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Leivo arrives & Beagle returns as Canucks host Wild & welcome Seattle team |
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Tuesday December 4 - Vancouver Canucks vs. Minnesota Wild - 7 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 29 GP, 11-15-3, 25 pts, seventh in Pacific Division
Minnesota Wild: 26 GP, 14-10-2, 30 pts, fifth in Central Division
The Josh Leivo era begins in Vancouver.
The newest No. 17 is in the house and will most likely suit up—potentially in a top-six role—as the Vancouver Canucks host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday at Rogers Arena.
The sports-media sleuths at the optional morning skate weren't able to get many definitive details from Travis Green about his Tuesday night lineup.
We do know that Jay Beagle will be back in action, seven and a half weeks after suffering a broken arm from a shot block in those frantic closing minutes of the Canucks' 2-1 win in Florida back on October 13.
Anders Nilsson was first off the ice, so it looks like he'll make his second-straight start after a strong game against Dallas on Saturday.
Sam Gagner didn't take part in the morning skate, leading to some speculation that he could be scratched or re-assigned back to the Toronto Marlies to make room for Beagle. Nikolay Goldobin was the last forward off the ice and will be scratched for the first time this season:
All eight defensemen, including Erik Gudbranson, took part in the skate. The two D who stayed on the ice the longest were Derrick Pouliot and Alex Biega.
I'm happy to hear that this happened. It's probably more important to team morale than the minutiae of who's playing exactly where:
One other note: Sven Baertschi was back on the ice on Tuesday, skated with his teammates for the first time since he suffered his concussion in Vegas back on October 24. He has made great strides over the last week, since visiting the same concussion specialist in Detroit who treated Antoine Roussel earlier this season.
The other big news of the day in the NHL is the official announcement—at last—that Seattle has been approved as the NHL's next expansion franchise. Though the ownership group had originally been angling for a 2020 start, the team's debut has now officially been pushed back to the fall of 2021, giving them a more realistic timeline to complete the massive renovation of the Seattle Center arena and build out their headquarters and practice facility at Northgate Mall.
Here's my story on Tuesday's announcement:
The new timeline also means Seattle will have the opportunity to host its expansion draft in its own arena, as Vegas did in 2017.
The new team will select its initial roster under the same rules as Vegas received, which means the Canucks will be able to protect three defensemen and seven forwards or eight total skaters who have more than two years of professional experience at that time.
NHL teams only had one year to officially prepare for the Vegas expansion draft. This time, the preparation window will be much longer. I'm not sure how much that'll help teams manage their assets, especially with the possibility of some sort of labour disruption in the fall of 2020. For now, it gives teams the impression that they have more control—and gives us two and a half years to create mock expansion draft scenarios.
In a nutshell, all young Canucks players currently on pro contracts—with the big club or in the minors—will require protection when the time comes. Quinn Hughes would also require protection if he turns pro and plays any games before the end of the 2018-19 season; he'll still be exempt if the signs during the 2019 offseason, as he'll have only two pro years under his belt by the time the expansion draft rolls around in 2021.
Brandon Sutter, Sven Baertschi and Erik Gudbranson are all currently scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2020-21 season. Only four current Canucks players are under contract for 2021-22: Bo Horvat, whose contract extends to 2022-23, and Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, who all have deals that stretch to 2021-22.
As for the Wild—as I mentioned yesterday, they're coming into Vancouver riding their first three-game losing streak of the year, and have lost five of their last seven, which has quickly dropped them down the Central Division standings. They're healthy, but their defense has struggled in recent games: they've given up 13 goals in their three recent losses to Toronto, Columbus and Arizona.
Devan Dubnyk was in goal for all three of those losses, allowing 12 goals. He will get the start against Vancouver.
In addition, it sounds like the team faced some disruption here in Vancouver overnight:
To wrap up today—a big trade of a top Canucks prospect in the OHL!
One day after being named to Team Canada's World Junior selection camp roster, Michael DiPietro has been traded from the Windsor Spitfires to the Ottawa 67's:
DiPietro's goals-against average of 2.32 is tops in the OHL so far this season. He has an 11-8-0 record and a .920 save percentage to go along with one shutout with the Spitfires, who currently sit third in the OHL's West Division.
The move to Ottawa puts him on a real Memorial Cup contender. With a record of 22-3-3-1, the 67's are the top team in the entire OHL, fuelled offensively by undrafted 20-year-old Tye Felhaber, who is tied for fifth in league scoring with 29-17-46 in 29 games.
DiPietro already has one Memorial Cup ring after the host Spitfires took advantage of their home-ice advantage to bring home the 2017 title, a month before he was drafted by the Canucks.
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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