Canucks trade Aatu Raty to Leafs after he clears waivers; return includes Jacob Quillan and Brandon Buhr

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The Vancouver Canucks traded centre Aatu Raty to the Toronto Maple Leafs after he cleared waivers on Thursday, sending the return in a deal that includes two minor-league forwards.

Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson said the waiver clearance helped him find a quicker path for Raty, noting that Abbotsford had already been part of his prior time with the organization. Johnson said, “When I sat with Aatu on Wednesday, I told him I would try to find him something quick, that it didn’t make sense in my mind for him to go to the minors for us. Abbotsford, he’d already been there. He’d won a championship,” Johnson said over the phone from Sunrise, Fla., minutes before Vancouver faced the Florida Panthers.

Johnson added the move was not a sudden reaction, saying discussions had been underway for a while and that getting Raty through waivers consolidated the trade. “This wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction,” he said. “There had been discussions for a while; obviously getting Raty through waivers helped to consolidate this trade a great deal.”

Johnson said it is “likely” Raty will start with Toronto’s AHL affiliate, the Marlies, while Toronto may still look at bringing him up to the NHL at a later point.

In return, Johnson said Buhr and Quillan fit the style he wants in Abbotsford, with speed and work rate among the priorities. “Buhr was a guy we tracked as a college free agent last season,” Johnson explained. “And Quillan was a guy we talked a lot about in our meetings this summer and plays the way we want to play: work rate and speed.”

Johnson also pointed to roster flexibility on Toronto’s side, saying the Leafs were already at 50 NHL contracts, which he described as a factor in their willingness to make the move.

Buhr, 24, is from North Vancouver and played three seasons at Union College before signing with Toronto late last season. Before that, Johnson said Buhr was a quality player for Alberni Valley of the BCHL, and he is expected to spend time with ECHL Kalamazoo at the start of his Canucks organization stint.

Quillan, also 24, is Nova Scotian and has played for the Toronto organization for the past two-plus seasons. Johnson said Quillan had produced 36 points in 40 AHL games last season, along with three points in 23 NHL games, and that he will be in Abbotsford for now.