The Vancouver Canucks have put goaltender Nikita Tolopilo on NHL waivers, opening the door for any team to claim him before Monday’s 2 PM PT roster deadline.
If Tolopilo clears, he’ll head to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks on Monday, September 28th. He was the lone Canucks player placed on waivers Sunday, a day that was always going to be busy around the league with the preseason wrapped up and the regular season set to begin Tuesday.
Tolopilo’s spot became even shakier after Vancouver claimed 24-year-old goalie Leevi Meriläinen on Friday. That move all but signaled trouble for Tolopilo’s chances of sticking with the NHL club.
The 26-year-old signed with Vancouver as an overseas free agent after posting a league-best .924 save percentage in Sweden’s Allsvenskan in 2022-23. Since then, he has appeared in 90 games for Abbotsford and 23 NHL games with the Canucks.
Most of his NHL action came last season, when Vancouver leaned on him amid Thatcher Demko’s multiple injuries after trading Arturs Silovs to the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of the 2025-26 season. In 21 starts last season, Tolopilo finished with an .881 save percentage and a 3.61 goals-against average.
His preseason numbers didn’t help his case, either. Across two starts in Vancouver’s four-game exhibition schedule, he allowed six goals on 44 shots and lost both games.
The club’s claim of Meriläinen was a clear sign of where things were headed, and Canucks GM Ryan Johnson explained the thinking behind that move this week.
“It’s something we’ve been planning for months now, just as far as any position, if we had an opportunity to take on somebody that we thought very well of,” Johnson said. “Leevi was somebody that we had looked at as you’re going across teams across the league that may have to make some tough decisions. He was a guy that we had targeted; if he was available, we were going to take a serious look at it.
“So when he did, understanding that there’s moving parts around it, we just felt it was something with where we were at, with his pedigree, and where he’s at in his process, that it fit with where we were as an organization.”
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