Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Vancouver Canucks have recalled centre Andrew Ebbett from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League to replace the injured Ryan Kesler.

It was revealed on Wednesday that Kesler had suffered a fractured right foot on February 21 against the Dallas Stars. Initial X-rays came back negative so Kesler ended up playing three more games before CT scans revealed a broken foot.

According to Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault will be out “a little while,” but refused to give a timeline. The speculation is Kesler will be out four-to-six weeks.

#canucks Kesler has a fractured foot. He’ll likely be out for a little while according to AV. Maybe 4-6 weeks.

— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) February 27, 2013

Ebbett returns to the Canucks in just over week after being placed on waivers and assigned to the minors to make room for the return of David Booth. With Kesler out, the Canucks were left with three centreman and needed one to replace him.

What role Ebbett plays remains to be seen, but it is expected Jordan Schroeder and Maxim Lapierre will both move up on the depth chart and Ebbett will centre the fourth line.  He should be helpful in the defensive zone on faceoffs as well with Manny Malhotra out for the rest of the season. The Canucks had been using the right-handed Kesler and Lapierre on draws on their weakside in the absence of Malhotra.

Prior to Kesler’s return, Alexandre Burrows had been centring the second line, but given his strong play with Daniel and Henrik Sedin in the last half-a-dozen games, the Canucks will be reluctant to take him off the line.

If Ebbett dresses in ten games or stays on the active roster for more than 30 days, he will need to clear waivers again to be re-assigned to the minors.

(Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports)

The Vancouver Canucks placed centre Andrew Ebbett on waivers on Monday in a move designed to clear a spot on the team’s 23-man roster to facilitate the return of winger David Booth.

Booth has been rehabbing a strained groin that he suffered on the first day of training camp during physicals. He had indicated after Sunday’s morning skate to the media that he could “possibly” return as early as Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks.With Ebbett on waivers, it is all but certain that Booth will indeed make his return on Tuesday.

Ebbett’s agent, Alexander Schall, told News 1130 that Ebbett was informed of the Canucks’ decision to waive him after Sunday night’s game against the St. Louis Blues. Coincidentally, after the game, it was revealed by Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault that Booth has been medically cleared to play.

It is expected Ebbett will clear waivers, but News 1130 speculates the Anaheim Ducks may have interest in the centre. If he clears, Ebbett will give the Chicago Wolves a much needed boost as we suggested earlier. The Wolves are “thin” at centre right now and lost both Andrew Gordon and Anton Rodin to injuries this past weekend.

Ebbett will clear waivers on Tuesday at 9am PST if no team puts in a waiver claim.

(Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports)

Vancouver Canucks forward David Booth says he is close to returning and expects to play during the team’s upcoming four-game road trip.

The Canucks will be in Chicago on Tuesday, Dallas on Thursday, and Nashville on Friday before finishing the trip in Detroit on Sunday against the Red Wings. Booth says the first game of the trip against the Blackhawks is a “possibility.”

Canuck LW David Booth (groin) says he is close and expects to play on upcoming road trip. #canucks

— Elliott Pap (@ElliottPap) February 17, 2013

Canuck David Booth (groin) on when he might play: “Chicago is a possibility in my mind. Two days is a lot. We’ll see how it feels.” #canucks

— Elliott Pap (@ElliottPap) February 17, 2013

More Booth: “I know I’m very close. I’m getting excited. Hopefully, I’ll be playing very soon.” #didnotsaybabysteps #didnotsaynotimeline

— Elliott Pap (@ElliottPap) February 17, 2013

In order to activate Booth off injured reserve and insert him to the lineup, the Canucks will have to make room on their 23-man roster. The Canucks placed Manny Malhotra on injured reserve on Friday to facilitate the return of Ryan Kesler, but this time they will surely have to send a player down to the minors to make room.

Zack Kassian, Chris Tanev, and Jordan Schroeder are all on entry-level contracts, which means they all can be sent down to the minors without having to clear waivers. However, all three have been playing well for the Canucks thus far this season.

Kassian leads the Canucks in goals with five and brings a combination of toughness and skill to the lineup. Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault has the option of playing Kassian alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin when the going gets rough. Tanev has formed what associate coach Rick Bowness calls as his best defence pairing thus far this season with Keith Ballard. Schroeder has also found some chemistry on a line with Mason Raymond and Jannik Hansen to form arguably one of the league’s fastest lines.

This leaves forwards Aaron Volpatti, Dale Weise, and Andrew Ebbett as possible candidates to go on waivers to make room for Booth.

Volpatti has played admirably this season by being a consistent physical presence on the fourth line and engaging in the fisticuffs. The Canucks were unwilling to place him on waivers at beginning of the season so he could play for the Chicago Wolves during the lockout fearing they would lose him. It is unlikely the Canucks will be willing to take that risk now either.

Weise is another candidate due to his inability to win a fight in a Canucks uniform (according to Hockeyfights.com, he has no wins in a Canucks uniform). However, Weise has been a contributor on the Canucks penalty kill and has shown the versatility to move up and down the lineup. His physical play has also vastly improved this season as he is third on the team behind Maxim Lapierre and Volpatti with 31 hits. Last season, he had less than half (118 hits) the number of hits Lapierre did (244 hits).

This leaves us with Ebbett and if I am a betting man, he’s going to go on waivers to make room for Booth. He is a versatile player that can play anywhere from the first line to the fourth line, play all forward positions, play on the power play and penalty kill. Ebbett is a jack-of-all-trades player, but that might be his Achilles heel—his inability to play a specific role and do it well for a team.

Calgary Flames centre Blair Jones cleared waivers on Sunday and there was belief that he would not since he is considered a good fourth line centre. There doesn’t appear to be much interest around the league for depth forwards, so Ebbett has a good chance of clearing. The Chicago Wolves could also use Ebbett after losing Anton Rodin and Andrew Gordon to injury last night against the Lake Erie Monsters. They could use a first line centre on their team as well and that’s something Ebbett can be at the AHL level.