Jordan Schroeder re-assigned to the AHL

Photo uncredited via the Vancouver Sun.

Jordan Schroeder is one of only two first round picks from the 2009 NHL entry draft who has yet to make his NHL debut by his third professional season, and that will continue to be the case at least through this weekend. The Canucks have made their final cut, and while Jordan Schroeder may have been the "right call" to make the team, the mechanics of the waiver wire have resulted in him being sent down to Chicago per a team release. 

Read on past the jump.

I’m sure Canucks fans will be disappointed, and Schroeder too, especially because he was kept in town several hours longer than his eight other Chicago Wolves teammates who won’t be on the 23 man roster to begin the season, only to be cut later in the day. But the speedy center was always a long-shot to make Vancouver’s roster.The writing was on the wall, I suppose, considering Mike Gillis’ comments from a couple of weekends ago about the team not having the same luxury to "experiment" with introducing young players to the NHL level in a shortened season as they might usually have.

At the end of the day, Andrew Ebbett has a longer track record as an NHL player and has proven to be reasonably productive in a second line role (when he’s had the opportunity) and can at least be counted on to make the safe plays that push the play in the right direction. Obviously he’s not a "Kesler replacement" or even much of a "Kesler bandaid" frankly, but he’s the safer bet than Jordan Schroeder and the decision is certainly defensible. 

In addition to those hockey-related factors, is the simple, inconvenient hockey-business related fact that Jordan Schroeder was able to be re-assigned to Chicago without having to pass through waivers. The other players on the roster-bubble – including Ebbett, Cam Barker and Jim Vandermeer – are NHL veterans who would’ve had to be exposed to 29 other clubs if they were to be the "final cut" on Friday afternoon.

We know from the way the Canucks have handled similar roster decisions in the past that the team is always wary of losing potentially useful depth assets. So while Schroeder impressed in team scrimmages this week and flashed some chemistry with Mason Raymond, he’s the odd man out on Friday for reasons that very probably have nothing to do with his hockey-playing ability. 

C’est la vie! I wouldn’t get too worked up though, and I’d expect Schroeder to be the first call-up should another Canucks forward (god forbid) find themselves on the shelf with injury.