- It has been a bit of a tough season so far for Canucks winger Brock Boeser and there’s more tough news coming for him as head coach Bruce Boudreau confirmed to Sportsnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor (Twitter link) that winger Brock Boeser will be a healthy scratch tonight against Arizona. Boeser has just three goals so far through his first 18 games (although he does have 11 assists) and Boudreau is calling this decision “tough love”. It sounds like this is a short-term decision but Vancouver will certainly need more from Boeser if they want to get back into the playoff picture; they sit five points out of the last Wild Card heading into today’s action.
Canucks Rumors
Thatcher Demko Out Six Weeks
The Vancouver Canucks have had an extremely difficult start to their season, and those difficulties continued with starting netminder Thatcher Demko going down with an injury. Today, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman issued an update on Demko’s injury timeline. Per Friedman, Demko is injured on a six-week timeline, and that timeline means the Canucks avoided a “worst-case scenario” with the injury.
The loss of Demko comes as a major blow to a Canucks franchise looking to build momentum and climb the standings. Like the Canucks as a whole, Demko has struggled so far this year. He has a .883 save percentage through 15 games, a significant decline from the .915 he posted in both 2021-22 and 2020-21. With a long recovery process in front of their starter, the Canucks will turn to backup Spencer Martin, who has a .900 save percentage in 10 games played.
Vancouver Canucks Recall Collin Delia
Things are going from bad to worse for the Vancouver Canucks. After Thatcher Demko suffered an injury in last night’s game, the team recalled Collin Delia from the AHL. The recall is under emergency conditions, meaning there is an injury of some sort preventing the team from icing two healthy goaltenders.
So far, no update has been given on Demko’s status. But he was helped off the ice last night holding his right leg and was ruled out soon after.
While Demko hasn’t been good this season, losing him won’t help the Canucks turn things around. Spencer Martin hasn’t been much better and Delia has an .884 save percentage in the minor leagues this season.
The Canucks are now 9-12-3 on the year and it’s hard to imagine them getting back into the race without elite goaltending. Demko is their best chance at that, even with his struggles so far.
Kuzmenko's Agent Says Extension Talks Unlikely Until End Of Season
Andrei Kuzmenko’s first season in North America has been a successful one as the winger enters play tonight sitting fourth on the Canucks in scoring with 11 goals and 10 assists in 22 games. He’s also set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer for the second straight year except this time, he won’t be capped on entry-level restrictions. While the two sides are eligible to work out an extension as early as January, it doesn’t appear that will be the case. Appearing on CHEK’s Donnie and Dhali (video link), Kuzmenko’s agent Dan Milstein indicated that there are no contract talks planned for the near future:
Vancouver Canucks Recall Phillip Di Giuseppe
Nov 30: With Mikheyev fully back in the fold, Vancouver returned Di Giuseppe to Abbotsford Wednesday night, per the team.
Nov 29: After opting to waive him over a month ago, the Vancouver Canucks are bringing forward Phillip Di Giuseppe back up to the NHL. General manager Patrik Allvin announced his recall from the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks Tuesday night.
Di Giuseppe comes to the NHL to potentially relieve Ilya Mikheyev, who could miss tonight’s game against the Washington Capitals with an illness. Both Di Giuseppe and Mikheyev were on the ice for warmups ahead of the game.
Now 29, Di Giuseppe is in his second year with the Canucks organization. He’s yet to score a goal this season in Abbotsford but does have five assists through seven games after approaching a point-per-game pace last season.
He has 201 games of NHL experience split between Carolina, Nashville, and the New York Rangers, and his a capable fourth-line plug-in when required.
As he has not spent more than 30 days on an NHL roster since clearing, Di Giuseppe will not require waivers again when the team opts to return him to Abbotsford.
Vancouver Canucks To Induct Roberto Luongo Into Ring Of Honour
Former Vancouver Canucks All-Star netminder Roberto Luongo will be inducted into the team’s Ring Of Honour next season at an undetermined home game, as announced by the team Wednesday night.
Luongo, 43, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame just a few weeks ago alongside a pair of Canucks legends, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. The team’s all-time leader in wins (252), Luongo backstopped the Canucks to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, was twice a Vezina Trophy finalist, and won the 2011 Jennings Trophy alongside backup Cory Schneider.
While he was drafted by the New York Islanders and played more games for the Florida Panthers, he reached his greatest team success in Vancouver. Luongo never won a Vezina Trophy, but he was universally recognized as a top-five goalie in the league for most of his 1,044-game career. His .919 career save percentage is tied for eighth among goalies with at least 250 NHL games, and his 489 career wins are fourth all-time.
Luongo was so revered in the Canucks organization that the team even attempted to name him captain. Although he couldn’t wear the “C” on his jersey during games as a goaltender, he was technically the twelfth captain in franchise history from 2008 to 2010 before conceding the role to Henrik Sedin.
Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford gave a statement on the news:
We are proud to welcome Roberto to the prestigious list of Canucks Ring of Honour inductees. Roberto experienced many of his career highlights as a Vancouver Canuck and is deservingly viewed as one of the best goaltenders our game has ever seen thanks to those moments. He was a fierce competitor and a tremendous leader for this team, and we are honoured to be able to acknowledge his contributions to this organization and city.
