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Thatcher Demko Expected Back In Next Few Days

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The Vancouver Canucks haven’t had Thatcher Demko in net for an entire game since November. More than anything, his absence has been a considerable part of the organization’s collapse this season. Demko’s strong play likely shrouded some of the issues the team faced last year, and when he struggled at the beginning of this season, they were revealed.

His injury, which has kept him out since a game on December 1, went through several levels of severity as he dealt with setbacks. Demko is now, finally, expected to be back for the Canucks in the next few days, according to Sportsnet broadcaster Brendan Batchelor.

Vancouver Clears Brock Boeser's Agent To Discuss Trade With Minnesota

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Few fits between player and team in the NHL are more evident than Brock Boeser and the Minnesota Wild. As the Vancouver Canucks still look to remain active on the trade market and the Wild debate whether or not to make a deadline-day splash, the door to a union between Boeser and his home team remains open.

Vancouver Canucks Recall Aatu Raty, Guillaume Brisebois

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The Vancouver Canucks announced Wednesday that they’ve recalled forward Aatu Raty and defenseman Guillaume Brisebois from their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, also assigning forward Phillip Di Giuseppe to Abbotsford.

This could be Canucks fans’ first look at Raty in the NHL. Raty, still just 20 years old, was the centerpiece of the trade return for captain Bo Horvat when he was dealt to the New York Islanders late last month. After a strong start with the Islanders’ farm team in Bridgeport, though, it’s been a tough adjustment for Raty in Abbotsford. He has just one assist in eight games since joining the AHL Canucks.

It’s likely best not to read too much into Raty’s offensive struggles post-trade. A mid-season, coast-to-coast move across country borders would be understandably taxing on the young Finn. He’ll now get his second chance in the NHL this season after recording two goals in 12 games with the Islanders before the trade.

Raty and Brisebois will join the Canucks in St. Louis as they wrap up a road swing through the Central Division. Brisebois, a 25-year-old defenseman, has posted a goal and five assists in 36 games with Abbotsford this season. He saw time up with Vancouver in late October 2022, recording his first NHL point in a brief three-game stint.

Di Giuseppe, who signed a one-year, two-way contract to return to the Canucks last July, has recorded two goals and an assist in nine games with Vancouver this season. The 29-year-old will look to continue his strong offensive pace in Abbotsford, where he’s combined for 25 goals and 41 assists in 75 games since 2021.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson Placed On Injured Reserve

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  • The Vancouver Canucks have announced that defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been placed on injured reserve. It was previously reported that Ekman-Larsson would miss several weeks with an ankle injury, and now the Canucks have made that reality official on their roster, as they’ve placed Ekman-Larsson on the injured list. With him out, the Canucks are turning to Riley Stillman and Christian Wolanin on the left side of their defense, and will now have an extra spot on the 23-man roster to work with.

Vancouver Canucks To Scratch Luke Schenn

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The Vancouver Canucks are the latest team to start protecting assets before the trade deadline, as Luke Schenn will sit out tonight’s game against the Nashville Predators.

Schenn, 33, has been the subject of trade speculation for weeks, thanks to his unique mix of physicality, reasonable cost, and championship pedigree. He carries a cap hit of just $850K this season, leads the NHL in hits with 258, and recently won the Stanley Cup twice with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Any contender in the league could fit Schenn into their cap situation by moving a single player off the roster, and almost all of them are looking for defensive depth. At one point, a reunion with the Lightning was rumored, but recent reports had the Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames linked to him.

Just a few days ago, Schenn told the media that he expected to play every day until he was traded, meaning a move could be imminent if he’s being pulled from the lineup.

The right-shot defenseman has 21 points in 55 games this season, his highest total since 2011-12 and a pace that will easily have him set a new career-high by the end of the year. He won’t be going anywhere for his offense, but a three-assist game a few days ago only would have helped his profile around the league.

Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV was first to report the fact that Schenn would be scratched. 

