Canucks Place Aatu Raty on Waivers Amid Brutal Losing Streak

The Vancouver Canucks are officially in shake-things-up mode. According to Elliotte Friedman, the team has placed center Aatu Raty on waivers.

When a team is bleeding goals at an alarming rate, someone usually ends up paying the price. Today, that guy is Raty.

"Elliotte Friedman reported: 'Raty (Van) on waivers'"

If you want to know why the front office is making roster moves, just look at the recent box scores. Vancouver is currently trapped in a four-game losing streak that looks more like a horror movie than a hockey schedule.

Over their last four games against the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, and New York Islanders, the Canucks have been outscored by a combined 20-7 margin. Giving up seven goals to Carolina and six to the Rangers is the kind of defensive collapse that forces a coach to start shuffling the deck.

Waiving a young center like Raty is the front office pulling a lever to try and change the math. For anyone tracking Vancouver's moneylines or team totals, this is a glaring signal that the current lineup formula is completely broken and management knows it.

Now we wait to see if another franchise decides to take a flyer on Raty off the waiver wire.

Meanwhile, the Canucks have to figure out how to stop the bleeding immediately. They head out next to face the Florida Panthers, and if they do not find a way to tighten up defensively, this road trip is going to go from bad to historically ugly.