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Alex Biega is coming off the Canucks’ active roster to make room for Antoine Roussel.

Travis Green said it was a difficult decision to take Biega off the NHL roster.

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“He’s a good man. Dedicated worker, great character,” he said.

Because Roussel was on injured reserve, under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the players and the league, the Canucks will be allowed to dress Roussel tonight and not put Biega on waivers first thing Sunday morning, even though it might appear they will have 24 players on the roster.

Under clause 16.12b of the CBA, a team activating a player off IR is allowed to declare a player already on the roster as “non-roster” — which they’ve done wth Biega — with the intention of placing him on waivers the next day. (This clause can also be used when a player is acquired via trade, like the Canucks did a year ago when they traded for Derrick Pouliot. They designated Patrick Wiercioch for assignment at that time.)