and Cotter for defensively oriented minutes rather than needing a scoring role to justify his roster spot.

Should Johnson prefer a player who can handle fourth-line work right away, Beecher makes plenty of sense.

Leevi Meriläinen, G, Ottawa Senators

The goalie market could become just as important to Vancouver as the forward cuts.

Ottawa enters camp with Linus Ullmark and Samuel Ersson projected as its NHL tandem, leaving 24-year-old Leevi Meriläinen as the third goalie, and he can no longer be sent to Belleville without waivers.

Meriläinen recently signed a one-year, one-way contract carrying a $1.1 million cap hit. His NHL season was rough in 2025-26, producing a .860 save percentage and 3.51 goals against average in 20 games, but he posted a .909 save percentage in 19 AHL appearances.

Vancouver’s circumstances between the pipes could make finding another capable goalie a necessity. Thatcher Demko does not have a firm return date, Nikita Tolopilo needs waivers, and Chris Driedger is coming to camp on a PTO.

Johnson has made it clear he wants enough depth to avoid forcing Ty Young or Aku Koskenvuo into NHL action before they are ready, and Meriläinen would give the Canucks another tested goalie at an affordable price.

The Senators could carry three goalies, but if they decide to try sneaking Meriläinen through, Vancouver would have a decision to make.

Devon Levi, G, Edmonton Oilers

Devon Levi is the least likely player on this list to hit waivers and the easiest one to claim if he does.

The Edmonton Oilers acquired Levi and a 2028 seventh-round pick from the Buffalo Sabres on July 1 in exchange for a 2028 third-round pick. For the Oilers, giving up that asset only to lose him for free a few months later would be difficult to justify.

The problem is the Oilers’ goalie depth chart. NHL.com currently projects Frederik Andersen and Tristan Jarry as Edmonton’s tandem, while also describing the situation as a competition involving Jarry and/or Levi.

Levi is waiver-eligible and carries an $812,500 cap hit. His deal is effectively one-way this season, paying $850,000 whether he plays in Edmonton or the AHL. Last year was spent entirely in Rochester, where Levi put up a .904 save percentage in 52 games. Across 120 career AHL appearances, he owns a .914 save percentage.

If his name somehow appears on the waiver list, at 24, with a cheap contract and a strong AHL track record, Levi might be the best claim of the group.

Having first waiver priority doesn’t mean the Canucks should make a claim for the sake of using it. Every addition takes up an NHL roster spot and can force another player onto waivers. Johnson can afford to set a higher bar because nobody can jump Vancouver in line before Nov. 1.

Vancouver has plenty of problems to fix after finishing in the basement last season. But for the next several weeks, last place also gives Johnson first choice when another club runs out of roster spots.

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