NHL makes a very special exception for former Canuck Jonah Gadjovich

On Saturday, it was revealed that the Stanley Cup was officially engraved with 53 names from the Florida Panthers organization including players, coaches, management staff and others.

There were several former Canucks to get their names on the Stanley Cup this time around including Roberto Luongo, Bryan McCabe, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and former prospect Gustav Forsling.

But there was another former Vancouver Canuck who was on the Florida Panthers' roster, but didn't reach the criteria needed to have his name engraved. The NHL's criteria for having a name on the Stanley Cup is a player either has to appear in at least 41 regular season games OR one game in the Final.

Because he was only two regular season games away from one of the requirements, the Florida Panthers were granted an exception by the National Hockey League to have Jonah Gadjovich's named put on the Stanley Cup. They were also granted an exception for defenceman Josh Mahura, who appeared in 30 games during the regular season.

Gadjovich, 25, was selected 55th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2017 Entry Draft and went on to spent three seasons in the organization and only played in one game at the NHL level, which came on May 17th, 2021 against the Calgary Flames. In 39 games this past season with Florida, the Whitby, Ontario native had four points (two goals, two assists), 104 penalty minutes and had an even-rating.

It's great to see some former Vancouver Canucks having success and being rewarded for a strong season by having their names engraved on the greatest trophy in all of sports. While Vancouver fans are happy for those former Canucks who won with Florida, they want Rick Tocchet and this current group to bring a Stanley Cup to British Columbia for the first time in franchise history.