Ownership Meeting With Benning
The Vancouver Canucks have allowed 19 goals against in their last three games and now find themselves just three points ahead of the bottom-dwelling Seattle Kraken for last place in the Pacific Division. The team has lost four in a row, eight of their last ten, and now own a -14 goal differential on the year. Things are not going well in Vancouver, to say the least.
So when reports surfaced over the weekend that the team owner was on the road trip, some eyebrows were raised around the league. Would the team make a change in the front office if things didn’t turn around quickly? No, apparently not yet. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman tweets that though owner Francesco Aquilini is meeting with general manager Jim Benning this afternoon, he does not expect to make a change at the position. Friedman writes that the meeting is just to “understand why the team is losing and address it.” The Canucks are scheduled to welcome in the Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets, and Chicago Blackhawks on their current three-game homestand.
AHL Shuffle: 11/14/21
A busy weekend in the NHL continues today. After 26 teams took the ice on Saturday, 12 will suit up on Sunday, including eight teams playing back-to-back. As a result, a number of teams could be looking to make changes on the fly today. On the other hand, with only two games on the docket on Monday, other teams could be using the time off to tweak their roster (and manage their salary cap). Keep up with all of the action right here:
Atlantic Division
- The Ottawa Senators had recalled unheralded defenseman Maxence Guenette from AHL Belleville on Saturday to assist with the injury crisis on their blue line, but with Artem Zub able to play Guenette was shortly re-assigned. Apparently, the team still has some concerns as Guenette is headed back to Ottawa today, the team announced. If Guenette plays on Sunday, it will be the NHL debut for the 2019 seventh-round pick.
Metropolitan Division
- Frequent Flyer Nick Seeler is taking a departure flight down to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the team announced. Seeler has been back and forth all season, but has actually not seen any AHL action yet. The veteran defenseman has played in 11 games with Philadelphia, but has been held scoreless in a limited role.
- As expected, the Pittsburgh Penguins have activated Sidney Crosby, Brian Dumoulin, Marcus Pettersson, and Chad Ruhwedel. In order to clear the space for these additions, Drew O’Connor, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Juuso Riikola, and Louis Domingue have all been reassigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, per the Pittsburgh Tribune’s Seth Rorabaugh. It’s a bittersweet swap for the Penguins, who undoubtedly get better but at the cost of exciting young pieces in O’Connor and Joseph.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets recalled Justin Danforth from the Cleveland Monsters Sunday afternoon, per a team release. Danforth, who was signed to a one-year, one-way contract this offseason, could make his NHL debut with Columbus after potting five points in eight AHL games to start the season. The 28-year-old Oshawa, Ontario, native has been one of the world’s best scoring forwards outside of the NHL in the past few seasons with a trio of strong performances in the Liiga and KHL.
Central Division
Pacific Division
- Without a game until Wednesday, the Los Angeles Kings have sent some of their bottom of the lineup players down to the minors. The team has announced that forward T.J. Tynan and defensemen Kale Clague and Austin Strand have been reassigned to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. While Clague has played in eight games with L.A. so far this season, Strand and Tynan have just two games between them and could be in for a longer stay in the AHL.
- After clearing waivers, Riley Sheahan has been assigned to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, the Seattle Kraken announced. Sheahan was one of the few expendable players left on a Seattle roster that still faces a roster crunch with a number of valuable players – though that value has not produced many wins thus far.
- To make room for Tyler Motte who was activated off injured reserve, the Vancouver Canucks announced that they’ve sent defenseman Jack Rathbone to the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL. Rathbone has played in nine games for Vancouver this season, averaging just under 14 minutes per game.
Tucker Poolman Suspended Two Games
The Vancouver Canucks will be without Tucker Poolman for the next two games after he was handed a suspension from the Department of Player Safety for his high-stick on Kiefer Sherwood. As the accompanying video explains:
It is important to note that this is not a play where a player simply loses control of his stick, nor one where an off-balance player flails to try to steady himself. This is not a hockey play. This is an intentional and retaliatory stick swing, that strikes an opponent directly in the head. Such actions cannot be excused.
