VANCOUVER — They may have lost the draft lottery, but the Vancouver Canucks are winning the waiver wire.

Thank goodness the National Hockey League hasn’t turned waivers into a fan spectacle in which any team that misses the playoffs can win the lottery and pick first.

As the worst team in hockey last season, the Canucks are guaranteed the first crack at anyone on waivers before Nov. 1. And Friday, they got one of their top pre-season picks when they claimed Ottawa Senators goalie Leevi Merilainen.

Waiver pickups in the NHL are often transaction footnotes that are soon forgotten. But knowing that star goalie Thatcher Demko might not be healthy to start this season, the Canucks had the 24-year-old Merilainen on their radar all summer. His free acquisition has the potential to be significant for the rebuilding team.

It’s certainly significant to Canucks centre Autu Raty, who went to school and grew up with Merilainen in their hometown of Oulu, Finland.

“Yeah, great pickup,” Raty said after practising Friday for the Canucks’ final pre-season game Saturday against the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Arena. “I’ve known him since seventh grade, maybe earlier. We were in the same sports school. We trained together in the mornings three or four times a week, and then we played U16 on the same team, and then world juniors together. Just a really good goalie, works really hard, and just a great guy. So really happy to get him on our team.”

Pressed for more intelligence on the goalie who is expected to be Kevin Lankinen’s backup when the Canucks open their regular season Tuesday in Edmonton, Raty said: “He's one of those goalies that’s just really calm. Tall, good reach, really good glove. Sometimes ... actually, he’s my goalie now, so I don’t want to give away too much. I just think he’s really athletic.”

So do the Canucks, who also believe Merilainen has a much higher ceiling than he has shown.

He struggled as an NHL rookie last season in Ottawa, forced by injuries to play 20 games in which his save percentage was a........

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