Saturday March 5 - Vancouver Canucks at San Jose Sharks - 7 p.m. - CBC, Sportsnet, TSN1040
Vancouver Canucks: 63 GP, 24-27-12, 60 pts, fourth in Pacific Division
San Jose Sharks: 63 GP, 35-22-6, 76 pts, third in Pacific Division
The gap has grown to 16 points between the third-place San Jose Sharks and the fourth-place Vancouver Canucks as the two teams prepare for their third meeting in a week—this time at the Shark Tank.
Just four points behind the Kings and Ducks, the Sharks still have a chance to push for the Pacific Division title. Meanwhile, Canucks fans revel in the fact that a Blue Jackets win over Edmonton on Friday night has finally bumped Vancouver one spot further down the league standings. At 24th overall, chances of winning the draft lottery just improved by half a percentage point, from 6 percent to 6.5.
The big news for tonight's game will be the man between the pipes for the opponent, as trade-deadline acquisition James Reimer makes his debut as a San Jose Shark. After six seasons of up-and-down play with the Toronto Maple Leafs, it'll be interesting to see what Reimer can do behind a different team.
Oddly, the change of scenery may benefit the Canucks more than the Sharks tonight. The SAP Center was once one of the toughest buildings in the NHL for opposing teams to play, but this season San Jose is 27th in the league on home ice with a 12-13-3 record—only a hair better than 29th-place Vancouver's 11-16-5.
Nothing concrete at this point, but the only real lineup change to watch for could be the potential return of Radim Vrbata. Ryan Miller will almost certainly get back in net.
Tryamkin Watch Continues
Friday's report that big defenseman Nikita Tryamkin was on his way to Vancouver now that his KHL season is over has, for now, been debunked.
According to this translated article from the Russian website
Championat, it sounds like the Canucks have no choice but to assign Tryamkin to the Canucks if they bring him over this season, as the deadline for assignment to Utica has passed.
At the same time "Canucks" in this season will not be able to declare Tryamkina a farm club "Utica", as the deadlines for such transitions expired.
If Canucks fans get a chance to see what Benning has unearthed in Tryamkin, it'll certainly add a level of intrigue to these late stages of the season. Andrey Pedan has been impressive in his limited call-up, and it has been a long time since we've seen a Russian-born player make an impact here in Vancouver.
From Friday's Town Hall:
With recent trade acquisition Philip Larsen almost certainly on his way over from Europe next season as well, the Canucks' blue line already looks like it could be quite crowded.
Five blueliners are under contract and subject to waivers next season: Alex Edler, Chris Tanev, Ben Hutton, Luca Sbisa and Alex Biega.
Larsen and Pedan will need contracts, and will also be waiver-eligible. If 21-year-old Tryamkin signs an entry-level deal, the Canucks would be able to send him down to Utica without subjecting him to waivers. I wonder if that's an issue that's being addressed during this current negotiation?
In the big picture, I don't see room for the Canucks to bring back Matt Bartkowski or Yannick Weber, or to re-sign Dan Hamhuis. I also won't be holding my breath for an Alex Edler trade. I think the only way he'll ever leave this town is as the third component in a Sedin deal—he wouldn't go anywhere without Daniel and Henrik also by his side.
To wrap up today—tonight's the last night of regular-season play for Brock Boeser and his cohorts from the University of North Dakota.
Boeser scored his 23rd and 24th goals of the season on Friday night in an 8-1 win over Western Michigan and has a chance to further pad his offensive numbers when the two teams meet again tonight.
At the Town Hall on Friday, Jim Benning mentioned that the plan as it stands right now is for Boeser to return to North Dakota next season for another year of college hockey as a 19-year-old.
As strong as his NCAA season has been so far, this makes sense. The North Dakota team hasn't missed a beat since losing longtime coach Dave Hakstol to the Philadelphia Flyers—clinching their league championship last night and ranked No. 2 in the country as the playoffs begin.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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