Going into training camp, the Vancouver Canucks had an abundance of defensemen available to fill a maximum of eight spots. So when rookie Troy Stecher emerged as a legitimate contender for one of those spots, things got difficult. As head coach Willie Desjardins said, Stecher “threw a wrench” into their plans. Luckily, they found a quick solution.
Sending 23-year-old blueliner Andrey Pedan through waivers in order to reassign him to the AHL Utica Comets was a risky move. Even with hindsight, I wouldn’t even say it was a risk worth taking. Losing Pedan would have been terrible, even though — or maybe exactly because — we don’t know what we have in him yet.