Jayson Megna

Vancouver Canucks: Jayson Megna out Two Weeks, Brendan Gaunce Questionable

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Vancouver Canucks are facing some more injury trouble up front ahead of Saturday’s game with the Washington Capitals.

The Vancouver Canucks will be without forward Jayson Megna and potentially forward Brendan Gaunce for Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals.

That means that forward Mike Zalewski will step into the lineup after being called up from Utica this week. If Gaunce can’t go tonight, Alex Biega would step into the lineup to fill his role.

We’ve already seen Biega in this role against Anaheim and he was okay but in an ideal situation he shouldn’t be playing forward. Obviously, there isn’t enough time to get anybody here from Utica for tonight’s game. However, that’s not the only option the Canucks had to fill this hole.

Yesterday, the Minnesota Wild placed Teemu Pulkkinen on waivers after claiming him two weeks ago. At the time, the Canucks were still healthy but I suggested this would be a good pick-up. Now, with the Canucks banged up, it would’ve made too much sense to pick him up.

The Wild are scheduled to play the Dallas Stars tonight in Minnesota. Waivers go through at 9 AM Pacific time. That would have allotted Pulkkinen 10 hours to get from Minnesota to Vancouver and be ready for tonight’s 7 PM puck drop.

There are concerns that Pulkkinen may not be able to skate at the NHL level. However, there is no risk in giving him a shot and seeing if it works out. If it doesn’t, then he goes back on waivers. If he clears, he gives Utica some much needed offensive help. If it does work out, well then you’ve just discovered a diamond in the rough.

Instead of having a forward that has led the AHL in goals, the Canucks could face a scenario where they dress a defenseman that has one career goal at the NHL level and 20 career goals at the AHL level for the second time this year. That just seems like a really bad decision for a team struggling to score.