Friday December 10 - Winnipeg Jets at Vancouver Canucks - 7 p.m. PT
Bruce Boudreau's Vancouver Canucks will look to win three games in a row for the first time this season when they host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night at Rogers Arena.
The Jets are on a back-to-back set, having shut out Seattle 3-0 on Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena. Kyle Connor had a pair of goals, and it was Connor Hellebuyck's first shutout of the year.
Will the Canucks see Eric Comrie in net on Friday? He hasn't started since Nov. 19, when Vancouver beat Winnipeg 3-2 — also on the second half of a back-to-back. Comrie has made one relief appearance, in a 7-1 Winnipeg loss to Minnesota on Nov. 26. That was also the first game of a back-to-back, and allowed the Jets to tap Hellebuyck the next night in Calgary, where he picked up a win.
Winnipeg is one of five teams that is clustered in the middle of the Central Division standings, where just four points separate the second-place Blues from the sixth-place Stars. Nashville and Colorado are also in that mix, but the order of the teams changes almost daily. The Jets were slumping last time they visited Vancouver, but they've now won four of their last six games. They're also pretty healthy, missing only defenseman Neal Pionk. He's currently in concussion protocol.
As for the Canucks, they've now got a couple of holes on their blue line, after Travis Hamonic was injured during Wednesday's shootout win over Boston. Noah Juulsen, who was part of the trade with Florida for Olli Juolevi, was recalled from Abbotsford on Thursday. A big-bodied 24-year-old, he has one goals and is minus-1 with the Baby Canucks so far this season. What's impressive is that after seeing his career derailed by injuries, he has played in all 17 of Abbotsford's games so far this season.
Vancouver will also be without Oliver Ekman-Larsson for a second straight game on Friday. After taking what was termed a 'maintenance day' off practice on Tuesday, his absence against the Bruins came as a bit of a surprise.
In 26 games with the Canucks, Ekman-Larsson has averaged 22:15 of ice time per game. That's up by just over a minute from last season in Arizona (20:58), but below his career average of 23:26. Still, I felt like he had been playing some hard minutes, especially in recent games.
Here's the latest status update on the two veteran defensemen, from Friday's morning skate:
Here's how the lines rolled out at Friday's morning skate. Even with the absences, it doesn't look like Juulsen will get in for his NHL Canucks debut on Friday.
Here's how the ice times shook out in 65 minutes against Boston, where Hamonic was injured in the late stages of the second period:
Luke Schenn: 20:59
Tucker Poolman: 18:25
Travis Hamonic: 12:06
Quinn Hughes: 28:32
Kyle Burroughs: 13:28
Tyler Myers: 28:08
And yes, Hughes saw 1:21 of penalty-killing time!
Of course, the other big news around the Canucks on Thursday was the appointment of Jim Rutherford as the club's new president and interim general manager.
I'm still processing this news.
Rutherford certainly checks the experience box, and his three Stanley Cup rings are impressive. He has a reputation for being fearless in his player personnel decisions — but that also led to Pittsburgh's prospect cupboard being emptied over the past few seasons. Pittsburgh has made just one first-round draft selection since 2014, and averaged less than five picks a year over the last four drafts.
I'm also fascinated by the Canucks' decision to hire Rutherford, given that his sudden departure from Pittsburgh early last season was rumored to have been triggered, in large part, by Penguins' ownership vetoing a deal that he wanted to make. I don't think he'd have signed with Vancouver unless he was guaranteed complete autonomy. And that could mean some big roster changes coming — including possible moves of players that we might have previously thought were untouchable.
My first thought went to Tanner Pearson, who was dealt out of Pittsburgh after just 44 games in exchange for Erik Gudbranson — a trade that Jim Benning was generally credited with winning.
Of course, Rutherford was also the brains behind Brandon Sutter's trade to Vancouver in 2015 — a deal that Benning was seen to have lost.
Click here to ponder the long list of deals that Rutherford made during his six-and-a-bit seasons in Pittsburgh. He started there in the summer of 2014, two weeks after the Canucks hired Benning.
It's important to note that Rutherford's hiring in Vancouver is primarily for the role of team president. He'll serve as general manager only for as long as it takes to install someone in that position more permanently.
The Penguins organization has been a breeding ground for future high-ranking NHL executives, which reflects well on Rutherford. But that history also pre-dates him. I'll have to dig deeper to really see who he brought along, and who was already on the fast track when he arrived.
I was just about to wonder aloud whether he'd look to work with existing members of the Canucks team or bring in his own people. Then I saw this tweet, which pretty much answers my question:
We could be in for tumultuous waters ahead. And while we ride these waves, keep this in mind:
Enjoy the game!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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