AT HOME ON THE ROAD
Canucks thrive again away from home.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jared McCann played Game No. 9 on Friday night.
The question now is does the 19-year-old rookie centre with the Vancouver Canucks survive to play No. 10 on Monday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.
It sure looks that way. McCann may have sealed the deal with his team-leading fifth goal of the season Friday night in Arizona.
Players can be sent back to junior after playing nine NHL games without burning the first year of their three-year entry level contracts. If they are sent down after playing 10 or more games, that first year of the contract is done. And once they are sent back to junior they cannot be recalled for the remainder of the season.
McCann, obviously, hopes he can remain a Canuck and acknowledged before the team met the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night that he’s been thinking about the impending decision on his future.
“It’s tough not to think about it, but at the same time you can kind of use it to your advantage and I feel like for me it helps me play better knowing that I have got something on the line here,” he said.
The Canucks will have a decision to make this weekend on McCann and another one early next week on fellow rookie forward Jake Virtanen, who played his eighth game on Friday night.
McCann has certainly made a case for himself. He has proven he can score at the NHL level and made an impression with a quick and highly effective wrist shot. What he has to prove to the organization is that he is up to the rigours of the NHL defensive game.
“That is what I am trying to do,” McCann said. “I feel like I gave it everything I could up to this point and the rest is up to them.”
Coach Willie Desjardins said before the game that decisions on McCann and Virtanen won’t be easy ones, but acknowledged there is a chance both could stick with the team.
“We’ll evaluate after tonight’s game again and take another good look at him,” Desjardins said of McCann. “He has been good for us. But it’s still a tough decision to make. It might not seem like it is, it might seem it’s for sure and a given, but our No. 1 thing is (determining) where he’ll develop the most. Whether he gets 20 minutes in junior (in Sault Ste. Marie) or 12 minutes with us.”
Centre Bo Horvat knows what McCann is going through. He lived it as a 19-year-old rookie last year.
“I remember last year it was definitely nerve- racking for me, not knowing what is going to happen to you,” Horvat said. “But he has played amazing. He has done everything to make to make it a tough final decision. Whatever happens, Jared is going to rise to the top. He has really proven himself this year and no matter what happens to him, he is going to be fine.” INJURY UPDATES: Desjardins said winger Chris Higgins is expected to practise with the team on Sunday. Higgins has been out all season with a foot fracture. Desjardins said goalie Jacob Markstrom could also return to practice Sunday. He has been out since suffering a hamstring injury in the final practice of the pre-season.
The team said winger Brandon Prust will be out four to six weeks with a left ankle injury he suffered in Tuesday night’s win over the Montreal Canadiens.