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Canucks & Senators make a trade ahead of their Thursday game plus WJC QFs |
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Wednesday January 2 - Vancouver Canucks at Ottawa Senators - 4 p.m. - Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet 650
Vancouver Canucks: 42 GP, 19-19-4, 42 pts, fifth in Pacific Division
Ottawa Senators: 40 GP, 15-21-4, 34 pts, eighth in Atlantic Division
Happy New Year!
The Vancouver Canucks rang in 2019 in Ottawa, travelling immediately after their 4-0 shutout loss in New Jersey. Bo Horvat posted a cool New Year's Eve Instagram Story of the fireworks on Parliament Hill.
Ahead of their game against the Senators on Wednesday, Jim Benning ignited some fireworks of his own with the announcement that the Canucks have traded Anders Nilsson and Darren Archibald to Ottawa in exchange for goaltender Mike McKenna, forward Tom Pyatt and a sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft.
It's a move that ticks a lot of boxes for Vancouver—freeing up that roster spot to get Thatcher Demko into the NHL and adding an extra pick in the June draft that will be hosted here in Vancouver.
McKenna is the 35-year-old career minor-leaguer who almost single-handedly got the Texas Stars to the AHL's Calder Cup final last season against the Toronto Marlies. He has been up with the Senators since November 1 this year and has appeared in 10 games but has struggled at the NHL level, with a 1-4-1 record, .897 save percentage and 3.96 goals-against average. His last start came on December 28, when he gave up five goals in a 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders.
With starting goaltender Craig Anderson now on injured reserve with a concussion, it looks like the Sens felt they needed to make an upgrade in net. They're on a five-game losing streak and have sunk to the very bottom of the Eastern Conference standings—and have ridden 24-year-old rookie Marcus Hogberg in net for their last two games—a 3-2 loss to Washington and a 6-3 loss to Columbus that included two empty-net goals.
Hogberg was confirmed to start for the Senators against Vancouver before the trade was announced. I don't imagine that'll now change.
Though Nilsson is just 3-8-1 so far this season, he should be a near-term upgrade for the Sens in net. He has 117 games of NHL experience and, as we know, he can get hot. He should be able to deliver some decent minutes for Ottawa until Anderson is ready to return to action.
The Canucks are kicking off a back-to-back in Ottawa on Wednesday, then playing Thursday in Montreal and Saturday in Toronto. After Jacob Markstrom got a rest on Monday, it's not inconceivable that he'll play all three games—he covered both halves of the Canucks' home back-to-back last month against Philadelphia and Edmonton.
Since the team is out east, it's also very possible that Demko will be recalled before the end of the week. Don't forget, the Utica Comets' veteran backup, Richard Bachman, is also currently out with an injury—and since McKenna has been up with the Sens for more than 30 days, he'll need to clear waivers again before he can be sent down.
The Sens did put veteran forward Tom Pyatt on waivers on Tuesday; he cleared this morning, so he can join the Comets immediately. The 31-year-old has been a reliable bottom-six forward over the years. He has 43-58-101 in 445 career NHL games and is currently in the second-year of a two-way contract that carries a cap hit of $1.1 million.
The Comets will miss Archibald, who has been a leader and is beloved in Utica. He had just two points in his nine games with the Canucks this season but had 11-5-16 with the Comets. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a chance with the Sens at some point this year.
Moving Nilsson is one item now checked off Jim Benning's pre trade-deadline to-do list.
Next, he'll need to make space on his roster for Brandon Sutter, who could be back in action before the end of this week. Elliotte Friedman mentions in today's new "31 Thoughts" that "I think Vancouver’s looking to see what’s out there for Nikolay Goldobin."
Friedman also devotes four thoughts to Alex Edler, which is probably the most national press that the shy Swede has received in his entire career.
Edler told Friedman that there have been no talks yet about a possible contract extension in Vancouver, but that's still what he wants. "What a great city. The fans and everything. From the time I came here, I saw how exciting it was to step on the ice every night. I have said many times that I would like to stay if they want me."
Two years ago, the Canucks were in the playoff picture coming out of the All-Star break but collapsed in February, leading to the deadline deals that saw Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows leave town. Last season, the Canucks opted to extend Erik Gudbranson on February 20, so there's precedent for both possibilities.
As for today's game: here's how the Canucks practiced on Tuesday in Ottawa:
Here are the lines for the Senators:
In addition to Anderson, the Sens are dealing with one other significant injury. Thomas Chabot is sidelined with an upper-body issue for the next 2-3 weeks.
Wednesday's game is also a showcase for the league's top rookies. On Wednesday, the NHL announced that Elias Pettersson claimed his second Rookie of the Month award for December. Now with 39 points in 36 games, Pettersson's closest competitors in the rookie scoring race are two Sens players: Colin White has 25 points in 39 games while Brady Tkachuk has 20 points in 29 games.
All this wheeling and dealing is distracting from the fact that it's quarterfinal day here on the west coast at the World Junior Championship.
Two of the Canucks' four prospects are coming into their quarterfinal games after having been named their teams' best players in their final preliminary-round contests.
Michael DiPietro has been steady ever since that shaky pre-tournament game against Switzerland and played well in Canada's 2-1 loss to Russia on Monday, while Tyler Madden scored two goals, including the game winner, as the U.S. beat Finland 4-1 over in Victoria.
For the second-straight game, Madden led all U.S. forwards in ice time while Jack Hughes remained on the sidelines. Jack has been skating but is still officially day-to-day for the quarterfinal. Meanwhile, brother Quinn comes out of the preliminary round as Team USA's overall leader in ice time, but has just two assists in four games.
I have some quotes from Madden and praise from his coach Mike Hastings in the preview of Team USA that I posted over at Forbes this morning:
Canada has never failed to earn a medal when hosting the World Junior tournament, so there's plenty of pressure on DiPietro and his teammates heading into Wednesday's game—especially coming off the loss to Russia, and after a disappointing 5-2 loss to the Finns in pre-tournament action. The Finns have some of the tournament's highest-profile players on their roster, including forward Eeli Tolvanen and defensemen Henrik Jokiharju and Urho Vaakanainen, but were underwhelming in preliminary-round play in Victoria with a 2-0-0-2 record, beating Kazakhstan and Slovakia but scoring just one goal in each of their losses, to Sweden and the U.S.
Canada-Finland, which will also feature Canucks prospect Toni Utunen on the Finnish side, goes at 3:30 p.m. PT from Rogers Arena. The Canucks play at 4:00 in Ottawa, then Madden and Quinn Hughes square off against the Czech Republic in Victoria at 5:00.
If that's not enough hockey for you—a flu-stricken Swedish team faces Switzerland in Victoria at 1 p.m. and Russia meets Slovakia in the late game in Vancouver at 7:30 p.m.
Enjoy!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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