Two days after a strange public plea to drum up interest, the Canucks have placed forward Chris Higgins on waivers on Tuesday.

Canucks president of hockey operations Trevor Linden announced the decision during the Vancouver broadcast on Monday night, admitting there wasn’t much of a trade market for Higgins.

The lack of interest wasn’t exactly surprising. Higgins, 32, has struggled mightily with just two goals and one assist in 25 games this season to go along with a minus-12 rating.

Higgins is unlikely to be claimed, not with his lack of production and one more season remaining on his contract at $2.5 million AAV.

More importantly, half of the NHL’s 30 teams are within two or three contracts of the 50-man limit, making it a difficult time to take on a deal without giving one back in a trade. The Canucks had a better chance trying to move Higgins in a trade by also retaining half of his salary for the remainder of this season and next year.

Vancouver’s intent is to send Higgins to their AHL affiliate in Utica upon clearance on Wednesday. That move would create $950,000 in salary cap space for the Canucks, who would also eat $1.55 million in a buried cap hit while Higgins is in the minors.

The Canucks announced Sunday that Higgins would not be with the team until his situation is sorted out, after a bizarre press release in which they “confirmed” the exploration of trade options, despite the fact Higgins’ name wasn’t percolating in rumours. Normally, a team would send a private message to all 29 teams to express his availability, rather than such a public notice.

“As part of our transition to a younger team, I can confirm we're exploring trade options for Chris Higgins so we can create more roster space for our younger players to develop,” GM Jim Benning said in his statement. “Chris is a quality person who has been an important member of our team for nearly five seasons. Our focus has been on finding a positive new situation for him and we will continue to do so.”

Higgins finished fifth in Canucks scoring last season - ahead of Alexandre Burrows, Jannik Hansen, Derek Dorsett and Shawn Matthias - with 36 points despite holding the team’s worst shooting percentage (7 per cent) among forwards.

Frank Seravalli can be reached at frank.seravalli@bellmedia.ca.