The Vancouver Canucks were dealt a little bit of a surprise Wednesday when Jiří Patera was claimed off waivers by the Boston Bruins. While there is always a risk when players are put on waivers, there was not much panic in the fan base when the announcement came out that Patera was placed on waivers Tuesday afternoon.

Phil Di Giuseppe, Nate Smith and Christian Wolanin all cleared waivers and will be assigned to the Abbotsford Canucks.

Patera was signed by the Canucks because he’s a capable AHL goaltender who could potentially fill in for injuries in the NHL if necessary. He was expected to battle for starts with Nikita Tolopilo for the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL but was most likely going to end up as the backup behind Tolopilo.