Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Chris Tanev

Canucks Assign Alex Biega To Utica On Conditioning Assignment

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Vancouver Canucks assigned defenseman Alex Biega to the Utica Comets of the AHL on a conditioning assignment, according to the Elite Prospects website, via Twitter. Biega has made just one appearance on the season and saw 8:37 of ice time while filling in at forward. The Canucks currently list nine blue liners – including Biega – on their roster but with two others – Chris Tanev and Philip Larsen – on IR, it leaves the team with just six healthy defensemen.

It’s possible Tanev could be nearing a return as it was thought he was going to miss 10 games due to injury and would need another few days of skating before coming back. If that timeline is still in place, Tanev should be close to coming back to the lineup though a projected return date has not been given.

Biega saw action in 51 games with Vancouver during the 2014-15 campaign and tallied seven points while recording a minus-11 plus-minus rating. He inked a two-year, one-way deal in the summer with an AAV of $750K on the heels of that performance. Originally a fifth-round pick of Buffalo all the way back in 2006 draft, Biega attended Harvard University where he played for four years. He signed with the Canucks as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

By rule Biega can remain with the Comets for up to 14 days. It’s unclear at this point if the Canucks will keep him in Utica for the full two weeks or recall the blue liner after shaking off some rust in the AHL. He was slated to be in the lineup tonight when the Comets travel to Toronto to play the Marlies.

Canucks Sign Ben Hutton To Two-Year Extension

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Vancouver Canucks have found some certainty during this difficult season. Today they announced that they’ve signed Ben Hutton to a two-year extension that will pay him $2.8MM annually. The deal will kick in at the start of the 2017-18 season.<a rel=

After selecting Hutton in the fifth-round of the 2012 draft (147th overall), the Canucks couldn’t have envisioned his quick rise to the NHL blueline. At just 22 last season, Hutton led all Vancouver defensemen in points with 25, in what would be an excellent rookie campaign. While he has only four points this season, he’s been relied upon even more, logging over 21 minutes a night.

With the Canucks floundering somewhere between contending and rebuilding, Hutton is a shining light for the future. The team will, however, be spending quite a bit of money on their defense next season as Erik Gudbranson and Nikita Tryamkin are up for new contracts and Alexander Edler, Chris Tanev and Luca Sbisa already cost $13MM combined.  It’ll be an interesting offseason for a team who put money up this summer to try and compete during the closing Sedin window, but have gotten off to a tough 8-10-2 start.

With Hutton signed, GM Jim Benning says next on the list is former first-round pick Bo Horvat, a player he’d like to sign long-term if possible. The Canucks have roughly $55MM committed to just 15 players for next season, meaning that they’ll have somewhere around $18-20MM (depending on where the cap lands) to fill out their roster. Horvat, Gudbranson, and Tryamkin join many other including Brendan Gaunce and Michael Chaput on the team’s long list of RFAs this summer. If Horvat does indeed get a long-term deal, he’ll substantially eat into that cap space.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacific Notes: Hamilton, Arizona Injuries, Virtanen

at CDT | by 1 Comment

While the suggestion over the weekend that Calgary defenseman Dougie Hamilton caught many by surprise, TSN’s Darren Dreger suggested to a Montreal ‘s TSN690 that his name has been out there for a little while now (transcription from FanRag’s Chris Nichols):

That rumor has been fairly consistent. It really has. I can think back to the draft in Buffalo, where Dougie Hamilton’s name had surfaced at that point. He’s one of those guys, right or wrong, that always seems to have that lure about him or carry the possibility that a trade could be in the future again.”

While Hamilton has played fairly well with Calgary – he set a career high in points last season and leads all Flames blueliners in scoring this year – he carries a cap hit of $5.75MM for five more years.  While that’s a fair market price for a top four defender, the Flames are spending nearly $27MM on their back end currently (and that doesn’t include $3.5MM for Ladislav Smid who’s on long-term injured reserve).  In theory, moving an area of positional strength to fill a hole or two makes sense.

If Calgary were to move Hamilton, they should have no shortage of suitors as most teams are always on the lookout for a top four defenseman.  Dreger feels they should have no issue moving him if they do decide to go that route:

“And there’s a premium market right now for defense. That seems to be the case on an annual basis. So if Calgary gets to a stage where they want to make that move, I don’t think it’s going to be a huge issue finding Hamilton another address.”

In the meantime, as we learned yesterday, the Flames are shopping a couple of veterans in defenseman Deryk Engelland and forward Lance Bouma but haven’t had much interest in either player just yet.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

  • The Coyotes are close to getting a pair of key veterans back as goaltender Mike Smith and center Martin Hanzal both skated on Monday, notes Sarah McLellan of The Arizona Republic. Head coach Dave Tippett is optimistic that both players should be back in the lineup this week.  Smith has been out since October 18th with a lower body issue while Hanzal has missed five straight games, also due to a lower body injury.
  • After recalling Jake Virtanen from his two game ‘conditioning stint’, the Canucks don’t plan to have him in the lineup right away, writes Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province. The team is looking for him to play with more intensity and consistency after a slow start this season that has seen him record just one assist through ten games.  Vancouver also provided a couple of injury updates.  Defenseman Chris Tanev will miss another ten days with a foot injury while right winger Jannik Hansen will be out for another three weeks with a fractured rib.

Vancouver Unwilling To Move Top Prospects For Short-Term Help

at CDT | by 1 Comment

While Vancouver GM Jim Benning is looking to make a move to improve his struggling Canucks team – they’ve lost nine straight games following tonight’s game against the Islanders – his options are limited due to an unwillingness to part with any top prospects or core players, writes Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province.  Benning explained his rationale to not consider using what would be his best trade assets:

“We’re in a transition period and that’s why I’m looking at different things. If it makes sense, we’ll look at it, but I’m not moving our Grade-A prospects.”

Vancouver’s ‘Grade-A’ prospects include goaltender Thatcher Demko who is considered the goalie of the future and is just beginning his pro career and recent first round picks Olli Juolevi and Brock Boeser who are at the junior and collegiate levels respectively.  Kuzma adds that top draft picks are also off the table as well.

One player who has received a lot of interest is defenseman Chris Tanev.  However, Benning ruled out any ideas of trading him at this time:

“We’ve rebuilt our defence over the course of the last two years and we have some depth. Tanev is a big part of our group and we’re not looking to move him. Chris is still young (26) and one of our better defencemen and you saw the other night (Saturday) when Tanev and Edler didn’t play.”

Tanev, who is currently out of the lineup with a foot issue, has a desirable contract for a top four blueliner with a cap hit of $4.45MM through the 2019-20 season.  He recently returned to Vancouver to be re-evaluated and there is no timetable for his return.

In the meantime, with seemingly limited trade options at the moment, the Canucks will continue to hope that players like Loui Eriksson (zero goals), Sven Baertschi (zero goals), Jake Virtanen (zero goals), and Brandon Sutter (one goal) can snap their respective scoring droughts and get Vancouver back into the win column.

[Related: Canucks Depth Chart]

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top