Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks announced Wednesday that 25 members of the organization   21 players, including three from the taxi squad, and four staff members    have tested positive for COVID-19.

The statement read:

"An ongoing investigation by Vancouver Coastal Health and club contact tracing staff attributes the source infection to a single individual obtained in a community setting, which has since been identified by public health as a public exposure location. Rapid spread of infection throughout the team indicates a link between contacts and the primary case."

ESPN's Emily Kaplan reported Sunday a few Vancouver players were in "rough shape" with symptoms from the coronavirus.

"Fatigue, dehydration...the symptoms are intense," one player's agent told Kaplan. "It's knocked a lot of guys out. Some can't even get out of bed."

Dr. Jim Bovard, the Canucks' team physician, said the health of the players, staff and their families remains the "utmost priority."

"This is a stark reminder of how quickly the virus can spread and its serious impact, even among healthy, young athletes," Bovard said.

The Canucks have played 37 of their 56 scheduled regular-season games amid the COVID-19 pause. That's in the middle of the league's current range of games played (35 to 41).

On Monday, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told the Canadian Press the Vancouver situation is "concerning from a health and safety standpoint, not necessarily from a scheduling standpoint." The league remains confident the team will be able to complete its 56-game slate.

The Canucks' games against the Calgary Flames on Thursday and Saturday have been  postponed. Their next contest is scheduled for Monday on the road against the Edmonton Oilers.

A 17th Vancouver Canucks player tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday as the franchise continues to grapple with an outbreak that's kept the club on pause since March 24, according to The Athletic.

Two taxi squad players and three coaches remain in COVID-19 protocol, bringing the total number of positive tests within the organization to 22 as of Tuesday. 

The NHL has confirmed Alex Edler, Adam Gaudette, Marc Michaelis, Travis Hamonic, Jayce Hawyrluk, Jalen Chatfield, Braden Holtby, Bo Horvat, Travis Boyd, Thatcher Demko, Quinn Hughes, Zack MacEwen, Tyler Motte, Tyler Myers, Brandon Sutter and Antoine Roussel are all in the protocol. The league continues to operate under the assumption the entire team will test positive, per The Athletic, and there is no definitive date for the team to resume activities. 

Vancouver was scheduled to practice Tuesday but Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported the team may not even be back on the ice before April 16. 

The Athletic's Thomas Drance noted it's unclear if the league will be able to make up all of the team's postponed games before the regular season's expected conclusion on May 11. 

Complicating matters further from a hockey-operations standpoint is the April 12 trade deadline, before which the Canucks were expected to become sellers. Vancouver (16-18-3, 35 points) remains eight points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division and may not be able to catch any of the teams above. 

Per Drance: 

"I wonder if the NHL pushes the two games against the Senators and the four against the Flames to the back end. Those four games against Calgary, at least, could be played after May 11 in the event that they have playoff implications, and otherwise the club's lottery odds could be determined by point percentage. Hard to see how Vancouver gets to 56 games played at this point, without significantly pushing the playoff schedule further into the future for a team that wasn't likely to factor into them anyway."

Contingency plans are reportedly being prepared should Vancouver need a number of AHL call-ups from the team's affiliate in Utica before the Canucks' next game, which would require a cross-border quarantine upon arriving in Canada.

The outbreak of COVID-19 among the Vancouver Canucks is continuing to spread.

According to Darren Dreger of TSN, more than 20 players and coaches have tested positive for the virus, and family members are also contracting it. 

Vancouver has been dealing with issues related to COVID-19 since March 31, when two players and a coach were named to the COVID-19 protocol list, per Jimmy Hascup of USA Today. The team has not played since March 24. 

The Canucks have already had four games postponed, though Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and TSN reported Saturday that the team is "certainly not playing next week." They are currently scheduled to play again on Thursday against the Calgary Flames. 

