I've had some time to stew on this and here are my thoughts (in no particular order):
1) If there was a time to try and "sneak" a player through waivers, this was the time to do it. Playing Gadjovich less in the preseason increases the odds of him clearing waivers (i.e. the opposite of showcasing the player).
2) Did the Canucks know that Gadjovich would be lost to waivers? It doesn't seem like they did, otherwise (unless they have seen enough) they would have given Gadjovich a greater chance to see what they got? The Canucks really need to gather better intel. They lost Cracknell and McKenna on waivers with unintended results.
3) Why don't they didn't give Gadjovich the Chiasson trial? Gadjovich has at least some upside while Chiasson is 31 and can only decline from here. My personal thoughts is this is on Green. He notably was pulled off the ice by Green after making one bad giveaway. Every other prospect that we gave auditions to last year got more opportunities.
4) I am starting to get really sad over losing Gadjovich. The steps he took to improve his game is promising. He might turn into a 15-20 goal middle 6 "power forward" or a 4th line banger who can fight.
5) The only thing preventing me from absolutely hating what happened to Gadjovich is that I don't really know whether he is good enough to play in the NHL right now. If he isn't then trying to sneak him through waivers is one of the better options.
6) Going back to #5, how improved is he? There's no question that Gadjovich has the ability to score garbage goals. If his skating isn't holding him back he can forecheck, win puck battles along the wall, and fight. Back only few months ago the reviews were that there's no way his skating is good enough to play in the NHL and he doesn't have a high motor, good defensive acumen, and puck skills to begin with even at the AHL level.
7) I am trying to cope with the loss. I do think that San Jose will end up waiving Gadjovich and I hope the Canucks re-claim him.