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Vancouver Canucks acquire Brendan Leipsic for Philip Holm at trade deadline |
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Sunday February 25 - Vancouver Canucks 3 - Arizona Coyotes 1
Lots to talk about today—a win for the Canucks in the desert on Sunday, another meeting with the Colorado Avalanche in the mountains on Monday—and, of course, the trade deadline.
With a little time still on the deadline clock as I type this, let's start with the highlights of Vancouver's 3-1 win over Arizona.
It was clear from the outset that the Canucks were in for a good night when Jacob Markstrom was rescued from yet another first-shot/first-goal scenario by a goaltender interference penalty on former Canuck Brad Richardson, 43 seconds into the game.
Daniel Sedin scored his 17th of the year on the ensuing power play and from there, there was no looking back. Markstrom went on to make 41 saves, getting beaten just once in the third period off an Arizona power play that went 1-for-6 on the night. But after Daniel scored his second of the night, the Canucks' penalty kill came out even for the night when Darren Archibald converted a dish from Brandon Sutter to seal the result and bring back some memories of the aggression we saw from Sutter and Derek Dorsett early in the season when the Canucks were a man short.
Erik Gudbranson was on the ice for the Canucks' lone goal against but on balance, he had a strong game, with a team-leading five hits to go along with three blocked shots.
In Rookie Watch, Brock Boeser out-pointed Clayton Keller 1-0 with an assist on Daniel's second goal after he was moved up to play with the twins when Thomas Vanek was scratched for precautionary reasons shortly before gametime.
Daniel Sedin is 5-4-9 in his last seven games, his most productive stretch of the season to date. Sunday was his first multi-goal game since January 21, 2016, in a 4-2 win in Boston. With 20 games still to play, he has already surpassed last year's total of 15 goals and needs just three more points to match last season's 44 points.
One...more...year?
Monday February 26 - Vancouver Canucks at Colorado Avalanche - 6 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 62 GP, 24-31-7, 55 pts, seventh in Pacific Division
Colorado Avalanche: 61 GP, 32-24-5, 69 pts, sixth in Central Division
Just six days after last Wednesday's bizarre 5-4 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Arena, the two teams will face off in Denver on Monday night for their third and final meeting of the season.
Since last week's game, the Canucks have lost to Vegas and beaten Arizona; the Avs are returning home from their Western Canadian road trip after a 3-2 defeat by the Edmonton Oilers and a 5-1 loss in Calgary.
Sitting four points out of the second wild-card spot in the West, the Avs have been quiet through trade deadline season—just picking up defenseman Mark Alt on waivers from Philadelphia this morning.
Once again, expect to see Semyon Varlamov in net for Colorado; on the second half of a back-to-back, the Canucks are expected to turn back to Anders Nilsson.
No word on roster moves for Vancouver tonight. Alex Edler didn't play the last six-plus minutes in Glendale on Sunday after blocking a close-range Brendan Perlini shot on the penalty kill, but it sounds like he's OK.
Loui Eriksson also briefly went to the dressing room, but did return to finish the game.
Canucks acquire LW Brendan Leipsic for D Philip Holm
Now we know why Philip Holm played in Vegas on Friday night. That was his one-game audition for George McPhee ahead of today's trade.
Holm was a minus-two against the Golden Knights in 15:12 of ice time, all at even strength. He had one missed shot, one hit and one giveaway. The 26-year-old remains waiver exempt until the end of the year, when he'll be a restricted free agent.
Signed as a free agent after the World Championships last spring, Jim Benning has turned Holm into a 23-year-old waterbug. Brendan Leipsic has a reputation for being full of potential, but has yet to turn that into a full-time gig at the NHL level.
Leipsic came onto my radar two years ago, when he made his NHL debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Canucks at Rogers Arena on February 13, 2016. It was a Hockey Night in Canada game, of course. The big angle was Leipsic, a Winnipeger, grew up around Teemu Selanne because their families were neighbours when Selanne started out with the Jets.
Leipsic scored the winning goal that night as the Leafs beat the Canucks 5-2—but that's the only time he scored in his six NHL games last year. He spent all of last season with the Toronto Marlies before being picked up by Vegas in the expansion draft.
Like Derrick Pouliot, Leipsic was a member of Travis Green's Portland Winterhawks.
Though he's undersized, listed at 5'10" and 180 pounds, it sounds like he'll bring a certain swagger to the Canucks.
He has fans from his WHL days...
And left strong impressions as a member of the Marlies:
Finally, a Vegas-eye view from Canadian poker star Daniel Negreanu, who follows the Golden Knights pretty closely:
Negreanu thinks Leipsic will be replaced in Vegas by Tomas Hyka, who plays a similar style and also happened to score his first NHL goal against the Canucks, last Friday. Leipsic was scratched in that game.
With immigration paperwork to complete, Leipsic won't be in the lineup tonight in Denver. He should make his debut at Rogers Arena on Wednesday, against the New York Rangers.
UPDATE: Almost immediately after originally publishing this blog, it was announced that the Canucks have traded Thomas Vanek to the Columbus Blue Jackets for forwards Tyler Motte and Jussi Jokinen.
Originally a fourth-round pick by Chicago in 2013, Motte was dealt to the Blue Jackets last summer as part of the Artemi Panarin blockbuster:
Jokinen, now 34, will join his fourth team this season when he suits up with the Canucks. After signing as a free agent with the Edmonton Oilers, he was dealt to Los Angeles in exchange for Mike Cammalleri before being put on waivers by the Kings and claimed by Columbus in mid-January. He has a total of one goal and six assists in 46 games with all three teams this season.
I wonder if he still has those slick shootout moves?
I guess it's safe to say that the market for Vanek was not exactly red hot. Still, better to take the deal that's out there than stand pat, right?
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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