Given Poolman’s clean history, with no fines or suspensions so far in his career, and the fact that Sherwood did not suffer a serious injury on the play, the suspension was limited at two games. He did also receive a match penalty and game misconduct, though it occurred in the third period of a game that was already well out of hand.
That certainly won’t be the case going forward however, as this penalty will be considered in the future for any further supplementary discipline.
The Canucks recalled Madison Bowey earlier today, anticipating the suspension.
Tucker Poolman To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety
The Department of Player Safety has some more work to do, as Tucker Poolman will have a hearing today following his high-sticking incident last night.
After absorbing a check from Kiefer Sherwood, Poolman swung his stick and connected with the Colorado forward’s head. Poolman was issued a game misconduct and a match penalty, one that comes with an automatic review from the league. That will likely be followed by a suspension of some sort, meaning that Vancouver will be without the defenseman for the next game at least.
The Canucks are already without Travis Hamonic as they travel through a U.S. road trip. With Poolman now likely missing, they’ll have an even thinner depth chart on defense. The team was already embarrassed on the scoresheet by the Avalanche, losing 7-1, and now will head into Vegas and Anaheim before returning home.
Travis Hamonic Assigned To AHL
The Vancouver Canucks have officially assigned Travis Hamonic to the AHL as they head out on a three-game road trip to the U.S. As Ben Kuzma of Postmedia points out on Twitter, Hamonic is not considered fully vaccinated, so if he traveled with the team he would face quarantine restrictions upon his return to Canada. Instead, the team has recalled Jack Rathbone for the trip and placed Luke Schenn on injured reserve.
In this case, Hamonic had already cleared waivers before the season began so won’t need to go through that process again until he plays in 10 games at the NHL level or spends 30 days on the active roster. The veteran defenseman has been in the lineup four times so far, playing a season-high 19:50 in last night’s overtime loss against the Anaheim Ducks.
Rathbone meanwhile isn’t just some last-minute call-up. The 22-year-old defenseman has already played eight games for Vancouver this season and appears to be a big part of their future on the back end. He recorded one point in two games for Abbotsford, but will get back on the road with the big club and receive another opportunity to show what he can do at the NHL level.
One thing to remember about the Hamonic demotion is that while in the AHL, only $1.125MM of his $3MM cap hit is buried. The team has Tyler Motte traveling with them as he approaches a return from LTIR, meaning the salary cap dance will get even more complicated in the coming weeks for Vancouver.
Injury Notes: O’Reilly, Wild, Schenn
St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly is likely to return to the lineup Sunday night when they take on the Anaheim Ducks, per Blues writer Chris Pinkert. The 30-year-old center missed the team’s last four games while in COVID-19 protocol. He’s likely to return to top-line duties between David Perron as well as Brandon Saad, who’s also missed time while in COVID-19 protocol this season. Prior to departing the lineup, O’Reilly had five points in five games while averaging 19:13 of ice time per game.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- The Minnesota Wild activated both Mats Zuccarello and Rem Pitlick from COVID-19 protocol today, according to a team tweet. Zuccarello is the Wild’s most productive player this season in terms of points per game, notching three goals and four assists for seven points through six games. He returns playing on a unit with Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek. Pitlick, who was claimed off waivers from the Nashville Predators earlier in the season, only played one game before entering protocol. However, he did notch an assist in that game and should return to the lineup in a fourth-line role centering Brandon Duhaime and Kyle Rau.
- Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic reports Vancouver Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn could miss a couple of weeks with what Dhaliwal calls a “knee issue.” Schenn was absent from Vancouver’s practice Sunday. Schenn has two assists through five games this season, often serving as a healthy scratch.
Travis Hamonic Recalled By Vancouver Canucks
After just one game in the AHL, Travis Hamonic is back with the Vancouver Canucks. The veteran defenseman has been recalled to the NHL, with Jack Rathbone loaned back to the Abbotsford Canucks to make room.
Hamonic, 31, had previously taken an unpaid leave of absence from the team, cleared waivers and recently reported to Abbotsford. While in the AHL part of his $3MM cap hit had been buried, but now that he’s back with the NHL team the full thing will be carried by the Canucks. That pushes the team right up against the salary cap ceiling and in a tricky situation should anyone else face an injury that does not require placement on long-term injured reserve.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson happened to be missing from practice today, while Hamonic was working in on the second pairing alongside Kyle Burroughs, trading rushes with Luke Schenn. It’s unclear whether he will be inserted directly into the lineup for tomorrow night’s game against the New York Rangers, but he is obviously an important part of the Canucks when healthy.
