The Vancouver Canucks have put Aatu Räty on waivers after the 23-year-old centre appeared in just four of the team’s eight games this season.
Räty’s biggest calling card has still been his work on the dot. He’s won 56.8 per cent of his faceoffs this season, and his career mark sits at 59.1 per cent. But the Canucks’ decision-making has made it clear that part of the game hasn’t been enough to keep him in the lineup.
The club has been leaning instead on Paul Cotter, Drew O’Connor and Max Sasson at centre, and that was a pretty loud signal about where Räty stood. Multiple Canucks coaches have also been reluctant to trust him in tougher situations, especially when a mistake could swing the game the other way.
The numbers from his ice time haven’t helped. Vancouver has been outscored 4-to-1 at 5-on-5 with Räty on the ice, and the team has allowed two goals in the limited time he’s logged on the penalty kill.
For Manny Malhotra, who wants size and speed down the middle, Räty’s lack of foot speed appears to have been a factor as well.
The move also points toward Filip Chytil getting activated from the Injured Reserve list. Chytil has been out for three weeks after injuring his shoulder in his first preseason game, when he got tangled up with referee Riley Brace and crashed hard into the boards. He returned to skating with the team this week in a regular jersey, a sign he’s getting close to coming back.
There’s downside for Vancouver, too. Waiving Räty opens a roster spot for Chytil, but it also creates the possibility that the Canucks could lose Räty for nothing.
And even though several different Canucks coaching staffs couldn’t carve out a steady role for him, another NHL team may still see value in a 23-year-old centre who has won faceoffs at a strong rate.
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Filip Chytil is on the verge of finally getting into the Vancouver lineup, giving the Canucks another look at a player whose arrival has been delayed by a shoulder injury. He has been out for the first eight games, but the club is now setting up for his season debut as it heads into a meeting with the Florida Panthers, a matchup that also comes with Leevi Merilainen and Akira Schmid projected to handle the crease.
To make room, Vancouver moved center Aatu Raty off the roster, a sign the team is ready to see what Chytil can add once he is healthy. For the Canucks, the timing matters because they are trying to get their center depth sorted while the schedule keeps rolling, and for Rangers fans still tracking Chytils path, this is the next checkpoint in a season that is only just starting for him. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Just Sent A Troubling Message About Aatu Rty
Aatu Rtys season has taken an early detour, with the young Canucks forward moving out of Vancouvers NHL picture for now and heading to Abbotsford. Rty appeared in just four games this season and saw limited ice time before the organization decided to shift him to the AHL, where he will join a center group that already includes Ty Mueller, Braeden Cootes and Chase Wouters.
For Rty, it is a notable step back after spending the entire 2025-26 season in the NHL, and it underscores how crowded the middle of Vancouvers lineup has become. He has been productive in the minors before, piling up 119 points in 169 career AHL games, but this move suggests the Canucks need him to reset and stay ready for another opening when it comes. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Face A Risky New Test With Chytil Back In The Mix
Filip Chytil is on track to rejoin the Canucks after working his way back from a preseason shoulder injury, and his return arrives at a time when Vancouver is still sorting out its lineup. The move gives the club another look at a player it expected to lean on, but it also comes with the kind of shuffling that tends to ripple beyond one spot in the forward group and into the defensive mix as well.
Aatu Rty being placed on waivers shows how quickly the roster picture can change when a key center is ready to come back, and the Canucks are making other tweaks as they prepare for Florida. The Panthers arrive without Aleksander Barkov and Jacob Markstrom because of injuries, with Akira Schmid expected to start in goal, which adds another layer to a matchup already shaped by Vancouvers latest personnel test. [Read more 🡒]