With two games left in preseason, it looks like we're in a bit of a holding pattern as far as the big decisions about who's going to make this team.
Here's the big news from Wednesday's practise so far:
Okay—a couple more tidbits. First, the injury update. Sounds like Both Richardson and Kassian are close to returning to the lineup:
Second, we're seeing Linden Vey skating on the wing today with Bonino and Burrows. That's a move that makes sense if Richardson's set to return, and Bo Horvat is staying for awhile. The team's four centres to start the season would then be Henrik, Bonino, Horvat and Richardson, with Vey. Matthias is skating at centre with Higgins and Hansen today, but I expect him to shift back to the wing once Richardson returns.
Not so sure where that puts Zack Kassian, though. The big guy seems to have a knack for finding his way into coaches' bad books in a hurry.
There have been no further roster moves since Joacim Eriksson was sent down to Utica on Wednesday, so the roster remains at 27 players: 17 forwards, eight defensemen and two goalies.
Assuming no players start the season on injured reserve, three forwards and one defenseman still need to be cut. Cal O'Reilly will be one of the forwards. My guess is that, if everyone's healthy, Hunter Shinkaruk and Nick Jensen will get tickets to Utica and be treated as the first callups—unless they explode offensively in these last two games.
Jim Benning has said repeatedly that he likes his lineup as it is, so I think he'll do what he can to keep this group intact through the beginning of the regular season, where he can really see what he's got.
It certainly looks like that was the philosophy behind Jacob Markstrom's assignment to Utica. Benning and Trevor Linden made a radio appearance this morning on TSN1040, and Patrick Johnston of The Province
interpreted their comments to mean that the team deliberately played Markstrom only in the Stockton preseason game—the one with no TV or radio coverage—to keep him hidden from other teams.
“I’m not going to hide the fact that we’re happy he’s still in our organization,” said Benning.
“We wanted to buy ourselves some time,” said Linden.
I've seen some suggestions that hanging onto Markstrom means that Eddie Lack becomes the next contestant on the Canucks' goalie-trading block. I won't rush to that conclusion just yet. My expectation is that Lack will play very well out of the gate. If the team is serious about trying to win games and make the playoffs, he may be their best option—I'm still not sold on Ryan Miller.
I could see a scenario down the road where Benning's loyalty to Miller might make him want to move Lack to take some pressure off his prized free-agent signing, but I don't think that'll happen in the near term. I'd say, barring injury, it'll be Miller and Lack sharing the crease—with Miller getting about 65 percent of the work?—until at least Christmas.
Bruce Dowbiggin Skeptical of Rookie Management Team
To wrap up today, an
interesting interview from OmarCanuck of VanCityBuzz with Bruce Dowbiggin, author of the new book on the Canucks,
Ice Storm.
It's important to keep in mind that Dowbiggin has been well-connected with Mike Gillis for years, writing about him when he was a player agent and when he helped to bring down former NHLPA head Alan Eagleson. That access is probably what initially got the book project started, and a sense of loyalty to Gillis could be why he's not on the Linden/Benning/Desjardins bandwagon just yet:
The reason I say they were desperate is, Trevor Linden – he’s got no experience. If you’re really serious about winning, you don’t hire a guy who’s been selling glasses and elliptical machines for six years. You hire a guy who understands the president’s job today.
You’re not sold on the direction the team’s taking now?
I don’t know what the direction is. All I know is they’ve hired a guy who has no experience as a president, a guy who has no experience as a general manager, and a guy who has no experience as a coach. These are all newbies.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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