Thanks for all your votes in yesterday's poll. Whether it's most likely or most desired, Chris Higgins is the guy that you've earmarked to head out of town by Monday.
It has not been a banner year for Higgins, who's on pace for nine goals and 34 points. That'd put his season just a few points below his output from last year, but I think we all remember that he had a dramatic drop in his production in the last couple of months of the season, with just one point in his last 11 games.
In many ways, I like Higgins. He's a hard worker, an important part of the penalty kill and a guy who seems like he should get more bounces than he does. His shooting percentage would lend some credence to that thought—he's at a dismal 5.0 percent success rate this season.
Higgins actually had his best streak of the season earlier in February, putting up six assists in five games, but he went pointless on the road trip, back in his home state.
The closer we get to the deadline, the less it sounds like anything big is going to happen for Jim Benning and company. Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun spoke to Benning before the Buffalo game last week, and he sounds disinclined to make a big deal.
First off:
Dorsett, Matthias and Richardson are the three Canucks eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1, but Benning said he’ll keep all three rather than leverage them for draft picks on Monday.
And while the goalie question became moot after Ryan Miller's injury, Benning says there hasn't been any buzz on that front:
"Nobody really even contacted me about our goalies, to be honest with you," Benning said. "The goalie market is a tough market because most organizations have three guys. And now that Ryan is out, we’re really happy to have Eddie and Jacob. It was always in the back of my mind that if anything happened, we have good depth in goal."
As MacIntyre points out, the Canucks' reinforcements for the playoff run will come in the form of injured players returning to action. That takes us to today's practice at Rogers Arena:
Still no sign of Alex Edler, Alex Burrows or Brad Richardson.
Brandon McMillan is skating with the team today, though there have been multiple reports that he has been put on waivers. Since he's still the Canucks' only extra forward, I wonder if this is simply a 'paper transaction' to make him eligible for the AHL playoffs. A number of teams have made similar moves today:
Waivers today: McMillan (VAN), Erixon (CHI), Schlemko (DAL), Volpatti (WSH), Zepp (PHI). Teams creating flexibility for deadline deals.
Around the league, we've seen a couple more minor deals over the last couple of days, with Kimmo Timonen headed to Chicago, Tomas Fleischmann to Anaheim and Tim Gleason to Washington. NHL.com is also suggesting that impending UFA Mats Zuccarello could be on the move. He's the kind of player who could draw a significant return from a team that's looking to add speed and scoring.
It has been awhile since the Canucks have had two days off between games, so there's not much else to do but scoreboard-watch. The schedule played out in Vancouver's favour again last night, with Calgary losing to the Islanders while the Kings collapsed in the third period to drop their second straight game, this time to Anaheim.
Those results mean that Vancouver remains in second place in the Pacific, three points clear of the Flames and Kings—and will stay there today as well.
Games of importance to the Canucks today include Minnesota playing Colorado and the struggling Sharks hosting the stingy Ottawa Senators, who have yet to allow a single goal on their California road trip.
One other quick note to wrap up. It was five years ago today:
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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