Hart Levine thinks the Vancouver Canucks are sitting on an advantage and doing nothing with it. He wants them active on the waiver wire, starting now.
The PuckPedia analyst made the pitch on Sekeres and Price this week. His logic was simple: there's not much to lose in giving players a shot.
Vancouver holds first priority on every claim this season. That's the prize for finishing 2025-26 with the worst record in the NHL.
So far, the Canucks haven't bitten. All 15 players waived Tuesday cleared, per Elliotte Friedman, and 34 more hit the wire Wednesday.
Levine didn't dress it up on air. First claim on everybody in the league, so why sit on it?
-
He's right. Holding top priority and never claiming anybody is like buying a season pass and watching every game from the parking lot.
Manny Malhotra's Canucks start camp 0-2 with little scoring
The case gets stronger once you look at the ice. Vancouver has been outscored 7-3 through two preseason games.
Tuesday's 3-1 loss in Calgary summed it up. Arshdeep Bains scored the lone goal, with Braeden Cootes picking up the assist.
Kevin Lankinen gave them a chance, stopping 27 of 30 over the full 60.
The blue line soaked up heavy minutes, too. Vittorio Mancini logged 21:51 and Tom Willander played 21:29.
Then the Canucks waived Jimmy Schuldt, who'd skated 21:05 in that same game, along with Cole Clayton and Trey Fix-Wolansky.
Cutting your own depth while ignoring everybody else's is an odd way to run a team holding the first claim on the whole league.
The top end is already paid for. Elias Pettersson carries an $11,600,000 cap hit and Thatcher Demko sits at $8,500,000, so any upgrade has to come cheap.
Manny Malhotra, hired in June, is the one who has to build a lineup out of this camp. The Canucks host Edmonton on Thursday.
The regular season opens September 29 in Edmonton, with the rematch in Vancouver two nights later.
Levine's point gets louder every morning a new list drops. What nobody knows yet is whether anyone in Vancouver's front office is listening.
Should the Canucks claim at least one player off waivers before opening night?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
34 players placed on NHL waivers on Wednesday including 6 goaltenders
