If you have not heard by now the Vancouver Canucks center man Manny Malhotra is out with an eye injury, from getting hit with a puck. There is no chance that Malhotra will come back this season even if the Canucks are still playing hockey in June. I am actually worried that Malhotra might miss a portion of next season due to the uncertainty of Malhotra’s vision being able to be one the ice in such a physical demanding game.
Now comes the daunting task for the Canucks to replace such unique talent. There is Malhotra’s leadership, NHL best face percentage at 61.7% and being an essential part to help the Canucks penalty kill to be 1st in the league. The Canucks have at least till April 10th to find out the best player(s) to be that 3rd line center and the top penalty killer. Lucky enough that Mike Gillis’s deadline acquisition Chris Higgins and Maxim Lapierre, could be both potentially the best players to fill in a 3rd line center role and a penalty killing role.
Now looking at the rest of the Vancouver lineup the Canucks have called up Manitoba Moose forwards Victor Oreskovich and Alex Bolduc to fill in the rest of the lineup. These two players have a total of 103 NHL games played.
- Category: NHL
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