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Lunchtime Links: Final Home Practice of the Year

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After sweeping the three California teams, Vancouver sets their sites on the Alberta teams for the final three.

By Thos Pratt
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Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

The Vancouver Canucks practiced today in advance of their final road trip. Lines were a bit jumbled again, with injuries and with the Andrey Pedan at forward experiment still in full swing.

I'm not at all sold on the D MacIntyre proposes in the first Tweet. It seems about three deep to me -- Alex Edler, Chris Tanev and Ben Hutton. Nikita Tryamkin should get better. Luca Sbisa is Luca Sbisa, and after that, a lot of question marks. Alex Biega was ok much of the time, but he's faded as the season has gone on. I'm not certain he should be counted in the top eight Canucks defenders next season. We have yet to see Philip Larson, so it seems very premature to put him ahead of Pedan on the depth chart.

I wouldn't rule out Pedan on defence next season, though I'm not bothered by the experiment at forward in the late stages of this season.

As promised, the translator was back this morning, allowing Nikita Tyramkin to speak about his experience in Vancouver so far.

Carol Schram has her off-day post up today, touching on last night's game and including a Tweet from Tanbir from Surrey showing he has zero perspective on this franchise.

Elliotte Freidman's 30 Thoughts, ever the must read, is out with some talk about the concussion case, and two Canucks related tidbits:

3. If you missed it during the Los Angeles/Vancouver broadcast Monday night, John Shannon reported Vancouver’s position on Brock Boeser’s future has evolved. Boeser, who the Canucks selected 23rd overall last June, goes to this weekend’s NCAA Frozen Four on a high. The North Dakota freshman has 54 points in 40 games, with his play elevating to new levels as the games’ importance increased. If the forward chooses to go pro, Canucks GM Jim Benning will not stand in his way.

On the same broadcast, Billy Jaffe added the Canucks are pursuing UND free-agents Drake Caggiula (a forward) and Troy Stecher (a defenceman). Caggiula is hot property, with several suitors. Last week, I mentioned Ottawa and Philadelphia among them. The Senators are still very much a part of this, but a few sources indicated the Flyers may not be. Stecher, a local boy who attended Vancouver’s development camp in 2014, told reporters his father had season tickets to the Canucks and he "dreamed" of playing there.

4. Interesting off-ice move in the organization, as Victor de Bonis moved from COO of Canucks Sports & Entertainment to CEO of Aquilini Group. (That’s the family with ownership of the club.) De Bonis was point man for the team’s business operations over much of the past decade, and it’s expected his replacement will report to him. Since the change was announced late last Friday afternoon, wild conspiracy theories followed. One was president of hockey operations Trevor Linden being promoted, allowing room for another executive somewhere on the totem pole. (The popular rumour was George McPhee, who has a tie-in with Vancouver and traded Linden back there from Washington.) I was told I have an overactive imagination, so forget that.

Henrik Sedin warned Canucks management: Don't let the three game winning streak cloud your assessment of our team.

Rogers, after seeing a substantial ratings drop in the first two years of their NHL coverage contract, has replaced their head of TV production.

Brandon Tanev, Chris' little brother, makes his debut with the Winnipeg Jets tonight.

Stay tuned for the Canucks and Oilers tomorrow night in the farewell to Rexall Place/Northlands Coliseum.

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