For the Vancouver Canucks, something had to give.

In order to activate forward Antoine Roussel—who was dealing with the side effects of a concussion suffered in the offseason—the team would have to send someone to the minors and expose them to waivers.

It certainly wasn’t going to be Elias Pettersson or Brock Boeser, the only players that can be demoted without being put on waivers.

And while the Canucks are certainly carrying a few players that would probably be more at home in the AHL than in the big leagues, a few factors ended up causing Biega’s relegation.

While Brendan Leipsic was scratched Thursday night against Tampa Bay and may be in that same situation tonight when the Canucks take on the Florida Panthers, he’s known to be a favourite of coach Travis Green’s. He’s also shown flashes of brilliance during his stint with the Canucks, spending the end of last season on the top line and not looking completely out of place.

Another player rumoured to be on the chopping block was Tim Schaller. But the optics behind that would have been terrible. The Canucks recently signed Schaller to a two-year deal that will pay him $1.9 million per season. The former Bruin hasn’t looked particularly competent thus far, but giving up on him at this point would be a PR nightmare for general manager Jim Benning.

Benning’s free agent signings from July 2017 have recently come under fire (more like they’ve moved from the fire into volcano, we suppose) as Michael Del Zotto and Sam Gagner have been scratched and waived, respectively. The last thing the Canucks’ boss needs is for his most recent acquisitions to feel the heat as well.

Essentially, the decision came down to Tyler Motte or Biega.

Motte is another Benning acquisition, and the only thing the Canucks now have left to show for Thomas Vanek. It’s clear that the team views him as an NHLer (they gave him the most forward minutes of any Canuck in the season opener), and think another team would claim him if he hit the waiver wire.

That’s probably not a concern with Biega. There is a chance he gets claimed, sure, but he’s always been more of a depth player that’s very solid in the AHL and can play a few games in the bigs if you’re in a pinch.

It was nice to see Biega sign a one-way contract in January, but the reality is that he’s a fringe NHLer at best. Hopefully he goes unclaimed so ‘Bulldog’ can come off the leash a few times once injuries hit the Canucks.

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