Saturday March 23 - Vancouver Canucks vs. New York Islanders - 7 p.m. - City TV, Sportsnet Pacific
Vancouver Canucks: 61 GP, 26-27-8, 60 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
New York Islanders: 60 GP, 35-18-7, 77 pts, first in Metropolitan Division
Antoine Roussel is absent from Saturday's game-day skate as the Vancouver Canucks prepare to continue their homestand against the visiting New York Islanders.
Officially:
Trade bait? I haven't heard any chatter about this, but Roussel has had a strong season and plays the kind of game that could interest a playoff-bound team. I think Roussel's reputation has gotten a real boost this year, too—he had a bit of a rep as a dirty player during his time in Dallas, but I think he's now seen as the *good* kind of agitator. I imagine he has gotten smarter about how to play his role as he has matured.
There's no obvious reason to think that he's injured. Roussel played 13:45 on Thursday against the Coyotes, which is right around his season average. His ice time was spread pretty evenly over the three periods, and his last shift came right at the end of regulation.
Roussel has a 15-team no-trade list this season, which still could leave plenty of options open. That list shortens in future years. After this season, he has three years remaining on his current contract, at $3 million a year.
With players like Adam Gaudette and Zack MacEwen already showing that they don't look out of place at the NHL level, the Canucks have a bit of a log-jam at forward—even as they continue to talk about looking for more scoring up front. It does makes sense that Jim Benning could move a forward or two in the context of a 'hockey trade,' or even to bring back more picks for when the Canucks host the draft this June.
I was also interested to see that Markus Granlund was just added to the latest edition of the
TSN Trade Bait list. He and Nikolay Goldobin are the only names from the Canucks roster that currently appear. I could see Granlund also attracting some interest—he's versatile, and a hard-worker in the bottom six—but my guess is that Roussel's trade value would be higher.
I think Benning could move either of those players without really diminishing his team's playoff chances. Even with Baertschi, Sutter and Virtanen missing from the forward group, there are young players who I think are ready to play bigger roles.
I was hopeful that Tim Schaller's return to the lineup on Thursday might be an indication that he could be dealt, but he's back in healthy-scratch territory today.
The good news: both Alex Edler and Thatcher Demko were on the ice for the first time after their respective injuries.
The Canucks have gone 2-4-2 in the eight games that Edler has missed with his concussion.
As for the Islanders, I'm looking forward to seeing what they bring to the ice tonight.
They were rolling well and playing tight defensive hockey before embarking on this Western Canadian road trip, with wins in five out of six games and just 10 goals against during that span. Now the league's best defensive team, they hadn't given up four goals in a game since early January before dropping a 4-2 decision in Calgary on Wednesday, then losing 4-3 in overtime to Edmonton on Thursday.
The Islanders are currently pretty healthy. Nick Leddy was the victim of Connor McDavid's headshot on Thursday that earned the Oilers captain a two-game suspension, but he is taking the morning skate in Vancouver on Saturday.
The Isles' two players on injured reserve are forward Andrew Ladd and defenseman Thomas Hickey. Both are also on the ice for the morning skate: Ladd rotating in on a line with Mat Barzal and Leo Komarov and Hickey on what's probably the extra defense pair, with Luca Sbisa.
Since leaving the Canucks, Sbisa hasn't played much, but he has managed to find himself in a couple of sweet situations. Last year, he rode the wave with the Golden Knights in Vegas; now, he's a seventh/eighth defenseman with the surprising Islanders—who have been much healthier on the blue line than they were last year. Sbisa has been healthy all season but has dressed in just nine games. The last time he played was January 12.
Late last week, I talked trade deadline with Brian Lawton from NHL Network. He singled out the Islanders as a team he expected to swing for the fences by the time all is said and done on Monday. And of course, because Lou Lamoriello has a reputation for keeping his business very locked down, we probably won't hear anything about what he has planned until it happens:
Just before Christmas, I also talked about the Islanders and especially the work that Barry Trotz has done with women's hockey legends AJ Mleczko and Jennifer Botterilll. They both get an up-close view of Trotz in action from between the benches as analysts for MSG Networks.
Like last year, I'm sure Coquitlam's Mat Barzal will have a big cheering section on hand at Rogers Arena tonight. The 2018 Calder Trophy winner has 17 goals and 50 points so far in 60 games this season after an 85-point rookie year, while Calder runner-up Brock Boeser is at 21 goals and 41 points in 48 games. Of course, it was against the Islanders that Boeser suffered his season-ending back injury last year. Hopefully he can stay out of Cal Clutterbuck's way tonight.
Another local boy, Devon Toews, is also expected to make his Rogers Arena debut on Saturday. The 25-year-old Abbotsford native spent two years with the BCHL's Surrey Eagles before playing three years at Quinnipiac, then turning pro in the AHL. A mobile defenseman whose skating is said to be his strong suit, Toews finally got his NHL call-up just before Christmas, when Hickey was injured, and has made the most of his opportunity. In 26 games, he's averaging 17:48 of ice time and is a plus nine. He has 11 points in total, and two of his four goals so far have been game winners.
In addition to all the trade deadline gossip, we've got a full slate of games rolling out all day as well.
On Friday, Minnesota and Colorado won while Chicago and Anaheim lost, so the Canucks hold their spot in 12th in the Western Conference but have now slid four points below the second wild-card spot. On Saturday, the Avs can overtake the Wild if they win in Nashville, while the Ducks are in Edmonton.
With that, you're up to date. Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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