As of Sunday afternoon, there were 14 players officially on the COVID-19 protocol list, per Hascup: Travis Boyd, Thatcher Demko, Alex Edler, Adam Gaudette, Travis Hamonic, Jayce Hawryluk, Braden Holtby, Bo Horvat, Quinn Hughes, Zack MacEwan, Tyler Motte, Tyler Myers, Antoine Roussel and Brandon Sutter. 

Thomas Drance of The Athletic said Saturday that the increased number of players includes some from the team's taxi squad as well as a "high-risk close contact." 

Dreger reported Saturday on SportsCentre that "many players" were "very ill," adding Sunday that they were suffering from symptoms including vomiting, cramping and dehydration. TSN's Farhan Lalji said Saturday that team medical staff has visited players at home for IV treatments. 

The NHL's North Division—which consists of all seven Canada-based teams—had managed to avoid COVID-19 issues for most of the season. A March 22 game between the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers was the first to be postponed in Canada when Montreal had two players moved to the COVID-19 list. Four Canadiens games were postponed as a result. 

COVID-19 cases are rising in British Columbia, where new restrictions are in place that prohibit indoor dining and make masks mandatory in schools. The province previously rolled back restrictions in mid-March, allowing gatherings of up to 10 people in outdoor spaces, according to Gordon Hoekstra of the Vancouver Sun.

News emerged Saturday that 14 Vancouver Canucks players are on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list after seven more were added Saturday, per NHL.com's Mike Battaglino.

The Canucks' season is already paused through Tuesday after two players and a coach landed on the list, but Pierre LeBrun of TSN reported Saturday that the expectation is it will be even longer, noting that 16 players and three coaches are affected.

LeBrun also reported on the league's potential contingency plans in light of the Canucks' extended pause:

Chris Johnston of Sportsnet previously reported who the first 14 players on the list were earlier Saturday:

The NHL initially postponed a March 31 game between the Canucks and Calgary Flames after two Vancouver players and one coach were placed on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list.

The league then followed up with a statement that the Canucks' next three games through April 6 would also be postponed as a result.

Currently, Vancouver's next scheduled game is Friday against Calgary. If they don't play at all next week as LeBrun posited, then the next matchup on the ledger is April 12 against the Edmonton Oilers.

However, the Canucks' season status obviously pales in comparison to the health of the players as the clear majority of the roster finds itself on the COVID-19 protocol list.

Sean Carleton, a historian and assistant professor at the University of Manitoba, is urging the NHL's Vancouver Canucks to change their logo because it is cultural appropriation of Indigenous imagery.

TMZ Sports reported Carleton believes the Canucks shouldn't profit from using the Orca logo designed by a non-Indigenous person and inspired by the art of the Haida people, an Indigenous group that resides off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.

Carleton made his complete case across several tweets in a thread, including a retort to Canucks ownership:

"Team owner Francesco Aquilini has recently stood by the logo, justifying keeping it because 'it's indigenous to the region.' Right there is how appropriation works, something 'inspired' by Indigenous art becomes 'Indigenous' and is sold as such.

"Why does this matter? Well, the real issue here is power and profit—in a bigger sense. Vancouver is located on unceded, stolen Indigenous territory, and the team makes millions from its operations and 'Indigenous' branding. This is a continuation of colonization in BC.

"The Canucks are branding their team with appropriated Indigenous imagery while being part of the process of profiting from doing business on stolen Indigenous land—without working with Indigenous peoples in meaningful ways. That's how settler colonialism works."

In October 2019, Aquilini discussed the logo on Sportsnet 650 (via Offside Vancouver) and said he hoped to keep the general theme with the potential for small alterations.

"I like the logo," he said. "It's indigenous to the region. We're going to keep it. We might tweak it. It represents the current generation. ... We've got a whole new group of fans and they identify with this logo and they like this logo."

The situation returned to the spotlight last week after new Canucks goalie Braden Holtby was criticized for having a Swedish artist design an Indigenous Thunderbird mask, which led to Carleton making a suggestion for how the team should move forward:

It's also part a larger movement throughout the sports world that's included nickname changes for the NFL's Washington team and MLB's Cleveland club.

