The Vancouver Canucks have made a few roster moves.

On Sunday afternoon, the club announced that defenceman Victor Mancini and goaltender Nikita Tolopilo had been reassigned to AHL Abbotsford, and that defenceman Elias Pettersson, along with goaltender Jiri Patera, had been recalled.

Let’s break each of these down, starting with the moves on the blue line. It’s been a disappointing sophomore NHL season for DPetey, who, like most Canucks defencemen aside from Filip Hronek, has looked lost in Adam Foote’s man-on-man defensive zone system. After showing off solid instincts and promising raw tools in his first pro season, quickly earning a promotion to the NHL, Pettersson has struggled this season, and after spending some time in the press box, the Canucks sent him down earlier this month, allowing him to get three games in with Abbotsford.

For Victor Mancini, his latest NHL call-up lasted just four games. Mancini has spent most of his time in Abbotsford this season, and has seemingly been passed by both Pettersson and Tom Willander on the Canucks’ depth chart. Mancini and Willander’s pairing struggled mightily in the Canucks’ 6-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night, and that appears to have been enough for the Canucks decide to send him back down to Abbotsford. Through 20 AHL games this season, Mancini has tallied a goal and five assists.

In the crease, the Canucks are bringing back Jiri Patera, who last started for them on November 17th, when they fell 8-5 to the Florida Panthers. Despite the lopsided scoreline, Patera actually played fairly well in that game, making 33 saves on 40 shots behind an especially porous defensive effort from the players in front of him. Patera, who missed most of last season with a lower-body injury, is up to a .915 save percentage through 16 games in Abbotsford. That save percentage is even more impressive when you consider how much the Abbotsford Canucks have struggled this season.

As for Tolopilo, he made some big saves for the Canucks during his most recent NHL stint, making starts against the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers. Unfortunately, his .842 save percentage across those two games just wasn’t good enough to warrant more starts, with Patera likely deserving another look due to his strong play in Abbotsford. With the club still not providing a timeline on Thatcher Demko’s return from IR, it would appear that both Patera and maybe Tolopilo will get some chances to play at the NHL level over the next little while. For now, Tolopilo will head down to Abbotsford, who play on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday this week. Through 11 games with Abbotsford this season, Tolopilo has put up a .900 save percentage.