VANCOUVER — The Canucks lost feisty fourth-line winger Aaron Volpatti on Thursday, as Washington claimed him off waivers.

The Revelstoke native had played in 16 games for the Canucks, scoring one goal and collecting 28 PIMs.

Although Volpatti had been a healthy scratch for three of the Canucks’ past five games, he told The Province on Thursday morning that being put on waivers caught him by surprise.

“I was a little surprised,” said Volpatti. “Obviously, I didn’t play a couple games there in a row. Nonetheless, I was still surprised. I thought I was contributing and doing my job.

“I understand why from a business standpoint, but it doesn’t make me any more satisfied that it happened.”

Volpatti said he was told by the Canucks that they wanted to put him in a position where he could play more.

“I think the main thing was ice time,” said Volpatti, 27. “They wanted me to play more. I agreed. I did want to play more. I’m a little disappointed to be leaving Vancouver, but hopefully I can get that opportunity in Washington.”

Volpatti, who was a Canucks fan growing up in the B.C. Interior, said he was thrilled when he was able to sign with Vancouver as a U.S. college free agent three years ago.

“It was a dream come true, for them to be in the mix when I was coming out of college with those other teams and have them show the interest they did,” he said. “My heart was in Vancouver and that was a disappointing thing. But I’m getting some new opportunities, so I’ll run with it.”

Volpatti spoke with the Capitals following his acquisition.

“I think they are just looking for that element of being physical and being able to play some minutes,” he said. “It looks like they’ve got a great group of guys and from spending some time on the East Coast I know Washington is a great city and hopefully we can get back in the playoff picture and go from there.”