Vancouver Canucks add young goaltender via waivers from the Boston Bruins
Photo credit: Sportsnet
The Vancouver Canucks still have question marks over their goaltending situation, and now they've added a solid depth piece in Jiri Patera from Boston.
This off-season has been a wild one for the NHL, but after months of speculation, Jeremy Swayman ultimately inked a new deal, keeping him in Boston for eight more seasons to come. Before that however, the team claimed young goaltender Jiri Patera off waivers, signalling that they needed depth, but after Swayman returned on a huge deal, the team quickly placed him back on waivers.
Now, another team with question marks in net has landed the young goaltender, with the Vancouver Canucks officially claiming the 25-year old on Monday among a flurry of shocking waiver moves around the NHL.
Currently, the Canucks have Arturs Silovs and Kevin Lankanen on their NHL roster, and with the timeline up in the air for the return of superstar net minder Thatcher Demko, it makes sense that the team have added a third goaltender with NHL experience.
At 25-years of age, Patera has played in just 8 NHL games, all with the Vegas Golden Knights over the past two years, and while he's unlikely to make the Canucks opening night roster unless an injury strikes, he is good depth for the team and likely the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks. It was actually the Canucks less than a week ago that originally waived Patera, with the team looking to send him to the AHL, but now, he's back in the fold and will officially be a great insurance piece for this team moving forward.
A timeline for the return of Demko remains unclear at best heading into a critical season for Vancouver, so the team will be hoping that they don't see much of Lankanen or Patera at the NHL level, but if injuries strike, this team is now well equipped to handle that.
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