Canucks give Perfect update... - More Moves coming

Jeff Patterson has Filipeetle returning to the Canucks lineup tonight, and with this, the Canucks need to make a move to get him off injured reserves. A collision with Sharks defenseman Darnell Nurse left Filipeetle on the injured reserves after he re-aggravated an injury to his shoulder that he dealt with in the preseason and has been on injured reserves since October 30th. Tom Villender is available tonight too. Manny Malhotra has been careful on both of them. Petal gets assessed after the morning skate, and Willander will get evaluated after skating. Every activation is of subtraction. The Canucks need to send someone down to the AHL in order to activate Phil Petal off injured reserves and their six eligible players. One of those six isn't a regular player, but this lineup does have an issue that the tweet didn't bring up. Thursday was the first full skate since today was optional heading into their game. Philip Edel played with Paul Cotter and Jonathan Lechramacki. Tuesday's the line from Kuzma. Dabrowski, Pedersen, and Besser on the top line. Cotter, Hedl, and Lechermacki on the second. Then Liam Ogren, Marco Rossi, Carlson, with Drew O'Connor, Sasson, and Baines on the fourth. Brendan Gallagher and Quillen were both the extras that day. And the Hockey News has Gallagher on the fourth line tonight. So the first thing that his return has is not the roster limit. It's someone that played on Monday night will not be in this lineup. Manny on Wednesday said, He's obviously a very dynamic player that changes our lineup when he's in. He also said the points aren't the story. He was doing a lot of really good things in terms of transporting pucks and creating looks for us. Dietl played 7 games this season before the injury, with 0 goals and 2 assists. The points look thin because of what happens when he's on the ice. In 101 minutes at 5 on 5, the Canucks scored 1 goal and were outshot 51-23. The coach added that, with his speed, his ability to apply pressure up the ice is a major asset. Speed is what he sold his team on in October, and when Malhotra said it changed the dynamic of our group. Malhotra's answer was, we do have to give him some grace for the amount of timiness. The coach is telling you to ignore the stat line. Heidel has averaged 19 minutes and 53 seconds a night in those 7 games, so this isn't a player the coach was hiding. His last game was October 29th in San Jose, when he played a career high 22 minutes and 13 seconds before getting hit by Nurse. He missed practice on October 30th and went on injured reserves, and Jacob Quillen was recalled the same day. That season was sadly cut short too. A check from behind from Jason Dickerson ended it on March 15th, and after 12 games and 3 points with the Canucks. And tonight is the Rangers, who drafted him in the first round in 2017. He spent eight years in their organization before being traded to Vancouver. Hedl has missed all four games between the Canucks and the Rangers, including a game at Madison Square Garden in March after a season ended with a head injury. It's been almost two years now since the trade, and I didn't play a game against them. Then he added, I have great memories from those seasons. It's a one-year deal at $4.4 million, and he's a free agent in 2027, so every game he missed was a game off his addition. Hedl is expected, not confirmed yet, to face off versus his former team for the first time with the Canucks following the JT Miller trade. And he isn't moving pieces for fun, because looking at the last four games, it shows you where they're going. Against Anaheim on November 3rd, they trailed 2-1 after the first period and lost 5-4. In Winnipeg two days later, it was 3-1 Jets after the first, and the final was 6-2. In Edmonton, the game was tied 1-1 after two periods, and the Oilers scored three times in the third for a 4-2 final. Then Monday, Philadelphia led 1-0 after the first period, 2-0 after the second, and won 4-3. Out of those four first periods and the Canucks were outscored 7-3. The season had three wins in the first 20 games and 16 losses in the last 17. So a slow start has been costing them points all year. Manny called the start the most frustrating part of Monday's game and said it was becoming a problem. Brock Besser is one point from 500 in the NHL and the line he's on is the one that needs someone to start games. And Philip Edel and his line is going to be a major part if the Canucks finally want to get back in the win hole. Tom Villaner skated with Pedersen on Thursday and was reported back on track to play Friday. He missed four games with a lower body injury the team never explained. Then Manny said it himself, he is available to play. But the next thing was, Tom is progressing, we're going to evaluate where he is following skating and everything. Available and playing are, of course, two different complete words. Now, looking at this, after skating and practice, we should get a clear answer. Tom Villeneuve said it himself, it feels good to be back, and that he hasn't been injured like that before. Last season, he played 70 games. This season, he has 16 games, 0 goals, and 3 assists. And if he's a go tonight, the Hockey News