Baertschi, Goldobin and Biega clear waivers, Canucks opening night roster set

The Utica Comets are going to be talented this season.

Sven Baertschi, Alex Biega and Nikolay Goldobin all cleared waivers on Tuesday, one day after the Vancouver Canucks designated them for AHL assignment.

There was concern among Canucks Nation on Monday when the Canucks placed the proven NHL goal-scorer Baertschi on waivers. Many expected it would be Tim Schaller, Tyler Motte or Loui Eriksson going on waivers.

It appears the outrage was for nothing, as no team claimed either of the three players the Canucks waived. In fact, Winnipeg goaltender Eric Comrie and Blackhawks blueliner Carl Dahlstrom were the only two NHL players put on waivers yesterday that were claimed. Arizona claimed Comrie, while the Jets claimed Dahlstrom.

GM Jim Benning told the media on Monday that waiving Baertschi was really tough and he wants him to plays lots in Utica to get his game up to speed. Benning is confident Baertschi will be back up with the big club when injuries occur.

Baertschi could actually be up the club sooner than later, as injuries have already hit Vancouver. Coach Travis Green confirmed this afternoon that Tyler Motte will be sidelined for a couple weeks with an upper-body injury.

With Baertschi, Goldobin and Biega clearing waivers, the Canucks opening 23-man roster has been set. It had to be in by 2:00 PM PST today. You can view the full roster on this page.

Brock Boeser and Oscar Fantenberg have been cleared to play and will be available for Wednesday’s season opener against Edmonton. This is how the lines looked at Tuesday morning’s practice.

While the Canucks opening roster has been set, Utica is going to be much better than we thought this season. Several talented players failing to land a bottom-six role with Vancouver means a much-improved Comets club.

The Canucks also also announced today that Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter, Alex Edler and Chris Tanev will makeup their leadership group this season.

Coach Green has confirmed that the Canucks will name a captain before their home opener against the Kings on Wednesday, October 9th.

The captaincy is very likely to go to Horvat, who has become a two-way force and a leader after being drafted by the Canucks ninth overall in 2013. He’s become the obvious choice due to his strong work ethic and how well he carries himself with the media. The Canucks captaincy has been vacant since Henrik Sedin retired at the end of 2017-18.

The puck drops on the Canucks season at 7:00 PM on Wednesday in Edmonton.