Shane O'Brien and Darcy Hordichuk on Waivers

As originally reported by Michael Russo and confirmed by Dan Murphy, Shane O'Brien and Darcy Hordichuk have been put on waivers by the Vancouver Canucks. According to Bruce Garrioch, Mike Gillis tried to deal SOB, but failed to find any takers.

As I said in yesterday's post on enforcers, I saw no need for Darcy Hordichuk in the lineup. He's been badly outplayed by other potential 4th-line players. Even Guillaume Desbiens has been better than Hordichuk. And while he's a great team guy, I made the argument that we don't need him if all he will do is fight other heavyweight enforcers around the league. There's no room on the team for someone who can't play hockey.

It's tough to hear that Shane "Pain Lion" O'Brien, because we honestly like the guy. I think he has far more skill than he was initially given credit for and he's great at protecting the puck in the defensive and offensive zone. He was, however, outplayed in the preseason by Andrew "Give Us Barrabas" Alberts. Alberts is cheaper, bigger, and won't give the Canucks the PR concerns that Shane "Meet Me at the Roxy" O'Brien did last season. Still, SOB is a solid 6th defenceman and will likely get picked up on waivers.

That gives the Canucks the following defencemen:

Hamhuis - Edler

Ballard - Ehrhoff

Bieksa - Alberts

Rome

LTIR: Salo