William Lockwood Activated, Loaned To AHL

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  • After several weeks on the sidelines, Vancouver Canucks forward William Lockwood has been activated from injured reserve and loaned to the AHL. He last appeared in a game on January 24, leaving after just six minutes of ice time due to the concussion protocol. The 24-year-old forward has just one assist in 13 games for the Canucks this season and is still looking for his first NHL goal. He’ll likely see a call-up once he’s back in game shape.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson To Miss Several Weeks

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It has been a tough season, to put it lightly, for Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson.  It just got a little tougher as head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters including Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province, that the veteran will be out “some weeks” due to an ankle injury.

The 31-year-old has struggled considerably in his own end which has helped contribute to Vancouver allowing the second-most goals in the NHL heading into today’s action.  On top of that, Ekman-Larsson has underachieved offensively, scoring just twice while picking up 20 assists in 54 games, numbers that are well below what he was putting up with Arizona when he had a six-year stretch of recording at least 39 points.  As a result of his struggles, his average ice time per game has dropped to 20:11, three minutes below his career average and his lowest since his rookie campaign back in 2010-11.

Ekman-Larsson still has four years left on his contract with Vancouver being responsible for a $7.26MM cap charge; Arizona is covering an additional $990K.  With that much term remaining, it will be extremely difficult for GM Patrik Allvin to move him; carrying an eight-year buyout charge certainly isn’t ideal either.  There’s no good situation for the Canucks moving forward when it comes to the veteran and now they’ll be without him for at least a few weeks.   Christian Wolanin was recalled from AHL Abbotsford earlier today and could have an opportunity to get into the lineup fairly quickly.

Canucks Recall Christian Wolanin, Place Travis Dermott On IR

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The Canucks have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their tonight against Philadelphia, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Christian Wolanin from AHL Abbotsford while placing defenseman Travis Dermott on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury.

Wolanin is up for only the second time this season with the first stint lasting less than 48 hours.  The 27-year-old has found another gear offensively in the minors this season, recording an impressive 55 points in 49 games.  That’s good for a tie for fourth overall in AHL scoring while he leads all blueliners by 10 points at a minimum.  Prior to this season, the most points that Wolanin had in the minors in a single season was 31.  He has 70 games of NHL experience under his belt with three different teams and has seen NHL action in each of the last five years.

Dermott, meanwhile, has had a tough season, missing more than 30 games with a concussion and now he’s on the shelf again having last played on January 25th.  When healthy, the 26-year-old has been limited to just 11 games where he has only a single goal while averaging 13:45 per game, a career low.  He’s in the final season of a two-year, $3MM contract and is owed a qualifying offer of $1.75MM this summer.  With his struggles and Vancouver’s cap situation, he looks like a potential non-tender candidate this summer.

Trade Deadline Primer: Vancouver Canucks

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Halfway through February, the trade deadline looms and is just a few weeks away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Vancouver Canucks.

While it wouldn’t be fair to say there were high expectations for Vancouver heading into the season, there were certainly some hopes that they’d be able to pick up where they left off after a strong second half in 2021-22.  With Bruce Boudreau back for a full season, the team would be better offensively, Thatcher Demko would continue to be a strong starter, and things would be looking up.

Suffice it to say, that hasn’t happened.  Boudreau was recently fired after months of speculation with Rick Tocchet taking over while Demko was having the worst season of his career before being injured, turning things over to a pair of AHL goaltenders.  The end result is that they’re one of the worst teams in the league defensively and with one big move made already – Bo Horvat to the Islanders – the selling-off process is well underway.

Record

21-30-4, 6th in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$7.62MM in LTIR relief, 1/3 retention slots used, 47/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2023: NYI 1st*, VAN 1st, VAN 2nd, VAN 3rd, NYR 4th, VAN 4th, VAN 6th
2024: VAN 1st, VAN 3rd, VAN 4th, VAN 5th, VAN 6th, VAN 7th

*-Pick is top-12 protected in 2022-23 and becomes an unprotected pick in 2024 if it doesn’t convey this season.

