Monday February 25 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Anaheim Ducks - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 62 GP, 26-28-8, 60 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks: 62 GP, 24-29-9, 57 pts, seventh in Pacific Division
The clock's about to strike midnight—or noon, as it were—for the 2019 NHL trade season. So far, it's crickets around the Vancouver Canucks on a day that has been pretty quiet all around the league, although some big names could still be on the move.
TSN just posted a graphic showing that in years past, more than half of the deadline-day trades typically go down in the final hour, so there should be some action still forthcoming.
I'm not sure much of that will involve the Canucks, though. Pretty much everybody's present and accounted for at Monday's game-day skate.
The only absences are goaltender Marek Mazanec and forward Zack MacEwen, who have both been assigned to Utica:
Today's also the day where teams need to put players on their minor-league roster if they want them to be available for the AHL playoffs. The deadline for that is also 3 p.m. ET.
I suspected MacEwen was on his way back to Utica after he posted this message on his Instagram on Sunday:
The Canucks still have an extra forward available in Tim Schaller, and they will need to make room for Alex Edler once he's ready to get back in action. That could still be awhile, although it sounds like Demko is officially ready to roll again.
After the deadline, the Canucks are allowed only four regular recalls from Utica to last them the rest of the season—including the paper recalls they use today for Comets players that they want to be AHL-playoff eligible and keep with the big club for the time being. Adam Gaudette and Ashton Sautner will almost certainly get them; Luke Schenn could, too.
As for tonight's game: after wins on Sunday by Dallas, Minnesota and Arizona, the Canucks hold their spot in 12th place in the Western Conference but the the gap to the second wild-card spot has grown to six points.
Vancouver's record of 2-6-2 in its last 10 games is the worst of any team in the entire Western Conference and tied for the worst in the league—they're matched by Detroit in the East. So #LoseForHughes could be back on: the Canucks currently sit 25th overall in the league and are just five points out of 29th, eight points out of 30th.
On Monday, they'll face a Ducks team that has narrowed the gap in the standings to just three points in spite of that terrible losing streak they endured before Randy Carlyle was fired a couple of weeks ago. Since Bob Murray took over behind the bench, Anaheim is 3-3-0. They're coming into Vancouver after matching 2-1 losses to Calgary and Edmonton over the weekend.
Wearing his GM hat, Murray has made a couple of deals—sending defenseman Brandon Montour to Buffalo on Sunday for a package that includes young defenseman Brendan Guhle and a late first-round draft pick. He also swapped depth forward Brian Gibbons for minor-league defenseman Patrick Sieloff.
Though Michael Del Zotto took Monday's morning skate at Rogers Arena with the Ducks, there's late word that he has been traded to St. Louis in exchange for a sixth-round pick. Considering the Canucks got a seventh *and* Luke Schenn for MDZ, then used the seventh for Mazanec, that's not a return that should cause too much angst in Nucks Nation.
Guhle is with the team. After knocking both Jake Virtanen and Chris Tanev out of the Canucks' lineup in Anaheim two weeks ago, Ryan Getzlaf is not expected to play.
I'll leave it there for now. Enjoy the game, and we can break down the final deadline fallout in Tuesday's blog.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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