The Vancouver Canucks have placed centre Aatu Räty on NHL waivers for Wednesday, October 14th.

Räty, 23, has appeared in just four of the Canucks’ eight games so far this season and has scored one goal, an empty-netter, in the Canucks’ 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames.

Räty’s waiver placement isn’t entirely surprising given his usage right from day one of training camp and into the opening weeks of the season. After establishing himself as a regular penalty-killer and trusted defensive-zone faceoff option during the 2025-26 season, Räty entered camp battling for a permanent bottom-six role. Max Sasson seemingly began camp with the inside track on Räty for the 4C job, and even after a preseason injury to Filip Chytil weakened the Canucks’ centre depth to start the season, Räty has still struggled to get into the lineup. Instead, the club has elected to use players like Paul Cotter and Drew O’Connor, two players who spend most of their time on the wing, down the middle instead of giving Räty a chance.

Räty now hits waivers, and is free for the taking for any NHL team that wants to add him to their main roster. Räty is in year two of a two-year, one-way contract he signed with the Canucks in June 2025. His contract carries a cap-hit and salary of $850,000.

We will find out tomorrow at 11 AM Pacific Time if a team has put a claim in on Räty. If no one does, he will head down to the AHL Abbotsford Canucks, who are set to take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds in Abbotsford’s home opener on Saturday, October 17th.

We recently broke down why speed at the centre position is so important to Manny Malhotra and the Canucks’ coaching staff. You can read that article by clicking below!