Brandon Tanev’s waiver news was the first item on the board this week, and it comes with a familiar twist for the former Seattle winger. The Utah Mammoth put him on waivers, he cleared, and now he’s headed to the Tucson Roadrunners in the American Hockey League.
Tanev, still 34, is owed $2.5-million in each of the next two seasons, so the move saves Utah roughly half of that cap hit. He played 56 games for the Mammoth last season and finished with no goals, three assists and a minus-15 rating. A trade remains possible, but for now the demotion stands.
The NHL season is right around the corner, and the Canucks are one of 10 teams getting started on Thursday night. Carolina and Florida kick things off first, with the Panthers’ new Stanley Cup banner set to be raised before the opening faceoff. Vancouver then opens on the road against Edmonton later that night.
That sets up a quick rematch. The Canucks and Oilers meet again at Rogers Arena on October 1st, the start of a three-game homestand for Vancouver. Calgary visits on the 3rd, and Vegas comes in on the 4th.
Seattle has its own tricky opening stretch. The Kraken start in Calgary on the 1st, head to Edmonton on the 3rd, then return home to host the Flames the following night.
Seattle went 2-and-0 against Calgary in the preseason, though that kind of thing tends to vanish once the games count. Vegas is due at Climate Pledge Arena on the 6th.
On the minor-league side, the Coachella Valley Firebirds dropped their only preseason game, falling 2-1 in a shoot-out to the Ontario Reign. Tyson Jugnauth scored the lone goal for Coachella Valley. The 22-year-old defenseman had a 45-point season for the Firebirds last year after Seattle took him in the 4th round of the 2022 NHL Draft.
There was also PWHL news on Monday: the league announced its season-opening weekend will be December 5th and 6th.
The college hockey preseason picture is out as well, with Denver University ranked No. 1, Michigan No. 2 and Michigan State No.
- That should set up some lively Michigan-versus-Michigan State matchups.
And on the women’s international calendar, Team USA and Team Canada will meet twice in late October as a warm-up for the Women’s World Championships. The first game is October 28th at WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario, and the second is October 30th at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan.
One more Canucks note: Thatcher Demko’s injury situation remains a difficult one. The lingering issues have been described as devastating, frustrating and disappointing, and the Canucks will lean on Kevin Lankinen in the meantime and likely beyond that.
The trivia answers: Garth Butcher is second on the Canucks’ all-time penalty minutes list with 1,668, while Vince Dunn leads the Kraken with 283 PIMs and can add to that total this season.
In Other News...
Kraken Opening Night Just Created Two Early Forward Opportunities
The Krakens opening-night roster picture already has a couple of wrinkles up front, with Mackie Samoskevich and Jake OBrien landing on injured reserve to begin the season. Seattle will open carrying 13 forwards and eight defensemen, which leaves the club with a little less depth at forward than it would prefer, but also opens the door for other players to get an early look while the lineup settles in.
Samoskevichs situation appears to be the more immediate one to watch, since he is day-to-day and the team has a back-to-back coming up. OBriens timeline is longer, and Seattle will have to manage around that absence while the roster gets through the first stretch of the schedule, making these early days a useful test of how the Kraken handle both short-term uncertainty and the next man up mindset. [Read more 🡒]
Jared McCann Could Change Seattles Top Line In A Big Way
After a season spent fighting chronic lower-body pain, Jared McCann arrived at Kraken training camp with a much cleaner slate. Seattles all-time leading scorer went through a summer procedure and a focused training program, and the early read is that he looks more like the player the Kraken have built around at the top of the lineup.
Lane Lambert singled out McCanns speed and importance after the first day of camp, and the setup around him is starting to take shape. McCann is expected to skate on Seattles top line with Matty Beniers and Mackie Samoskevich, though Samoskevich is currently on injured reserve with an upper-body issue, leaving the Kraken to sort out how quickly that trio can actually get rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Fans Just Got A Much Easier Way To Watch This Season
The Kraken are making it easier for fans across the Pacific Northwest to follow the team this season, with a regional broadcast setup that reaches homes on local television and streaming alike. Games will air on Seattle stations such as KONG and KING 5, along with other regional outlets, and will also be available through Prime Video, giving viewers a broader menu than the old grab-and-go scramble to find a channel.
The coverage plan also keeps familiar voices in place, with John Forslund handling play-by-play and JT Brown working alongside him as analyst. Add in the iHeart Kraken Audio Network and a weekly show on KING 5, and the organization is clearly trying to make sure the action is easy to find whether fans want the full TV experience, a radio call on the move, or a regular local wrap-up. [Read more 🡒]