The Vancouver Canucks cut ties with their longtime national anthem singer, Mark Donnelly, on Friday after the Vancouver Sun reported he was set to perform at an anti-mask rally in downtown Vancouver on Saturday. 

After the Sun tweeted the story, Canucks chairman Francesco Aquilini asked the outlet to change its headline to "former Canucks anthem singer" and encouraged his followers to continue wearing masks: 

Donnelly, 60, began singing "O Canada" at Canucks games in 2001.

"Mark Donnelly is acting independently and we hope the public understands he is not representing the Vancouver Canucks," COO Trent Carroll told the Sun. "We encourage everyone to wear a mask and to follow the provincial health orders."

The province of British Columbia is currently operating under both a stay-at-home order and a mask mandate. All social gatherings have been discouraged by health officials to help limit the spread of COVID-19.        

Brock Boeser has spent the first four seasons of his NHL career with the Vancouver Canucks, but could a move be on the horizon for the 23-year-old right winger?

On Friday, Matt Sekeres of TSN 1040 reported that the Canucks "are exploring the possibility" of trading Boeser (h/t Rick Dhaliwal of TSN 1040 and The Athletic). Boeser, who was a first-round draft pick in 2015, isn't set to become a restricted free agent until after the 2021-22 season.

Boeser has been a solid player for the Canucks since debuting at the back end of the 2016-17 campaign. The following year, he had 29 goals and 26 assists in 62 games, which saw him finish as a runner-up for the Calder Memorial Trophy. He recorded 26 goals and 30 assists in 69 games in 2018-19, and he notched 16 goals and 29 assists in 57 games during this year's truncated regular season.

The Athletic's Thomas Drance weighed in on the situation, and he feels there is more to the rumor than cap concerns, tweeting: "If there's a Boeser deal after the season, it would be motivated more by potential return than by dire cap math. I do think the club has come to rate [Tyler] Toffoli more highly."

For the 2020-21 season, the NHL's salary cap is remaining at $81.5 million. That could make it difficult for teams to retain all the players they want to and improve their rosters for next season. Vancouver is among those with important decisions to make. Boeser will has a cap hit of $5.875 million in each of the next two seasons, per Spotrac.

Toffoli is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. And while Drance believes the Canucks prefer the former Los Angeles King to the American, he also noted that the Canucks know "there are better ways to navigate the cap than jettisoning Boeser," hinting they could be enticed by what they could get in exchange for the young forward.

It makes sense why Vancouver could see re-signing Toffoli as a priority this offseason. The team acquired him in via trade Feb. 17, and in his first 10 games with the Canucks before the coronavirus pandemic saw play paused, the right wing had six goals and four assists.

Vancouver will be one of the 24 teams featuring when the NHL season resumes August 1. The Canucks, who are the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, will be playing the No. 10-seeded Minnesota Wild in the qualifying round.

And if Boeser plays well, he could boost his value and might get the Canucks an even larger return should they decide to go through with trading him.

Winnipeg Jets free-agent defenseman Tyler Myers will sign a five-year, $30 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks, according to Frank Seravalli of TSN Sports on Sunday. 

Darren Dreger, also of TSN, reported earlier Sunday there was "no reason the Canucks and Tyler Myers won't come to terms."

Myers, a 10-year veteran, posted nine goals and 22 assists for the Jets last season. The 29-year-old also registered a plus-11.

The 6'8" defenseman won the Calder Memorial Trophy as a 19-year-old in 2009-10 with the Buffalo Sabres.

Myers, who made the All-Star game that season, hasn't found that level of success since. He's certainly been productive on the offensive end, but Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic raised some concerns about his play last year.

