Canucks send Räty down to Abbotsford, recall Di Giuseppe, paper down Podkolzin, Wolanin, Juulsen

Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced a series of roster moves that may appear a tad confusing on the surface.

But we’re here to break it down for you.

First, Aatu Räty has been sent down to the Abbotsford Canucks, and will stay down there after three games at the NHL level with the Canucks, where he recorded one assist. Räty was the prospect acquired in the Bo Horvat deal that the Canucks made in late January, and appeared in 12 NHL games and 27 AHL games prior to the trade. Räty reported to Abbotsford following the trade, and tallied just one assist through eight games before his call up to the big club.

Phil Di Giuseppe comes up in his place. Di Giuseppe is in his second season with the Canucks, and is a player that new Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet really likes. Di Giuseppe has 13 goals and 19 assists through 37 games with Abbotsford this season, and two goals and an assist through the nine games he’s played with the Canucks at the NHL level this season.

As for the rest of the players, the Canucks have simply papered down Christian Wolanin, Noah Juulsen, and Vasily Podkolzin, so that they are eligible for the AHL playoffs once the NHL season concludes.

This happened last year with Podkolzin, who went down to Abbotsford and played in the AHL playoffs following his rookie season. Last year, the Canucks got swept in the first round, so hopefully with an improved team this year backstopped by young Arturs Silovs, they have a different outcome.

Currently, the Abbotsford Canucks sit in third place of the AHL’s Pacific Division standings, behind the Calgary Wranglers and Coachella Valley Thunderbirds, respectively.

We’ll have a full breakdown of Patrik Allvin’s post trade deadline press conference dropping later this afternoon. Be sure to check out our live blog from today by clicking here!