Vancouver Canucks: Analyzing the Club’s Curious Call-Ups

Thanks to another series of injuries, the Vancouver Canucks made some curious roster decisions.

The Vancouver Canucks announced today that injured players Alexander Edler and Brandon Sutter will miss six and six to eight weeks, respectively.

Their roster spots were filled rather quickly, though, as the Canucks recalled Alex Friesen and Yannick Weber. Now, Friesen would have deserved his call-up in December but has cooled down since, and Weber does not seem to be a part of the club’s future. So, why did the club decide to recall these two rather than, say, Brendan Gaunce and Andrey Pedan?

Friesen is obviously excited about his first call-up and says he’ll be “ready to play.” But here we’ve got the problem. Friesen is not likely to play anytime soon.

The Canucks like to give their rookies some rest and rotate them in and out of the lineup. That’s why they usually have one of Jared McCann and Jake Virtanen in and the other out. Plus one extra in case of an injury.

Now that Sutter is on injured reserve, Friesen becomes nothing more than that extra. He might get to play a game just so he wasn’t called up for nothing and is rewarded for his hard work in the minors, but he should not expect more.

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Personally, I would love to see what Friesen can do in the NHL. He is rather small at 5-foot-9, but at 185 pounds, he has good strength and plays bigger than his size suggests.

Back to the other options. Gaunce would deserve a call-up just as much as Mike Zalewski and Hunter Shinkaruk do. However, all three are in their early 20s and need all the ice time they can get. Practicing with the NHL club and taking in the experience is great, but it does not make sense for a player like Shinkaruk for more than a week. Sitting in the press box hurts the development.

Friesen is also just 25, but he looks like a fringe NHL player who might never make it full-time. He deserves his call-up and will profit from the aforementioned NHL experience.

Weber’s situation is a little different. When Jim Benning decided to put Weber on waivers to either get rid of him or reassign him to the American Hockey League’s Utica Comets, he made a choice. Alex Biega, who just signed the first one-way contract of his career, is ahead on Weber on the depth chart.

Or so you would think.

In today’s practice, the Canucks had Weber back in their lineup. No, more than that. They had him on their first powerplay unit.

Pedan would certainly deserve another look in the NHL, and Jordan Subban is catching everyone’s attention with his offensive production. However, Subban still needs time to work on the defensive aspects of his game and neither Pedan nor Subban would profit from sitting in the press box, which is likely where they would end up.

Related: Jordan Subban Is Becoming an Offensive Force

Weber, on the other hand, has NHL experience and knows how to play well offensively. Edler is a player who likes to focus on offence, and Weber can do that exact thing for the team right now — even though he is not a part of the club’s future.

Also, fans like to get equally mad at Edler and Weber when they mess up defensively.

So, while there are several young players in the AHL right now who deserve a call-up, it makes perfect sense to give the honours to Friesen and Weber.

Subban, Pedan, Gaunce and Shinkaruk will get their chance soon.

Next: Dan Hamhuis Controls his own Future

What do you think of Benning’s decisions? Let us know in the comments!