"It seems a lot of hockey men are still enamored by the extremely tall Tyler Myers, despite the fact he's been aggressively mediocre in Winnipeg with last season being a low point. When Myers was on the ice, the Jets carried a 48.2 percent expected goals rate, a pretty low mark for someone playing on the third pair. Myers can move the puck fine and is OK offensively, but is a turnstile at his own blue line and struggles defensively as a result. Over the last three seasons, he's allowed the most expected goals against per 60 amongst Jets defenders."

Harman Dayal of The Athletic took a dive into Myers' more promising traits, which revolve around his abilities near his opponent's goal:

"Examining the positive elements of Myers' game, there's no denying that his value comes from the offensive side of things. Over the last two seasons, he's averaged 34 points per 82 games — a notable punch from the back end. He's also a good puck mover who consistently facilitates defensive zone exits and offensive zone entries with possession."

On that front, Myers is a good fit on a Canucks team that didn't get much offensive production from its defensemen last year. Only two such players (Alexander Edler and Troy Stecher) registered over 20 points last year, and just one (Edler) was above 23.

However, the defense still needs more reinforcements after allowing the 13th-most goals in the league last year. Vancouver finished with 85 points, which left it nine short of the final playoff spot.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are trading veteran forward J.T. Miller to the Vancouver Canucks, the Canucks announced Saturday.

Tampa Bay will receive goaltender Marek Mazanec, a 2019 third-round pick and a conditional 2020 selection. The Lightning confirmed the 2020 pick is a first-rounder that will be unconditional in 2021 if the Canucks make the playoffs in the upcoming season. 

The Lightning are clearly trying to create more salary cap space this offseason. Tampa Bay had just under $5.9 million to spend before shedding Miller's deal.

From Vancouver's perspective, the Canucks are doing more than facilitating a salary dump. Miller finished with 13 goals and 34 assists in 2018-19 and has generally been consistent throughout his NHL career. He posted 43, 56 and 58 points in the previous three seasons—making 82 appearances each year as well.

Having said that, the trade looked a little worse for the Canucks when the full terms were revealed.

Miller provides some much-needed help for the trio of Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser. Boeser was third on the team in points (56), with a big gap between him and Alexander Edler (34 points) in fourth.

But giving up a conditional first-rounder is extremely risky for a team that hasn't reached the postseason since 2014-15.

The Vancouver Canucks selected highly touted Russian winger Vasily Podkolzin with the 10th overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft at Rogers Center in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Friday night.

Podkolzin is one of a host of talented players who are viewed as the potential third-best prospect in the draft behind American center Jack Hughes and Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko.

Despite being just 17 years of age, Podkolzin already has some experience playing in Russia's KHL, which is widely considered the No. 2 league in the world behind the NHL. According to NHL.com's Igor Eronko, Podkolzin made history by appearing in a KHL game:

All told, Podkolzin played three games for SKA St. Petersburg, registering no points and a minus-one rating.

In addition to his short KHL stint, Podkolzin played for SKA St. Petersburg's lower-level teams in the MHL and VHL in 2018-19. He racked up eight points in 12 MHL games and five points in 14 VHL contests.

While it can be argued that Podkolzin's production was somewhat modest given his lofty draft status, Scott Powers of The Athletic felt the mere fact that he reached the KHL at his age was a significant accolade:

Some of Podkolzin's best work to date has come in international competition against many of the best young players in the world.

In the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Podkolzin led the tournament with eight goals and 11 points. He also scored a hat trick in a win over the United States in the bronze medal game.

Podkolzin followed that up with three assists in seven games in the 2019 World Junior Championships, as Russia went on to win bronze again.

While Podkolzin's physical tools are undeniable, there is undoubtedly some risk with selecting him. Podkolzin has yet to show that he can be a truly dominant player unlike prospects such as Hughes and Kakko.

Also, the risk of players with KHL ties leaving the NHL to return to Russia if things don't go well is always present. Although top players like Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin stay in the NHL and thrive, there is a high turnover rate when it comes to middling Russian players.

There are some major question marks attached to Podkolzin, but because of his high ceiling and massive potential, it is difficult to blame the Canucks for rolling the dice on him.