The Canucks announced they’ve placed center Marco Rossi on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 30. His roster spot is going to winger Arshdeep Bains, who’s been recalled from AHL Abbotsford.
Rossi, 24, has only played eight games since being acquired from the Wild in the Quinn Hughes deal. The team’s new second-line center behind Elias Pettersson hasn’t seen much success yet, though. While he’s averaged nearly 19 minutes per game, tracking for a career-high, the 2020 No. 9 overall pick has only managed two points and a -5 rating while seeing a rotation of Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, and Conor Garland as his primary linemates.
That cold streak hit a stop sign against the Flyers on Tuesday, leaving that game with a lower-body injury. On Thursday, head coach Adam Foote told reporters that Rossi – along with Garland – would miss at least a week. He would be eligible to come off IR on Jan. 6 against the Sabres, but won’t return until their following game against the Red Wings at the earliest.
Injuries have been a theme for the Austrian this season. His tenure with the Wild ended while he was on injured reserve with a separate lower-body issue, believed to be a foot fracture. All told, he’s had five goals and 15 points in 25 showings this season after reaching a career-high 60 points last year.
If history is any indication, Bains won’t be a replacement for Rossi in the top six, but he does give Vancouver an extra forward while Garland is out. The 24-year-old broke camp with the Canucks but was waived and reassigned to Abbotsford last month after scoring a goal and five points in 26 appearances, almost exclusively in a fourth-line role while averaging under 10 minutes per game. The 6’0″ winger has three goals and six points in five AHL games since the demotion, bringing his career AHL points per game up to 0.79.