- Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau told the media today, via The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, that star centerman Elias Pettersson was sick today and was sent home from practice. While this is likely just a normal illness that anyone might deal with over the course of a winter, Pettersson’s health is a situation to monitor given his importance to the Canucks. In 28 games this season Pettersson has 34 points and has also played some of the best defensive hockey of his career.
Canucks Rumors
Artturi Lehkonen Returning To Colorado Avalanche Lineup
After suffering a concussion on December 3rd, Colorado Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen is expected back in the lineup for this afternoon’s contest on the road in St. Louis against the Blues, says Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Lehkonen was never placed on IR with the injury, missing three games and seven days total. At last report on Thursday, the veteran had been placed in concussion protocol. According to Durando, Lehkonen will skate on the top line this afternoon alongside Mikko Rantanen and Valeri Nichushkin.
Colorado’s injury woes this season have been well reported, the consistent and significant injuries sending the reigning Stanley Cup Champions into a fight for a playoff position even at the one-third mark of the season. After losing Nichushkin for over a month, the team then found out they’d be without perennial Hart Trophy candidate Nathan MacKinnon for four weeks, only compounding the issue. Beyond just their stars, which also includes Gabriel Landeskog, who has yet to play this season, Colorado has lost a number of secondary and depth options for small and large portions of the season.
Lehkonen has been one of the bright spots for the Avalanche so far this season, recording seven goals and 11 assists through 22 games, well on his way to a career-year. The team will need him to keep that scoring pace up in order to do their best to navigate other injuries, like MacKinnon’s, but it’s not yet known what sort of lingering effect, if any, will come with the concussion.
Staying on the injury front, Durando adds that Darren Helm and Evan Rodrigues are not yet ready to return to the lineup. Helm, who has yet to play this season, has been close to returning and was even a possibility to play this weekend, but will clearly need to wait a little bit longer to make his season debut. Rodrigues hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury against the Vancouver Canucks back on November 23rd, but had been a bright spot amid the injuries, with nine points in his first 18 games for Colorado.
Latest On Luke Schenn
According to Schenn, though, a trade isn’t his first choice for how to proceed on his expiring contract. Per The Athletic’s Harman Dayal, Schenn “wants to re-sign with the Canucks” and has said that his top priority “is to be part of a winning team” in Vancouver. (subscription link) Can the Canucks devote some of their limited financial flexibility to Schenn, who for all his virtues remains a 33-year-old physical defenseman? Schenn’s side of the equation seems settled, so the open question is whether Schenn’s interest in signing an extension is shared by his team.
Latest On Bo Horvat
With every day that passes, it seems a new report emerges about the lack of progress in Bo Horvat extension talks. Today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that “it’s not trending well.” Horvat is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
Of course, some of the same things were said this summer about the Vancouver Canucks and J.T. Miller, before the two sides eventually agreed on a seven-year, $56MM extension that includes a full-no-movement clause through 2026-27. Most insiders at the time had expected the Canucks to trade Miller instead of extending him, something that obviously didn’t happen as the veteran forward instead cashed in with a deal that includes $8.5MM in signing bonuses the first year.
So, until he actually hits the open market or is traded, things could change with regard to Horvat. But it is Miller’s contract that might end up forcing the Canucks to move on. The team is not good enough to contend for the Stanley Cup right now, despite a pair of crazy victories in recent days, and also has several expensive, underperforming contracts on the books.
Miller is still scoring at a good clip but has been anything but consistent this year, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s deal looks like one of the worst in the league as he plays through his age-31 season. The veteran defenseman will carry a $7.26MM cap hit for another four more years (and that’s not counting the portion the Arizona Coyotes are retaining).
Signing Horvat, then, would just add more money onto the pile without actually improving the Canucks roster. There’s no doubt that the 27-year-old center will be commanding more than his current $5.4MM cap hit in a new deal, especially after scoring 20 goals in his first 20 games this year. Goal-scoring centers are some of the highest-paid commodities in the league, as seen by Miller’s massive extension after a career-best 32 goals in 2021-22.
It should be noted that Horvat does not have trade protection in his current deal, meaning the Canucks could auction him off if necessary. Friedman notes that Canucks president Jim Rutherford will likely wait until February to try and squeeze the most value out of any deal, and suggests Luke Schenn as another chip he could cash in.
Vancouver Canucks Recall Christian Wolanin, Move Thatcher Demko To IR
Dec 6: It turns out Wolanin was just an extra body for last night’s game. He did not suit up in Vancouver’s insane come-from-behind win against the Montreal Canadiens, and the team returned him to AHL Abbotsford on Tuesday.
