- It’s been a disappointing sophomore campaign for Canucks winger Andrei Kuzmenko. The 27-year-old potted 39 goals in 81 games last season after signing with Vancouver as a free agent out of Russia, but his point production and ice time have dipped this year, and he finds himself outside of a top-six role with three healthy scratches this season. As a result, some trade rumors have popped up over the past couple of weeks. However, Kuzmenko’s agent, Dan Milstein, says his camp doesn’t fuel those talks. Speaking with British Columbia-based reporter Joshua Griffith, Milstein said Kuzmenko is on the same page with both the Canucks coaching staff and front office, reiterating his client is “very happy to be in Vancouver” and that there is a path forward for Kuzmenko in the organization.
Canucks Rumors
San Jose Sharks Acquire Jack Studnicka
Confirmation coming by way of the Vancouver Canucks, the San Jose Sharks will acquire forward Jack Studnicka in exchange for defenseman Nick Cicek, and a sixth-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Acquired by the Canucks in October of last season, Studnicka was originally a member of the Boston Bruins, playing in a total of 38 games wearing the spoked ’B’. Last season in Vancouver, Studnicka played in a total of 47 games, scoring four goals and eight points overall.
Unfortunately for Studnicka, even after a solid showing at preseason camp, he became a victim of the glut of forwards in the Vancouver organization. With 13 players already on the roster, and a few above still above him in the organizational depth chart, Studnicka’s future with the team was entirely blocked.
Now in San Jose, even with a healthy roster, Studnicka should still have access to adequate playing time. However, with three forwards already on the team’s injured reserve, the Sharks now have even more of a need to round out their forward depth as we approach the dog days of the regular season.
Averaging just under 11 and a half minutes of ice time per game throughout his career, Studnicka should continue to average similar ice time in the Bay Area. Given the current makeup of San Jose’s roster, Studnicka should effectively replace either Justin Bailey or Givani Smith in the team’s bottom six of their forward core.
Going the other way to the Canucks, Cicek suited up in 16 games for the Sharks last season, notching four assists before November 30th. Although born in Winnipeg, Cicek spent his junior career playing for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL, a little under a six-hour drive to Vancouver over the border.
Only playing for the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, this season, Cicek has suited up in 18 games, scoring one goal and three points. Given the Canucks’ current depth in their defensive core, it is likely that Cicek will suit up for their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.
Suter Activated Off IR
- Prior to their game tonight versus Florida, the Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated center Pius Suter from injured reserve. The 27-year-old has missed the last month due to a lower-body injury. Suter was off to a slow start to his first season with Vancouver as he has been limited to four goals in his first 15 games. Having sent back Linus Karlsson recently, they didn’t need to make another move to open up a spot for Suter’s activation.
Canucks Have Held Preliminary Extension Talks With Jim Rutherford, None With Tyler Myers
Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford is in the final season of his contract with the club, a three-year deal he’d signed after being instated in a permanent role in December 2021. His and GM Patrik Allvin’s short-term surgery on the roster is a significant reason why the surging Canucks find themselves well-positioned to make the playoffs for the second time since 2015.
Under his watch, the Canucks now find themselves free of most of the bloated contracts signed with former GM Jim Benning at the helm and, in true Rutherford fashion, have already made a sizable trade this season to improve their depth well ahead of the trade deadline, capturing hulking defender Nikita Zadorov from the Flames for a value price.
- In yesterday’s interview, Rutherford also implied the team had not held extension discussions with pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Tyler Myers. The 33-year-old is Vancouver’s second-oldest defender behind offseason free agent signing Ian Cole and is in the final season of an oft-criticized five-year, $30MM contract carrying a $6MM cap hit signed in 2019 under the Benning regime. His name was featured in offseason trade discussions, namely a deal that almost sent him to the floundering Sharks for the Canucks to free up additional cap space. However, holding onto Myers may have benefitted the Canucks. His trade value has never been higher while with the team. He was paid a $5MM signing bonus at the beginning of the season and is due $1MM in actual salary during this campaign, making him a more palatable financial acquisition for teams. His on-ice stats have never been better as a Canuck. While his minutes have been reduced to under 19 minutes per game, he’s responded with two goals and 11 assists for 13 points in 29 contests, his best points-per-game rate in a full season since he tallied 37 in 80 games with the Sabres during his sophomore season in 2010-11. His two-way game is still an area of major concern, however, as his pairings with Cole and Carson Soucy have been the Canucks’ worst in terms of controlling possession quality this season.
Morning Notes: Kuzmenko, Pinto, Couture
The Vancouver Canucks could be looking to move high-scoring winger Andrei Kuzmenko, according to The Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta. Pagnotta shares that the team has discussed trading him but that, “nothing is close”, citing his $5.5MM cap hit and modified-no-trade-clause as pieces that make a trade challenging.
Kuzmenko is off to a slower start to the season after scoring an electric 39 goals and 74 points in 81 games last season. It was Kuzmenko’s first year in the NHL, with Vancouver signing him out of the KHL, where he had previously played 315 career games and scored 200 points. The 27-year-old winger is now sporting just five goals and 16 points through 26 games this season, on pace for just 50 points in 82 games. Pagnotta shares that Vancouver could be looking for a talent-for-talent swap, attempting to bring in a new face to replace Kuzmenko’s role in the top-six. The left-winger has averaged roughly 16 minutes of ice time through his 107 career NHL games so far.
