Thursday Feb. 24 - Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks - 7 p.m. PT
This may be the most excited I've been for a Canucks game in awhile.
Desperately needing points to stay in the playoff hunt, the Vancouver Canucks will take a crack at snapping the Calgary Flames' 10-game winning streak on Thursday night at Rogers Arena.
The old rivalry is crackling with significance once again — with some extra juice thanks to Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev and now Tyler Toffoli being on the other side.
Toffoli has two goals in four games since joining the Flames so far, with the second one scored into the empty net against Winnipeg on Monday. He had played just over 12 minutes in each of his first three games, but saw that number jump to 15:42 against the Jets thanks to 3:29 of power-play time.
Toffoli missed 11 games earlier this season after undergoing hand surgery. And while he has only 11 goals in 37 games this season — compared to a career-high 28 in 52 games last year — his overall production isn't too far off last year: 28 points in 39 games this season for 0.72 points per game, compared to 44 points in 52 games last year for 0.85 points per game.
Of course, Toffoli's brief time in Vancouver before the Covid pause remains the high watermark of his career, with 10 points in 10 regular-season games.
Dare we peek at the package Jim Benning gave up to acquire Toffoli for that short time?
• Tim Schaller, who was basically a salary dump, is playing with the AHL's Bakersfield Condors this season. He has seven goals and 17 points in 41 games. That free-agent signing by Vancouver remains an utter head-scratcher. Schaller put up 16 points, 23 penalty minutes and was an overall minus-15 in 98 games with the Canucks over two seasons.
• Tyler Madden, now 22, is in his second pro season with the AHL's Ontario Reign. He has 14 goals and 30 points in 41 games, ranking him sixth in scoring on a Reign squad that is deep with prospects and tied for first place in the AHL's Pacific Division.
Madden is still a long way down the depth chart at centre in the Los Angeles Kings organization. On the Reign alone, he's playing behind AHL veteran T.J. Tynan, 2017 second-round pick Jaret Anderson-Dolan and 2017 first-round pick Gabe Vilardi, all of whom have more points than him this year.
• Before the 2020 draft, the Kings shipped Vancouver's second-round pick (No. 51) to Detroit, along with a fourth-rounder, to move up six spots in the second round. With the 45th pick, they selected defenseman Brock Faber. Currently a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, he won gold with Team USA at the 2021 World Junior Championship, wore an 'A' at the aborted 2022 tournament, and is just back from the Olympics, where he picked up one point in four games with Team USA.
With Vancouver's original 51st pick, the Red Wings selected Swedish forward Theodor Niederbach. He turns 20 on Feb. 25 and is playing with Frolunda in Sweden's top men's league this season.
• The trade also included a conditional fourth-rounder if Toffoli re-signed with Vancouver. That, of course, did not happen. With that pick, the Canucks selected American forward Jackson Kunz.
After putting up 43 points in 50 games with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers last season, Kunz has just five points in 25 games this season, as a freshman at the University of North Dakota.
In college hockey, it's not unusual to see younger players get limited offensive opportunity, especially in prestige programs like UND. Kunz addresses that and talks about how, as a Grand Forks native, he was a big Brock Boeser fan growing up, in this article from last month.
With a record of 19-11-1 this season, the Fighting Hawks are ranked seventh in this week's NCAA men's college hockey poll. They should be a team to watch next month through the conference and national playoffs. Their star defenseman, Jake Sanderson, was injured at the Olympics, but has already been on the ice for practice in Grand Forks since returning to school.
...Toffoli tangent complete...
Here's a quick breakdown of Thursdsay's goalie matchup, with should be a crackler again. Jacob Markstrom won out in the 1-0 overtime game in Calgary on Jan. 29, but Thatcher Demko stood tall. The shots were 32-15 in favour of the Flames and that game ignited the team's current 10-game winning streak.
For the season, Markstrom is 23-10-5. He leads the league with eight shutouts, buoying his .928 save percentage and 2.07 goals-against average.
The team in front of him also helps him out. Calgary has the third-lowest Corsi against per 60 rate in the league at 5-on-5,
per Natural Stat Trick, at 50.41, with only Boston and L.A. ahead of them. And their expected goals against rate per 60 minutes is fourth-lowest in the league, behind Boston, Tampa Bay and Seattle (!).
Markstrom has appeared in 39 games this season, while Thatcher Demko has been in 40. They currently rank fifth and sixth in the league in goalie ice time, respectively. And while Demko has played just 27 seconds more than Markstrom so far this year, he has faced 122 more shots — and made 99 more saves.
Demko's record is 21-16-2. He has a goals-against average of 2.66 and a save percentage of .916. And he's working in a much tougher environment. The Canucks rank 15th in expected goals against per 60 — which is actually pretty good, considering how the season began — and 21st in Corsi against per 60, at 56.33.
As for Chris Tanev — he has been everything the Flames could have hoped for since signing him to a four-year deal at a cap hit of $4.5 million.
First off, he has stayed healthy. Though he went into Covid protocols with the rest of his team in December, he hasn't missed a game since joining the Flames, suiting up for all 56 games last season and all 49 so far this year.
He has dialled back his shot blocking a little bit, which probably helps somewhat on the injury front. After peaking at 170 blocks in 70 games in the 2014-15 season, he blocked 107 shots in 56 games last year in Calgary and is at 83 blocks in 49 games so far this year — on track for 139 if he plays all 82 games.
I wonder how much Calgary's overall defensive structure has helped him to stay healthy?
Tanev's total ice time is also up a bit in Calgary, especially compared to the Travis Green years. He's averaging 21:13 a game as a Flame, while he played 19:48 in 166 games over three seasons under Green.
Tanev is plus-26 this season, another career high after setting a new mark last year at plus-15. And while that number is good for 14th overall in the NHL, it only ranks him fifth on his own team. Johnny Gaudreau is currently leading the league at plus-41. His linemates Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk are plus-39 and plus-34, respectively. And Tanev's defense partner, Oliver Kylington, is a hair better than him at plus-27.
Also — Tanev is on the brink of setting a new personal best in points production. His previous highs were 20 points in 2014-15 and four goals in 2015-16. He's currently at 4-14-18 in just 49 games.
It's nice to see him getting appreciated in Calgary for everything he brings. And while I understand why the Canucks had to move on from Markstrom in order to give Demko an opportunity, I still see Tanev and Toffoli as two players who never should have been allowed to leave — especially for nothing.
One other quick note on the Flames — Elias Lindholm is currently riding an eight-game goal streak. Can Demko snuff that out?
And finally — the Canucks will be wearing their retro threads on Thursday night, dialling the clock back to that 1994 first-round playoff series and Pavel Bure's double-overtime game winner.
Should be a fun one. Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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