We've reached the point in the summer where hockey news around the NHL slows to a trickle. Arbitration hearings are scheduled to kick off on Thursday but as usual, we're seeing plenty of cases get settled before those hearings take place.
We're also getting news on which players will be taking their talents to Europe this year, as the training camps for European leagues open soon.
Zalewski was originally signed as a free agent out of RPI at the very end of the Mike Gillis regime, in March of 2014. He played two games with the Canucks at the end of the 2013-14 season, then saw two other very brief call-ups interspersed with three seasons in Utica.
His best year with the Comets was 2015-16, when he posted 16 goals and 33 points in 58 games. Last season, his production dropped to just five goals and 18 points in 54 games. He didn't receive a qualifying offer, which made him a free agent.
Another former Canucks prospect is also off to Europe next season.
Now 24, Vancouver's first-round draft pick from 2011 was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Emerson Etem back in January of 2016. He went pointless in seven games with the Rangers last season but had a career high 32 goals and 55 points with the Hartford Wolf Pack—ranking him second in goals in the entire AHL.
The Rangers did give Jensen a qualifying offer, so they retain his rights. He's hoping that a year in the KHL will help him to grow his game and possibly lead to one more good shot at an NHL career.
Now—here's a look at how the Canucks fare with their upcoming schedule for 2017-18.
Click here for the excellent breakdown from On the Forecheck, analyzing every team's travel miles and back-to-back games for the last three years.
In 2015-16, the Canucks ranked fifth in the NHL with 45,711 miles travelled and were in the middle of the pack with 13 sets of back-to-back games. That earned 'em 75 points and a 28th-place finish in the standings.
Last season, Vancouver also had the fifth-heaviest travel schedule, with a slightly higher 45,782 travel miles. But their 16 sets of back-to-back games tied them for sixth overall in the league—and they dropped to 29th place in the standings with 69 points.
Believe it or not, next year is actually better!
Travel miles drop to a "mere" 44,285, only the sixth-most travel in the league. Even better—the Canucks will play just 10 sets of back-to-back games next season. That's second-lowest in the entire league, behind only Winnipeg (nine).
It's always tough to know just how much the schedule impacts a team, but Travis Green is getting a shot at an improved outcome and, perhaps, less man-games lost to injury next season.
Preseason, of course, will get the extra wrinkle of having half the team head to China for those two exhibition games against the Los Angeles Kings. Preseason wraps up on September 30 this year, and the regular season gets underway on October 7.
Here's what we've got for the first three months of the year:
October: 11 games: 6 home, 5 road
• two games against Pacific Division: Edmonton, Calgary at home
• five-game road trip mid-month: Ottawa, Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Minnesota
• one back-to-back, on the road against Boston and Buffalo—but no morning game in Boston this year!
• Alex Burrows and the Ottawa Senators visit on October 10; Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals make their traditional early-season visit on October 26
November: 15 games: 10 road, 5 home
• heavy month, with two major road trips—through the Pacific Division for four games, then home for two games before heading East again to play Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, the Rangers, the Islanders and Nashville
• two sets of back-to-backs—home against Detroit then in Calgary to play the Flames, then on the road against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
• Cory Schneider—and Nico Hischier?—and the New Jersey Devils visit on Wednesday, November 1
• the Stanley Cup Champion Penguins visit Rogers Arena on Saturday, November 4
• first regular-season visit by the Vegas Golden Knights will be on Thursday, November 16
December: 13 games: 10 home, 3 road
• the Canucks will spend almost the entire month of December at home—they'll take a short two-game trip to Calgary and Winnipeg, then make a stop in San Jose shortly before the Christmas break
• the Toronto Maple Leafs will make their usual Saturday afternoon visit on December 2, with a 4 p.m. start
• Jannik Hansen returns in his first game as a Shark on Friday, December 15
• the Montreal Canadiens visit on Tuesday, December 19 and the Chicago Blackhawks come to town right after the Christmas break on Thursday, December 28
• the Canucks will get four days off at Christmas, between December 24-27
• no back-to-backs for the entire month!
By the end of December, the Canucks will have played 21 of their 41 home games and 19 road games—pretty reasonably balanced. Of those 19 road games, nine are against Eastern Conference teams, which leaves another seven games in the Eastern time zone in 2018.
Last year, the Canucks played just seven games against Pacific Division teams before Christmas. This year, that number jumps to 12, including their first game against their new division rivals from Vegas. Four of those games are against Calgary, three are against San Jose and two are against L.A. They see Edmonton, Vegas and Anaheim just once each, and don't play Arizona for the first time until February 25.
I'll break down the details for the second half of the season tomorrow. Grudgingly, I have to admit that not squeezing in an Olympic break does look like it's going to offer the Canucks some benefit. Now, they just have to take advantage!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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