Canucks trim roster: send Gaudette, Juolevi down to Utica

VANCOUVER — Four Canucks were missing from the ice at practice on Thursday.

Brendan Gaunce, Adam Gaudette and Olli Juolevi are on their way to Utica.

The Canucks confirmed the news in a statement.

Also absent from practice was Thatcher Demko, who Canucks coach Travis Green said after practice is dealing with the effects of a concussion.

Demko, Gaudette and Juolevi all don’t need waivers to be assigned to the American Hockey League, while Gaunce will need to pass through waivers before the Canucks can send him down.

None of these moves is a surprise; Demko was always slated to start the season in Utica, while both Gaudette and Juolevi were given long looks by coach Travis Green; but given the Canucks’ roster crunch, they were only going to make the team to start the season if they’d put in outstanding, team-leading performances.

Neither did. Juolevi only returned to off-season training in mid-August, after undergoing minor back surgery in June. He did well enough in his minutes, but didn’t stand out. It is notable how well he did given how far behind he would have been in his off-season preparation because of the surgery.

Gaudette, who played five NHL games to close last season, played OK. But with Bo Horvat, Elias Pettersson, Brandon Sutter and Jay Beagle all slotted in at centre, the door for him to make the team was never really open.

As for Gaunce, his lack of production over the past two seasons meant he was always under threat to keep himself in the NHL.

He’s a useful enough forward defensively and on the penalty kill, but on a team starved for offence, you knew he would be under the microscope.