Vancouver Canucks News: Hamhuis, Clendening, and More

The Vancouver Canucks may not be playing for the next week or so, but there are still things to talk about.

The Vancouver Canucks are going to miss Daniel Sedin, the franchise all-time goal scoring leader, during the NHL All-Star games. Otherwise, it was to be an uneventful week in Canuckland. Vancouver couldn’t care less about the All-Star festivities in Nashville, Tennessee.

What Vancouver realizes, though, is that the recent air of confidence surrounding the play of the Canucks is wearing off fast.

Adam Clendening

It’s nothing about what the Canucks are doing. It’s about what everyone else is doing.

In case you were wondering why No. 44 Matt Bartkowski looks so young in that picture, it is because that No. 44 is not Bartkowski.

That No. 44 is Adam Clendening, the former Canucks prospect who was dealt in the trade to acquire Brandon Sutter. He is back to haunt Vancouver. You can bet that the Edmonton Oilers will find a spot on the blueline for the 23-year-old.

The Anaheim Ducks were the ones who risked Clendening through waivers. The Ducks acquired Clendening in a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins that sent David Perron to Anaheim in exchange for Clendening and Carl Hagelin.

Add Clendening to my list of “Canuck curses.” Note that Vancouver should not be blamed for not claiming Clendening today. The Oilers were second in waiver priorities. Funny how Canucks fans are still craving Clendening. The rest of the league thinks otherwise:

Who knows. Clendening might benefit the Canucks. The karma would be insane should he turn the puck over and allow the Canucks to score a game-winner against Edmonton.

Dan Hamhuis

Dan Hamhuis is on the long-term injured reserve.

Sorry if that doesn’t mean anything to you. Let me explain.

I stated multiple times that the Canucks would be over the cap as Sutter returns from the long-term injury reserve. I stayed glued to Twitter yesterday as the most logical thing for Vancouver to do would be to trade Brandon Prust to make the cap space for Sutter.

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• Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
• 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg

Turns out the league is not so keen on these things.

After watching last night’s game wondering what was up with the league not fining or penalizing the Canucks, I woke up this morning to find Dan Hamhuis’s name promptly on the LTIR relief list on General Fanager.

Well, that effectively destroyed all my claims that the Canucks were over the salary cap.

Search all over the world-wide-web and you will not be able to find a single source that claims that Hamhuis was ever put on the LTIR by Vancouver. You can find Sutter’s LTIR status confirmed here. Hamhuis is eligible for LTIR relief — don’t get me wrong. He is missing more than 10 NHL games.

But Canucks.com injury report never differentiates the IR from the LTIR. From the cap standpoint, it makes a world of difference.

But it just blows my mind when Hamhuis’s name randomly pops up on the LTIR some six weeks after his initial injury. I don’t blame General Fanager. I blame the league for being sloppy in publicizing these things.

Just my pet peeve going into the All-Star Break. All Canucks fans should have a right to hold a grudge about this, after, all the major injuries the Canucks had to go through,

Next: Five Thoughts: Canucks Fall to the Predators

What are your thoughts on Clendening’s return to the Pacific and how the league is failing to inform the fans of the LTIR? Let us know in the comments below or tweet to us @FSTheCanuckWay!