Dec 5: The Vancouver Canucks have moved goalie Thatcher Demko to injured reserve, freeing up a roster spot to recall defenseman Christian Wolanin from the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, according to a team announcement Monday night.
Three days ago, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Demko would be sidelined for six weeks with an injury and that Vancouver avoided a “worst-case scenario.” Although they did recall Collin Delia at the time, they did not have to make a corresponding transaction to do so.
Wolanin, 27, has yet to suit up for the Canucks this season. A veteran of 70 NHL games, he signed a one-year contract in Vancouver in July.
While none of the Canucks regular defensemen are hurt, Wolanin earns a call-up based on performance. His 24 points in 20 games are second in scoring among AHL defensemen, only behind Darren Raddysh’s 26 in 19. He’s eighth in league scoring among all skaters.
A fourth-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2015, Wolanin is on his fourth NHL organization after spending time with the Kings and Sabres (for one game) over the past three seasons.
Vancouver Canucks Activate Jack Studnicka
Earlier this evening, the Vancouver Canucks announced they have activated forward Jack Studnicka off of IR. No corresponding move was announced, and with Studnicka bringing the roster to a complete 23 players, no move was needed. Vancouver will host the Arizona Coyotes this evening.
Although the Canucks seem to have some other big pictures issues to deal with when it comes to turning their season around, such as Brock Boeser’s production and Thatcher Demko’s performance, and now injury, getting Studnicka back to health and rounding out the team’s depth is surely welcomed. The forward has just a goal and an assist so far this season in eight games, seven of which have come with Vancouver, but the once highly-touted prospect does have a knack for offense, turning in 35 points in 41 games at the AHL level last year. Getting some level of that production out of the winger at the NHL level would be much welcomed at this point in the season.
The 23-year-old was originally a second-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins back in 2017 and while he had played in parts of four seasons with Boston, he was never able to settle in as a regular contributor. Boston dealt him to Vancouver back in late October for goaltender Michael DiPietro and defenseman Jonathan Myrenberg.
Latest On Brock Boeser
Earlier this evening, it was reported that Brock Boeser would be a healthy scratch for the Vancouver Canucks when they host the Arizona Coyotes this evening. However, after taking warmups with the team, Boeser was placed into the lineup for tonights game, says Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Later this evening, on tonight’s 32 Thoughts segment Friedman added a bit more fuel to the fire if you will, discussing what might be happening off the ice. Friedman reports that the Canucks have given permission to Boeser’s representatives to talk to other teams about a potential move, though he cautions that neither the team nor Boeser’s agents have specifically confirmed this.
From afar, Vancouver deciding now is the time to trade Boeser might seem a bit confusing. For one, after struggling out of the gate this season, the team has rebounded nicely to put themselves in the playoff discussion at this point in the season, even if on the fringes. On top of that, Boeser has recorded 14 points in 18 games this season, good for 0.77 points-per-game, which is almost perfectly in-line with his career average of 0.79 points-per-game prior to this season.
However, known as a sharpshooter, Boeser’s 8.1% shooting-percentage is down from his career 13.2% he had prior to this season, not to mention he’s been shooting the puck less altogether, averaging 2.83 shots-per-game before this season, down to 2.05 in 2022-23. That’s resulted in just three of his 14 points coming on goals this season. Adding on to the problem, Boeser’s previous six games haven’t been his best, combining for just three points to go with a -6 rating and seven shots total.
What’s next for Boeser and Vancouver isn’t completely clear, but Friedman’s report does raise some eyebrows. For one, despite his struggles, Boeser is undoubtedly a dynamic offensive player that any number of teams would want to add into their lineup. When teams give permission for a player to speak with other teams, generally the reason for doing so is to see if they can work out an extension ahead of time, hopefully giving them a bigger return in a trade, however Boeser is still signed for another two seasons, bringing with him a $6.65MM cap hit.
Another fairly common reason a player may have permission to speak with other teams is to see who’s plans he might fit into with regards to playing time and role, perhaps if that player has been squeezed out in his current situation. Despite his struggles, it’s hard to imagine many teams wouldn’t view Boeser as anything but a valuable addition. Still, given Boeser’s rather large cap hit compared to his production, these conversations may be had to assure an acquiring team knows exactly what to expect in the case they have to absorb Boeser’s entire cap hit or pay Vancouver to retain some of it.
Brock Boeser To Be A Healthy Scratch Tonight
- 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.
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.