In 38 games last season, Hamonic averaged more than 19 minutes a night with the vast majority of those coming next to Quinn Hughes. With the team struggling–Vancouver has just three wins in their first nine games–Hamonic will likely be a welcome addition whenever he is added to the lineup sheet.
Travis Hamonic Reports To Vancouver
Oct 29: CapFriendly reports that Hamonic’s $3MM cap hit is now officially back on the books, though at the buried rate. Just $1.875MM counts toward the cap ceiling while he is in the minor leagues with Abbotsford. To make the money work, the team has also moved Tyler Motte to long-term injured reserve.
Oct 26: The Vancouver Canucks unveiled some good news ahead of their home opener on Tuesday, announcing that veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic had reported to the team. Hamonic had previously taken a leave of absence after failing to report to training camp. The team held out hope that he would report at some point this season and that has now come to fruition before the end of the first month of the season.
Hamonic and the Canucks have both been tight-lipped about the reason for his absence. It has been attributed only to “personal matters” without any further detail. GM Jim Benning also vaguely noted that the issue was “bigger than what you guys think it is” and the team was assisting Hamonic with getting help. This obviously raises questions, which won’t soon go away even after his return, but for now anything is just speculation.
Having cleared waivers previously, Hamonic will initially report to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks in the coming days. However, once the 31-year-old is up to speed he will surely join Vancouver. Hamonic recorded ten points in 38 games in his first season with the Canucks in 2020-21 and can still be a major piece of the puzzle even if he’s on the back end of this career. The Canucks have depth on the blue line, but Hamonic will still have a place on the team when ready.
Nic Petan Clears Waivers; Brock Boeser Activated
Oct 20: Petan has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.
Oct 19: The Vancouver Canucks have placed Nic Petan on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The forward had yet to appear in a game for the Canucks this season, and with Brock Boeser nearing a return, the team needed to open up a roster spot. In fact, Vancouver announced that Boeser has been activated and Petan has been designated for assignment, meaning should he clear, he’ll automatically be assigned to the Abbotsford Canucks.
Petan, 26 has bounced between the minors and NHL for years now, playing a handful of games each season and routinely dominating the minor leagues. In fact, since the start of 2017-18 he has been a better than point-per-game player in the AHL, racking up 98 points in 91 games. There just hasn’t been that kind of production in the NHL though, and the shifty, undersized playmaker has found himself watching from the outside more often than not.
For the Canucks, Boeser’s return is essential if they want to compete in the Pacific Division playoff race. They were held to just one goal by the Detroit Red Wings in their last match, despite posting 41 shots on net. Boeser’s elite finishing ability will come in handy, giving them another weapon at both even-strength and on the powerplay.
Injury Notes: Hughes, Dunn, Stars
The Vancouver Canucks have yet to play with a healthy core this season, and unfortunately, that trend will continue tonight. While winger Brock Boeser will be back in the lineup as reported earlier today, now defenseman Quinn Hughes is injured and will miss tonight’s game, per The Athletic’s Thomas Drance. After signing a six-year, $47.1MM extension prior to the season starting, Hughes has performed well with two points in three games while logging 27:39 a night. Veteran defenseman Brad Hunt draws into the lineup in his place, according to the team’s line rushes.
More injury notes ahead of tonight’s games:
- After missing the past two games with an injury, The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark reports Seattle Kraken defender Vince Dunn will return to the lineup. Slotting back onto a pair with Jeremy Lauzon, Dunn has an assist in two games but has played just 15:08 per game, a far cry from the role he was expected to play with the team. He’ll have to work overtime now in order to work his way back into the team’s top-four.
- The Dallas Stars are missing both John Klingberg and Jason Robertson for tonight’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, per the Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks. Both remain day-to-day as Robertson has yet to slot into the lineup this season, while Klingberg played just 10:21 of the Stars’ first game. It’ll be tough to knock off the Penguins, who have yet to lose in regulation, without two key players.