Tuesday February 20 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Colorado Avalanche - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 59 GP, 23-30-6, 52 pts, seventh in Pacific Division
Colorado Avalanche: 58 GP, 31-23-4, 66 pts, sixth in Central Division
The game is almost secondary tonight as the intrigue starts to ramp up ahead of next Monday's NHL trade deadline.
No deals yet for the Canucks, but a couple of news items have popped up surrounding the team's tradable assets.
First off: take Erik Gudbranson off the block. The team announced on Tuesday morning that the big blueliner has signed a new three-year contract extension.
The deal reportedly does not include a no-trade clause.
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The haters will argue that $4 million per season is too much for a bottom-pair guy, but what if he plays above that level going forward? Guddy has looked pretty decent with Alex Edler in recent games and told
Ben Kuzma of The Province on Monday that "It has taken some time to get my confidence level to where it is right now. And I’ve got a good opportunity to play against top guys and make them miserable every night."
Kuzma also reports that Gudbranson possesses a weapon that even he didn't know about—a cannon of a shot. He easily won the hardest-shot competition at the Canucks' Superskills event last weekend, breaking that 100 mile-per-hour mark on both his attempts.
“I think I’ve always hit the puck that hard, but I’ve never clocked my shot,” he said. “Now that there’s a number beside it I guess it’s a bigger deal. I’ll try to get up in the rush more and be offensive and you can do that with Eagle (Alex Edler).
“Maybe he can drop a couple of pucks I can step into.”
I'm heartened by the idea that after two less-than-ideal seasons, Gudbranson sees something here in Vancouver that he wants to be a part of. He could easily have rebuffed the idea of an extension, which would have essentially forced a trade to a playoff contender, and would have had a chance to choose his own adventure this summer when he reached unrestricted free agency.
Instead, he has chosen to stick around.
“The (Sedin) twins aren’t getting any younger and I think they still have good hockey in them, but there’s a transition period and you’ve got to make it as seamless as possible,” he told Kuzma. “It’s a team in its infancy and it’s a good program that’s going in the right direction.”
The three-year term means that Gudbranson will be 29 when he gets his next crack at the open market—still young enough to potentially command a substantial long-term deal. I feel like we've just started to see the player that he can be over the last couple of months, and that his size and physical presence is unique and valuable on the Vancouver blue line. I'm okay with him sticking around on this deal—and I'm hopeful that he'll remain a top-four guy going forward.
Meanwhile, it sounds like Vancouver's other tantalizing defense target is off the trade table for the moment:
I can't imagine any team making that "special offer" in the next six days for a player who's currently sidelined with a broken leg.
Tanev has a rep as a fragile player but once again, I'm amazed by his apparent pain threshold. He was injured in the first period against Tampa Bay on February 8, but came back in the second and finished the game.
So—if the Canucks are going to move a defenseman at this deadline, I'd say the best bet is probably Ben Hutton. Would you deal him for a pick?
While the Gudbranson extension chatter got louder over the past few days, the situation hasn't been the same for Thomas Vanek. As pretty as his scoring plays with the twins have been in the past two games, I would assume at this point that Benning will try to move him by Monday.
A couple of other player notes:
I'm a little nervous about this—Markstrom's season came to an end last year after he was injured in the SuperSkills competition. Apparently this was not the case this year.
Dan Murphy says Markstrom has a lower-body injury—presumably the same ailment caused him to be a late scratch from Saturday's game against Boston. It gives Anders Nilsson another start after a 44-save first-star performance against the Bruins—and maybe a chance to add to his trade value? The Flyers addressed their goaltending hole on Monday by acquiring Petr Mrazek from the Red Wings, but there could still be some teams looking for help in net before the trade deadline.
Though Markstrom won't back up tonight, he was on the ice for today's optional morning skate.
Sam Gagner has also been skating after missing the last six games with a sprained ankle. Not sure if he'll get back in tonight, since the Canucks are coming off that big win over the weekend.
As for the Avalanche, Nathan MacKinnon returned to action on Sunday after missing eight games with an upper-body injury that he suffered when he collided with Alex Edler here in Vancouver three weeks ago. While he was out, the Avs went 4-4-0—not good enough to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race. Coming into tonight's game, Colorado is now five points out of that second wild-card spot, with three teams to pass. Not impossible but not easy, either.
As MacKinnon returns, the Avs are dealing with a couple of other important injuries. Semyon Varlamov is back from his groin issue and will start tonight, but after going on a great run while Varlamov was hurt, Jonathan Bernier suffered a concussion against Winnipeg last Friday and is now sidelined indefinitely.
The Avs also lost Erik Johnson in their game against Edmonton on Sunday. He left the ice in a considerable amount of pain after what looked like a fairly minor collision and is now said to be out with an upper-body injury.
Colorado has lost its last two games. The Canucks will be looking for their first back-to-back wins since the Avs and Blackhawks rolled through town at the end of last month.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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