On an off day before getting back to work against the Florida Panthers on Friday night at Rogers Arena, the Vancouver Canucks have released one big piece of news today:
This is probably not as earth-shattering as it initially appears. As
Jeremy Davis at Canucks Army pointed out just this morning, today's the last day that Pedan could have been re-assigned to Utica without needed to clear waivers again. Though he hasn't gotten into a single game with the Canucks this season, he has spent 30 days with the club during three separate recalls. That's enough to require him to be placed on waivers once again before he can be sent back down to the minors, so the Canucks are making the safe move by taking action today.
This also means that it's unlikely that Pedan will be recalled again before the end of the season, unless it's an emergency-recall situation.
So—Jordan Subban. Drafted 115th overall by the Canucks in 2013—the same year that Mike Gillis and company selected Bo Horvat and Hunter Shinkaruk in the first round—Subban has been on Canucks fans' radar because of his offensive acumen and—let's face it—his famous brother P.K.
Subban's 9-13-22 in 34 games with the Comets this year, which ties him for fourth overall in the AHL in goals by a defenseman. He's easily on pace to pass the 11 goals and 36 points he recorded in his first pro season in 2015-16.
Subban was also selected to be the Comets' representative in this year's AHL All-Star Classic. That runs simultaneously with the NHL's All-Star Weekend, though the AHL's All-Star game is one day later, on Monday, January 30th. The Canucks' last game before the break is on January 26 and they don't get back to work till a week later, on February 2, so Subban should still easily be able to participate in the festivities. The 30-day rule isn't relevant in his case, since he's still waiver exempt.
Despite his offensive acumen, there are two reasons why Subban has had to wait to get his first look at the NHL level.
First—he's undersized. He's listed at 5'9" and 181 pounds on the Comets' website, but that doesn't put him at much of a disadvantage compared to 5'10", 181-pound Troy Stecher, who has shown that he can compete at the NHL level.
Secondly, though, questions remain about Subban's two-way play. With the Canucks going through their usual cadre of injuries on the blue line, it's not impossible that we might see Subban in game action at some point but, more likely, he'll assume Pedan's spot in the press box.
Short term, it sounds like Troy Stecher is on the mend from his flu bug. He is on the ice at practice today, along with the rest of the usual suspects.
Jim Benning made an appearance on TSN1040 this morning. Among other things, he mentioned that Jannik Hansen should be set to return to game action after the All-Star Break.
We haven't fussed too much about Hansen because the team has been winning while he has been sidelined, but he has already been out of action for four weeks. By the time the Canucks get back on the ice after the All-Star Break, that'll be six weeks.
Ben Hutton will hit the two-week mark of his injury time tomorrow, while Derek Dorsett, Erik Gudbranson and—I presume—Philip Larsen are all still out long term.
As for Anton Rodin, Ben Kuzma had a detailed conversation with the Canucks' director of rehabilitation Dr. Rick Celebrini about the issues that Rodin has faced as he struggles to return to form after that skate cut that ended his MVP year in the Swedish League in 2015-16. It's complicated, to say the least.
The Canucks are saying that they hope to get Rodin healthy enough to see some game action before the end of the season so that they can make a decision on whether they want to keep him with the team going forward. He's on a one-year contract but the Canucks will retain his rights—he's a restricted free agent at the end of the year.
For now, though, it's more testing and more rehab. Rodin has officially been placed on I.R today.
Jayson Megna's also back at practice today after having missed Tuesday's game due to the flu. The bottom six is seeing some different looks, as is the power play.
After playing back-to-back games in Alberta on Tuesday, we'll get the detailed rundown of the Panthers' lineup at tomorrow's morning skate, but we do know this much so far:
That virtually guarantees that we'll have a Luongo-vs-Henrik showdown for the captain's thousandth point tomorrow night.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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