Other notes from around the league:
- Shane Pinto is expected to resume training with the Ottawa Senators’ skills coaches soon, after doing much of his training at various colleges while serving his 41-game suspension. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch shared expects the forward to sign his qualifying offer, which would give Pinto a cap hit of $874K. Pinto is eligible to resume playing for either the Ottawa Senators or Belleville Senators on January 21st.
- Logan Couture spoke with media for the first time in two months on Tuesday, shedding light on the lower-body injury that’s so far held him out of the season. Couture, 34, candidly shared that he had feared the injury could end his career, but that those fears are behind him after he began rehabbing the injury. He is now expecting to return soon, but the Sharks captain didn’t have a timeline yet, calling himself, “truly week-to-week”. Couture has spent his entire career with the San Jose Sharks, totaling 700 points in 927 games with the club.
Canucks Keeping Open Mind Regarding Kuzmenko's Future
It has been a rough start to Andrei Kuzmenko’s sophomore season. The 27-year-old had 39 goals last season but has been limited to just four in his first 25 games of the year. He has been a healthy scratch at times and has lined up recently on the fourth line as well, fueling trade speculation. Speaking with Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, Canucks president Jim Rutherford indicated that they’re keeping an open mind with Kuzmenko and not locking themselves into just one answer when asked about their willingness to let the winger play his way out of his struggles. Kuzmenko is in the first season of a two-year contract that carries a $5.5MM AAV; Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported over the weekend (video link) that teams had started calling Vancouver to gauge Kuzmenko’s availability.
Canucks Assign Linus Karlsson To AHL
The Canucks have made a roster move prior to tonight’s game against Carolina as the team announced (Twitter link) that forward Linus Karlsson has been assigned to AHL Abbotsford.
The 24-year-old was recalled a week and a half ago, getting into two games with Vancouver to bring his season count to three. He has been held off the scoresheet in those three contests while logging 10:26 per game. Karlsson has been quite productive in the minors, however, picking up three goals and a dozen helpers in 17 appearances at that level.
Karlsson is in the final season of his two-year, entry-level deal that he signed in 2022 following a strong showing with SHL Skelleftea. He’ll be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights this summer.
Yesterday, it was reported that center Pius Suter is nearing a return to Vancouver’s lineup after missing the last three weeks with a lower-body injury. This roster move could be the precursor to activating Suter off injured reserve either later today or in the near future.
Latest On Pius Suter
Vancouver Canucks forward Pius Suter has not been in the team’s lineup since a November 12th victory over the Montreal Canadiens. That could soon change, as Rink Wide Vancouver’s Jeff Paterson reports that Suter was on the ice in a regular jersey for Canucks practice today, rather than a non-contact one.
Signed to strengthen the Canucks’ bottom-six center depth, Suter has been uneven in Vancouver. His offensive numbers are well below expectations, but with Suter as a regular face in their lineup the Canucks won far more often than they lost. The Canucks have fallen off a little bit, and have won just five of their last ten games. Perhaps the return of Suter, who scored 15 goals and 36 points in 2021-22, can help them return to their winning ways.
Latest On Ethan Bear
While some teams are starting to look to the trade market to see what options are out there to help their respective back ends, there is still a free agent blueliner of some note that’s available. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal provided (Twitter link) an update on Ethan Bear, suggesting that the rearguard is two to three weeks away from signing.
The 26-year-old was expected to re-sign with Vancouver after last season but after he suffered a shoulder injury at the Worlds in the spring, the Canucks opted to non-tender him. However, despite that and their recent acquisition of Nikita Zadorov, Dhaliwal reports that Vancouver is one of the teams showing interest in the defenseman.
Bear played in 61 games with Vancouver last season after being acquired from Carolina in an early-season trade, notching 16 points along with 82 blocks while logging 18:32 per game. His best season came back in 2019-20 with Edmonton when he had 21 points in 71 contests while averaging nearly 22 minutes a game which put him tenth in Calder Trophy voting. Since then, however, Bear hasn’t been able to get back to that top-four form consistently.
Dhaliwal suggests that Bear’s eventual contract is likely to be a one-year agreement worth around $1MM prorated. That’s low enough for most teams to fit into their cap structure, especially since teams would likely be sending someone making $775K or more down to make room for Bear on their roster. Not surprisingly, there appear to be several teams interested in Bear with Dhaliwal suggesting five or six are in the mix for Bear at this point.
While Bear isn’t likely to have a significant impact after being out for so long, he’d still represent a low-risk, low-cost upgrade to a team’s defensive depth. Accordingly, getting that type of asset for free midseason will be a nice piece of business for whoever manages to land him.
Matt Irwin Sent Down To Abbotsford
- Matt Irwin’s stint with Vancouver was short-lived as he has been returned to AHL Abbotsford, per the AHL’s Transactions Log. The 31-year-old signed with the Canucks in free agency but he wound up clearing waivers in training camp, resulting in Irwin seeing his first minor league action since the 2016-17 campaign. He has two assists in 13 games with Abbotsford so far.