Given the level of play Luongo delivered in Vancouver, and his legendary status in NHL history, having his name in the team Ring of Honour is full and well deserved. It’s a bit surprising to see the organization opt not to retire Luongo’s #1 completely, but it’s still an option should the team reconsider in the future.
Vancouver Canucks Reassign Vasily Podkolzin, Jack Rathbone
The Vancouver Canucks assigned forward Vasily Podkolzin and defenseman Jack Rathbone to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks on Monday evening, according to a team tweet.
Podkolzin, 21, is enduring a bit of a classic sophomore slump. The 10th overall selection in 2019 has just three assists through 16 games, although he has been limited to playing just 12:34 per game. It’s his first demotion to the minors this season. It would be his first regular-season AHL contest if he suits up with Abbotsford. He had two points in two playoff games last season.
Similarly, it’s Rathbone’s first demotion of the season. He’s been a healthy scratch for most of the season, playing in six out of 22 games. He’s registered an assist and a -3 rating. The 23-year-old returns to Abbotsford, where he had a spectacular 40 points in 39 games last season.
For Vancouver, it could be a sign that Jack Studnicka is getting ready to come off injured reserve. He’s been out with a lower-body injury since November 15.
Latest On Bo Horvat
During a difficult start to their season, one of the few bright spots on the Vancouver Canucks’ roster has been the play of captain Bo Horvat. Horvat currently ranks second in the NHL with 15 goals, and has 21 points in 19 games. But while his hot start is good news for Horvat and Canucks fans, it may be giving Vancouver’s management team some headaches. That’s because Horvat is a pending unrestricted free agent, and the better he plays, the larger the contract he’ll be able to receive this summer gets. And while they are undoubtedly thrilled from an on-ice perspective that Horvat is playing well, his hot start may complicate his future in Vancouver. As team president Jim Rutherford has said that the Canucks’ priority will be gaining long-term financial flexibility, not losing it, many have wondered if Horvat is pricing himself out of Vancouver’s long-term plans.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that communication between Horvat’s representation and the Canucks have been “scarce,” and that there is a belief that contract talks between the two parties “broke off before training camp and have not resumed.” Since the going rate for productive top-six centermen is $7MM per year at the absolute minimum (with upwards of $8MM being the more realistic number) it’s fair to wonder if the Canucks have the desire to extend Horvat rather than deal him to a contender for a major compensation package.
More On Tyler Myers Trade Speculation
Over the weekend, reports emerged that the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators had discussed a potential Tyler Myers–Nikita Zaitsev swap. The talks didn’t get far enough to approach either player to waive their no-trade clause, but it still caused plenty of speculation over whether the Canucks will try to move on from their big defenseman.
Today, while discussing the particulars on CHEK TV, Rick Dhaliwal explained how difficult it will be to move Myers.
Here’s the problem. Myers has a $5MM signing bonus coming his way on July 1. That’s tough for any team to digest. That’s maybe why Ottawa is asking for a sweetener, something the Canucks are not in the mood to give up.
The Canucks are already without their 2024 second-round pick because of a trade that sent Jason Dickinson to the Chicago Blackhawks and do not appear to be in any position to start handing out more future assets. The team is struggling to stay in the Pacific Division race (despite some recent success) and likely could get Myers off the books much easier if they waited until after that $5MM signing bonus is paid out.
The 32-year-old defenseman is only signed through 2023-24 at a $6MM cap hit, meaning any acquiring team next summer would get him for just $1MM in actual salary. With a 10-team no-trade clause, Myers does have some say in where he ends up.
Vancouver could use that cap space next season, as J.T. Miller’s extension comes into effect and captain Bo Horvat needs a new deal. Even Andrei Kuzmenko, who has been one of the team’s more consistent offensive pieces, could factor into the financial planning as he too is a UFA after his one-year entry-level deal expires.
Moving Myers this year would obviously help, given the team is currently deep into LTIR space and will be in an extremely tight cap situation when Tucker Poolman and Travis Dermott are ready to be activated. But it might not be possible at this point, especially given his recent decrease in responsibility.
Myers has seen fewer than 19 minutes in each of the last three games and is now averaging fewer than 21 on the season for just the second time in his 14-year career.
Vancouver Canucks Inquired About Jack Roslovic
The Columbus Blue Jackets and Vancouver Canucks have been two of the most disappointing teams in the league to start the year. But over the summer, there were talks between the two teams about a potential Jack Roslovic trade, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline.
Portzline reports the Canucks inquired about Roslovic, looking to add to what was becoming a deep forward core, but the Blue Jackets were reluctant to move him. While Columbus’ subsequent start and Roslovic’s mediocre stat line (one goal, six points in 15 games) may make it look like a poor decision in hindsight, it’s understandable why Columbus wanted to hold onto their assets in an effort to be competitive. Many viewed Roslovic as a potential candidate to center a line between Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine after he broke out for a 22-goal campaign last year, but with Laine never really getting his feet under him, and Roslovic not playing up to the bar he set for himself, that trio has seen just 21 minutes together at even strength, per MoneyPuck.