Farmhands summoned as injury bug bites
Help needed up front with hard-nosed forwards Sutter, Beagle on the limp
Brandon Sutter, spotted in the hallway outside his team’s dressing room after Tuesday’s 5-3 Vancouver Canucks win over the Nashville Predators, insisted the ailment that had taken him out of the game early in the first period — whatever it was — was only “minor.”
He had cut his second shift of the game short after he felt something tweak in his midsection. Almost immediately he went to the Canucks’ dressing room with athletic therapist Jon Sanderson. He returned briefly to the bench, but then left for good.
Post-game, though, he was in a bright, upbeat mood as he took photos with a handful of fans at Rogers Arena.
But with Jay Beagle already dealing with some sort of day-to-day injury that might be a hip pointer or a stiff back — he was a scratch against the Predators — the Canucks made a sequence of moves on Wednesday because they need healthy bodies up front.
They recalled centre Tyler Graovac and winger Zack MacEwen from the AHL’s Utica Comets, while also reassigning defenceman Jalen Chatfield.
Reached by phone, Canucks general manager Jim Benning revealed Sutter had an MRI exam on Wednesday morning, but the results weren’t yet available. He didn’t have a potential time frame for Sutter’s absence, but was hopeful it wouldn’t be too long.
As for Beagle, Benning would only confirm the checking centre was dealing with a “lower-body injury.”
MacEwen’s story is well-known. He grew six inches in his final year of high school, adding a six-footfour frame to the speed and skill he had developed as a 5-8 forward. A blank canvas is how Canucks senior director of player development Ryan Johnson has described MacEwen when they signed him in 2017 after a strong final season with Gatineau of the QMJHL.
In the two-plus years since, he’s worked on every aspect of his game, making his NHL debut last season. He’ll be an option on the wing, should the Canucks need him.
Adam Gaudette, who’s been skating on the wing, went back to centre, his natural position, on Tuesday, taking over for the injured Beagle.
Graovac, on the other hand, appears to fit an immediate need as a centre. If Beagle remains out tonight against the Dallas Stars and Sutter is also unavailable, which seems almost a lock, he’ll slot right into the lineup.
Canucks coach Travis Green said his team liked how Graovac played with the Comets, a hard player with size and skill. He did well in training camp and now stands to add to the 62 NHL games he played for the Minnesota Wild and the Washington Capitals.
“I’ve learned over the years that you can’t just try to play that defensive game, you’ve got to showcase what you’ve got. There’s a spot for it or there’s not,” he said in September, about what he has come to realize about the challenge of impressing NHL coaches. “This is my fourth organization. I’m coming in as a support guy. Last year they had injuries. Hopefully I can help out with that. That’s what I’m here to do.
“I set some goals in the summer to find a fit. This team has a great young core. They’re not even in a rebuild anymore. I can see this team jump in the standings for sure, they have depth everywhere.”
But compared with the NHL organizations he’s played with before — he played in the AHL in 2018-19 for the Calgary Flames’ affiliate in Stockton, Calif. — he said he saw more opportunity with Vancouver.
“The other teams, they all seemed to go to first place,” he said. “The No. 1 thing (here) is playoffs, whether that’s down in Utica or in Vancouver. I’ll do the best I can, no matter where I am.”
ICE CHIPS: Gaudette is now just 10 games shy of needing waivers in order to be reassigned to Utica, which could create a complicated roster scenario once the injured Antoine Roussel is ready to return in December. Roussel began skating with his teammates this week but has yet to be a full participant in practice. It’s expected he’ll do a conditioning stint in Utica before playing NHL games.
The No. 1 thing (here) is playoffs, whether that’s down in Utica or in Vancouver. I’ll do the best I can, no matter where I am.