Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Vancouver Canucks Assign Troy Stecher to Utica, Roster Deadline Approaches

October 10, 2016, 2:35 PM ET [145 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Now that preseason is over, NHL teams must have their opening-night rosters in place by 2 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday.

This is the moment where the roster needs to be trimmed to 23 players and needs to be salary-cap compliant—including the salaries of players who will eventually be placed on long-term injured reserve.

LTIR doesn't affect the Canucks, who are basically healthy coming out of training camp as far as we know. Anton Rodin is still dealing with issues surrounding his knee injury from last January and Jake Virtanen may be nursing the shoulder that he hurt during preseason, but there's no reason to think either of those situations will keep players out of the lineup for the long term.

The Canucks made one roster move today.




I like Stecher as much as anybody but am not surprised at all by this decision. Philip Larsen will get the chance that he was promised to run the power play, and Stecher's development won't be hurt by some time in the minors.




If he continues to do well, I'm sure Stecher will be the first call-up as soon as a blueliner is injured—and knowing the Canucks, that day probably isn't too far away.

So, the blue line corps is now down to eight. I expect the pairings will look like this on opening night:

Edler - Tanev
Hutton - Gudbranson
Sbisa - Larsen

Tryamkin - Biega

I'll be very interested to see how the team goes about reaching the games-played thresholds that it needs in order for Sbisa and Biega to both be eligible as the defensemen exposed in next spring's expansion draft. As a reminder, Sbisa will need to play in 29 games and Biega will need 19 in order to qualify.

I don't have a problem with the team trying to cover its bases by making sure that two defensemen will be eligible. I wonder if Willie Desjardins fought for Stecher or if he's content with the hand that he has been dealt? His job is the one that's most likely to be in jeopardy if the Canucks don't get off to a decent start this season.

According to the Canucks press release, the roster now sits at 27 players. Interestingly, that still appears to include the mysterious Tom Nilsson—a phantom who did not dress for any preseason games.

Nilsson is a 23-year-old Swedish defenseman whose only North American hockey experience was one season with the Toronto Marlies in 2014-15. He spent last year with Frolunda of the Swedish League and was signed to a one-year, two-way contract by the Canucks back in May.

I have to assume that his continued presence has something to do with salary cap and/or roster management. This situation should gain some clarity by tomorrow's deadline.

Assuming Nilsson will be deleted, that leaves three forwards that must be moved. If the PTO players Ruutu and Skille are released and Anton Rodin is placed on injured reserve, no further moves will be necessary.




Today is the final day that players can be placed on waivers in order to be taken off the roster. By extension, that means that Emerson Etem appears to be safe for now. According to CapFriendly, Jake Virtanen, Brendan Gaunce, Nikita Tryamkin and Bo Horvat (!) remain waiver-exempt, so the team does have some flexibility if it needs to make paper moves before Tuesday.

CapFriendly also has the long list of players that were placed on waivers by other teams around the league today. There's some excitement surrounding Teemu Pulkkinen, the 24-year-old Finnish left wing that has been waived by the Detroit Red Wings.

Since the Canucks finished 28th last season, they'd be third in line to put in a claim. With 11 goals and 20 points in 70 NHL goals to date, is Pulkkinen good enough to be the winger that the Canucks were hoping to acquire during the offseason? Or has Vancouver filled that void sufficiently with Mikael Granlund's move to the wing?

Elsewhere, a few more notes on ex-Canucks.

It's over in Calgary for Chris Higgins:




The perenially cap-crunched Chicago Blackhawks are giving Gustav Forsling a chance on their blue line—apparently on the second pairing with vet Brian Campbell and expected to play on the power play.




And Mason Raymond seems to have found a home along with his old teammates Kesler and Bieksa in Anaheim. According to this article from NHL.com, Randy Carlyle has broken up the Getzlaf-Perry combination and has Corey Perry skating on a third line with Raymond and Antoine Vermette—and he may start the season that way.

Finally, Brandon Prust has landed in some sort of strange "team cheerleader" category in Toronto.




I'll leave it there for now. Happy Thanksgiving!
Join the Discussion: » 145 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Carol Schram
» Winning Canucks send down Podkolzin, Rathbone as homestand begins
» Power-play fuels big win in Vegas as Canucks look to sweep 3-game road trip
» The Canucks' position at U.S. Thanksgiving, following a big win in Denver
» Trade winds blow as the Canucks kick off road trip against the Avalanche
» Podkolzin returns as Canucks host Vegas amidst Horvat, Myers trade rumours