ST. PAUL, MN — The Canucks are in the market for a fourth-line centre.
That is in no way meant to be disrespectful to Alex Bolduc. He's a terrific guy. The kind who the more you know, the more you cheer for. But with three shoulder separations in two seasons, it will be difficult for the Canucks to depend on him into the playoffs.
Bolduc is expected to miss a month. He won't know definitively until an MRI in Vancouver this week. His shoulder popped out taking a faceoff Friday. It's the second time that's happened to him. When he comes back, the question will be when is it going to happen again?
The Canucks will temporarily fill his spot and are expected to recall a forward from Manitoba this week. Maybe it will be Sergei Shirokov or Viktor Oreskovich. But Vancouver will look for ways to do better. A name getting some traction locally is Islanders centre Zenon Konopka.
When pressed on it, GM Mike Gillis dropped this:
"Well, Cody (Hodgson) is supposed to play this week, we'll see how he does."