has him next to Pedersen, with Boyman Hronik on the first pair, and Jamie Oletiak on the third. Shen would be a part of the extras going into tonight's game. And interesting enough, on that third pair is Cameron Crotty, who is 27 and on the third team in weeks. Ottawa, then Minnesota, then the Canucks who claimed him on waivers. And he spoke on Crotty, a big right shot defenseman that can play some minutes. Patrick Johnson reports he appears unlikely to play tonight, which would leave Shen or someone else to slide in. Antini already went to Abbotsford on Tuesday, so the Canucks made a vision of this move earlier in the week. Either way, the defense is pretty much set, but the forwards are going to rely on the return of Filippito. Get a report from Optional Skate today that Miralainen is in the starter's routine. This would be his fourth straight start, and that is a decision about about trust more than a decision about rest. He is 2-8-1 this season with an 8-89 save percentage, and 1-2 in his last three games against the Rangers. Against Philly on Monday, he stopped 14 of 16 shots, in a 3-1 loss where the Canucks outshot the Flyers 13-2 in the third period. Other goalie Kevin Lankanen is 1-8, and Demko is of course injured and is out with his hip surgery. And one quick update surrounding the Canucks, Ilya Safanov, a player that was acquired a couple seasons ago from Chicago, had his contract terminated with the Canucks and will return to the KHL. His agent Dan Milstein put out a statement on Tuesday. While he did not reach his goal of playing in the NHL, he leaves grateful for the opportunity and will always look back at his time in Vancouver fondly. And the statement said he was building strong relationships with with the staff in Abbotsford. So now to the forwards. The tweet says six players are waiver-exempt, meaning they can go to the AHL without another team claiming them. Quillen is the only non-regular, so he seems like the most obvious candidate. Others on the list are Weckermacke, Ogren, Villander, Boyum, and Pedersen. Take one of those at a time. Weckermacke has seven goals and eight assists in 20 games and And he's playing with Hedl. He's staying. Liam Mulgren has six goals in 19 games on the third line and Malhotra is kept together. Zee Boyum, D. Petey, and of course Tom Villaner are three pieces that are big parts of this defense moving forward and none of those three are going down. That sadly leaves Jacob Quillen, who has three games and one assist with the Canucks this season and 27 games in his career. Came over from Toronto and the Canucks have used him as the player who moves between the two levels. Which is exactly why he's the easy answer. When he was recalled on October 30th, he had 5 goals and 2 assists in 5 AHL games. That is a real argument to keep him, and it still doesn't beat this roster math. Hockey News claims he is the most likely to go to the AHL, and Johnson writes that he presumably goes back to the minors if Hedl is cleared. Now, that part isn't the tweet. Archie Baines and Carlson aren't on that list. So sending either one of them down means exposing them to waivers. R.C. Baines has 4 points in 15 games. Linus Carlsen has 10 points in 20 games. One is the odd man out, and the other is on a line that works. R.C. Baines and Quillen were both the odd forwards out in Thursday's practice. Only one of them can go down without waivers, and the other just sits. So there are two moves. Quillen ends up going back down to the AHL to continue with Abbotsford where their early season dominance and R.C. Baines sits as the fourth line is full. Which makes it seem like Jacob Quillen is the obvious roster move and a great addition with the Canucks, but when looking at this team and not losing assets for nothing, it seems like the obvious choice from Rian Johnson. And when you're looking at the games played, three for Jacob Quillen this year, 15 for Baines, and 20 for Carlson. And of course, if Filippito or Tom Villaner both cannot go in this game, it changes the math, and one of these guys ends up playing, but... With the direction it's leading, it seems like the obvious choice. And hey, if you guys are enjoying staying up to date with everything to do around the Canucks, make sure to hit that free subscribe button because you get to stay up to date for completely free. Plus, we're so close to our goal of 10,000 subscribers. Now, for the Rangers. They come in 11-8-1 and have won four of their last five. Most recently, 3-1 over Calgary. Their projected top line is Bro, Zimbinejad, and Lafreniere, and their goalie is Garend or Korpisala, which hasn't been confirmed. Marcus Pedersen, former Canuck, is on their defense now, averaging 20 minutes and 55 seconds. And of course, JT Miller will face off against his former team. Let me know your thoughts down in the comments. Do the Canucks finally get a win? After what feels like the longest winter possible, even though winter hasn't started, but you know what I mean. Let me know your thoughts down in the comments. Who scores first? Does Phil Petal get on the board? Let me know all your thoughts. I love reading through them. I've been your host, Mark Pye. Take care, Canucks fans, and I'll see you in the next one.