Trade Chips

There has been no shortage of speculation surrounding defenseman Luke Schenn in recent weeks.  The veteran has been a capable defensive piece on the third pairing over the last two seasons while being one of the most physical players in the league.  He’s also extremely cheap as his $850K cap hit is just $100K above the minimum salary.  Accordingly, this is a contract that pretty much everyone can afford without necessarily needing retention or salary offsets, elements we’re going to see come up frequently over the next couple of weeks.  Schenn has indicated that he’d like to stay in Vancouver but they’re likely to get a high enough draft pick that they’ll opt to move him.

Also on the back end, Tyler Myers is another player who has been in trade speculation for a little while.  Unlike Schenn, he’s not a rental (signed through next season) and certainly isn’t cheap with a $6MM AAV and a 10-team no-trade clause.  He’s still capable of logging top-four minutes and in a swap of underperforming change-of-scenery veterans, there’s a move to be made with him.  Another defenseman, Travis Dermott, is one to keep an eye on.  Injuries and struggles have limited him to just 11 games so far.  Owed a $1.75MM qualifying offer this summer, that’s a price that’s likely more than they’re willing to pay so if there’s a team that wants the 26-year-old as extra depth, it’s hard to imagine the Canucks passing up the opportunity to pick up a late-round pick there.

Up front, Brock Boeser is someone to keep an eye on.  Things have not gone well for him this season but he has scored more than 20 goals in four of the last five years and likely would have gotten there in the year he didn’t had it not been for the pandemic-abbreviated schedule.  There are teams that certainly could use him in their top six but with a $6.65MM price tag through 2024-25, fitting him into a contender’s cap structure will be tough.  If they’re willing to retain salary though, there’s a chance he could be on the move as well.

Conor Garland is having a decent season and should reach 39 points for the fourth year in a row.  However, he has taken a bit of a step back from last year and with the additions of Andrei Kuzmenko and Ilya Mikheyev last summer and the acquisition of Anthony Beauvillier in the Horvat trade, Vancouver has a surplus of wingers.  Garland carried some decent trade value back with Arizona but how much will his contract (which runs through 2025-26 at a $4.95MM AAV) change things?  Again, retention might be necessary to facilitate a move or at least take a similarly-priced player back.

Other Potential Trade Chips: G Collin Delia, F Micheal Ferland (LTIR contract), D Jack Rathbone, D Riley Stillman

Team Needs

1) Picks and Prospects – This one is pretty obvious for a team that’s heading for a rebuild.  Vancouver hasn’t had more than six picks in the last three years and has only picked twice in the top 75 over that span.  Their prospect pool isn’t the deepest as a result and needs to be built back up.

2) Cap Flexibility – At the moment, Vancouver has just over $80MM in commitments for next season while still needing to fill out a few roster spots.  Even as a seller, they need to open up some room simply to be able to afford to ice a full team next season.  Moving out one of their pricier contracts (Myers, Garland, or Boeser) would go a long way toward giving them some much-needed wiggle room.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tanner Pearson Placed On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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The Vancouver Canucks completed a curious transaction today, moving Tanner Pearson from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve. Pearson was already ruled out through the end of the season in January, but there was no need for him to be moved to LTIR unless the Canucks are adding salary. With Ilya Mikheyev, Micheal Ferland, and Tucker Poolman already there, the team had more than $4.3MM in flexibility.

We likely won’t know why Vancouver made this change until another transaction is completed, but it could signal that the club is going to take on money through the end of this year (or longer). Acquiring a bad contract or retaining salary as a middleman could give the Canucks some extra assets as the team continues to struggle through a lost season.

After receiving the usual coaching change bump, the group has lost three in a row, including a home-and-home with the Detroit Red Wings where they were outscored 11-3. Vancouver now sits just one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Division.

For Pearson, it is a just another meaningless transaction in a brutal season. The 30-year-old forward will end the year with just one goal in 14 games, after requiring multiple surgeries on his hand. His three-year, $9.75MM contract has another season remaining, though his partial no-trade clause expires at the end of 2022-23. It’s not clear yet when Pearson will be ready to play hockey again, or which team it will be for.

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