With Dakota Joshua nearing a return to the lineup, the Canucks need to open up a roster spot for him. It appears that Nils Aman will be the one losing his spot as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve placed him on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to AHL Abbotsford.
The 24-year-old has taken an interesting route to the NHL. Originally drafted in the sixth round by Colorado in 2020, Aman didn’t sign with them and then signed with Vancouver two years later. After a short stint in the minors to start 2022-23, he was up with the big club the rest of the way, getting into 68 games. Aman also spent time in the AHL last season, collecting 15 points in as many games while also getting into 43 NHL contests, tallying four goals and three assists while his waiver exemption expired.
He signed a two-year, $1.65MM extension in late November, ensuring that he’d remain a low-cost option for Vancouver for a little while longer. However, Aman has only played in four of their first nine games this season, although he does have a pair of assists but it evidently wasn’t enough to keep his roster spot secure.
As far as waiver placements go, this is one of the more intriguing ones. Aman already has 115 career NHL games (and 25 points) under his belt and with a cap hit only $50K above the league minimum, he’s a player most teams could afford if they’re looking to either add a depth piece or shake up the back end of their forward group so he’s far from a guarantee to clear.
Interestingly, this isn’t a move that Vancouver necessarily had to make. They’ve been sending two players back and forth from Abbotsford in recent days with one of them being winger Arshdeep Bains. The Canucks could have simply elected to send Bains down when Joshua returns to create the roster spot. Instead, it appears Bains will have a bit more of an opportunity to try to secure a full-time spot in the lineup.