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JPat: A word on Aatu Räty’s past, present, and future as Canucks place young centre on waivers

Photo credit: © Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

By Jeff Paterson

Oct 14, 2026, 15:45 EDTUpdated: Oct 14, 2026, 15:46 EDT

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Former Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin once tried to spin the return in the Bo Horvat deal as essentially three first-round picks in exchange for the club’s former captain. Allvin’s premise was that the Canucks received one actual first-round selection, plus Anthony Beauvillier, who was a late first-round pick in the 2015 Draft (28th overall), and Aatu Räty, who for a couple of years was projected to be a first-round pick, but ultimately fell to the middle of the second round (52nd overall) in the 2021 Draft. Three first-rounders it most certainly was not.

But, hey, Allvin deserves some credit for creativity.

However, with Beauvillier here for a grand total of 55 games over parts of two seasons and now Räty on waivers with his immediate future unknown, the Horvat deal has been somewhat diminished. Sure, the Canucks flipped the first-round pick they received from the New York Islanders and added a second to land Filip Hronek, and he has played a significant role for the hockey club and will for the foreseeable future. Beauvillier was always a salary dump on the part of the Isles, but there was certainly hope that Räty would develop into much more than he has become at the NHL level.

His faceoff prowess is undeniable. The 23-year-old (he turns 24 next month) has developed into one of the best in the business at that particular aspect of the game. But even though he starts with possession of the puck more than 60 percent of his shifts, he simply hasn’t shown he can do much beyond winning faceoffs.

Much of it is pinned to his less-than-stellar skating at the NHL level. But there are plenty of players who aren’t speed burners that have found ways to contribute. And yet Räty has always left observers wanting so much more.

In 118 NHL games with two organizations, Räty has barely put a dent in the scoresheet with 18 goals and 29 points. He hasn’t been able to translate his faceoff success into a role as a regular penalty killer. And it was clear from the outset of training camp this season that he was being looked over by Manny Malhotra, who clearly values speed ahead of just about all other traits. To the point that the first-year head coach has been willing to use out-of-position wingers at centre instead of a guy who should have been able to fill a role at his natural position on a rebuilding hockey club.

But that very clearly has not been the case.

Räty has dressed for just four of the Canucks’ first eight games, and two of those were only because Jake DeBrusk missed the first weekend of game action with an illness, leaving Räty as the only extra forward on the roster.

In those four games, Räty has an empty-net goal, four shots, and eight hits while averaging 10:10 of ice time.

It’s too bad. The affable Finn may not have gotten a long look this season, with a curious preseason deployment, then was deemed a spare part once the regular season began. But the decision to place him on waivers wasn’t made based solely on his limited participation this season. It’s the culmination of so many opportunities over parts of four seasons to show that there is more there and that he belongs as a regular in the NHL. That simply hasn’t happened. And much of that is on the player and no one else.

Maybe Räty needs a change of scenery and a third organization willing to see if there is still an NHL player somewhere in that big body of his. We’ll all find out on Thursday whether a waiver claim has been made.

If he isn’t plucked by another team, Räty will be assigned to Abbotsford. And if that’s where he winds up, hopefully he views this as a wake-up call and heads to the American Hockey League looking to prove the Canucks decision makers wrong. The best-case scenario would be that he sees this as a temporary demotion and arrives in the Fraser Valley with his bags in hand and a massive chip on his shoulder. Maybe the message gets through and Räty digs deep, dominates in the minors and plays his way back to the big club at some point down the road.

That feels like a long shot at this stage given his underwhelming time in the organization. But maybe, just maybe, there’s another act in the Aatu Räty story.

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