When the Vancouver Canucks first signed big defenceman Nikita Tryamkin, it was considered quite a coup.
“He’s 6-8, 240 [pounds] and mobile. He’s a freak,” the Canucks’ Twitter account quoted GM Jim Benning as saying that day. They had drafted him 66th overall in 2014 but there was always a fear he would not come to North America. So when the Canucks got his name on a two-year deal last year, they were ecstatic.
Today, Tryamkin is listed by NHL.com at 265 pounds — five pounds heavier than Dustin Byfuglien — and he hasn’t played a game yet for the Canucks this season. He arrived in North America in less than stellar shape last season, which isn’t entirely rare for players coming from the KHL. But he was sent off last spring with instructions from the Canucks to get in shape. He arrived heavy again this fall.
The Canucks have been working him into shape, but he hasn’t played. They’ve asked him to take a conditioning stint in Utica but Tryamkin refused, exercising a contract clause agreed to by Vancouver that says the player can go back to the KHL and play rather than accept an AHL assignment.
The question: does going to Russia to play on the big ice make Tryamkin a better player?
“I don’t think it does,” said one longtime scout. “In his case, he’d be better off going to the American League. Plus, you lose total control of the player if he goes back to Russia. Lifestyle, conditioning, development – everything.”
Tryamkin’s commitment to fitness while in Russia has proven to be poor. Meanwhile, the game happens so much faster — especially for a defenceman — on the smaller North America ice that the argument could be made a KHL stint will damage his game rather than help it.
Yet, at 22, he needs to play. When Chris Tanev went down late this week, the Canucks called Troy Stecher up from Utica rather than activate Tryamkin.
“That has to be a wakeup call for [Tryamkin],” the scout said.
We see this going one of two ways: if the Canucks falter, and the organization lets go of their playoff aspirations, perhaps Tryamkin can get in the lineup and learn under fire. If they keep winning, Vancouver will have to either bite the bullet and start playing him, or get him back to Yekaterinburg of the KHL where he won’t be accessible until that team’s playoffs are done.
Seems a lot of trouble when a few games at Utica might solve everything. If you’re wondering about this player’s commitment to becoming an NHL player, that’s fair. I am too.
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Iggy (Still) Pops
How about Jarome Iginla still dropping the gloves at age 39? He had a preseason bout against Antoine Roussel of Dallas, and then picked another scrap against 22-year-old Tom Wilson of Washington.
“I’m trying to make sure I play with an edge and stay competitive,” Iginla told the Denver Post. “Do I need to fight? No, but they do happen and you do get angry out there. You have to find that fine line, and I’m working at that. I want to make sure I stay aggressive and compete. I want to contribute and battle and do what I can beside my teammates and with them. It’s no different than any other year.”
Iginla is a walk-in Hall of Famer, and his next scrap will nudge him over the 1,000 penalty minute mark. He’s got 612 goals and 995 PIMs in 1,479 NHL games, leaving him 16th on the NHL’s all-time goals list. That’s 13 goals behind his GM in Colorado, Joe Sakic, who sits 15th. The only active player with more goals than Iggy is Jaromir Jagr, with an even 750.
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Phew!
If you heard a major exhale last week, that was likely the folks in Calgary when incoming goalie Brian Elliott finally found his game in back-to-back road wins over St. Louis and Chicago. He won on consecutive nights — when many coaches would have played the backup in Game 2 — posting a .947 saves percentage in the two wins.
“We looked like a different team,” GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis. Seeing some promise after a 1-4-1 start was as important as the four points in the standings. “It’s a relief to stop the bleeding. We were disciplined, the power play worked, we limited chances, we didn’t turn the puck over and the goalie found his groove.”
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Educating Jake
Back to Vancouver, where Jake Virtanen entered Friday night’s game against Edmonton without a point in five games this season. His ice time is down to 9:56 per night, which is 97 seconds less than he was playing last season.
And we’re guessing it won’t increase, as long as the 20-year-old second-guesses the way head coach Willie Desjardins employs him.
“The lines have been changed pretty much every day so you’re not sure who you’re playing with,” he told the Vancouver media this week. “If you’re in the lineup, you like being able to get chemistry with your teammates and your linemates especially. And with Bo [Horvat] and Baertsch [Sven Baertschi], we do have chemistry. But when we’re switched around a lot it’s kind of hard to get that line going all the time. I have to play my game each and every night, but it’s hard to keep it going.
“With five to seven minutes of ice, it’s pretty hard to get stuff going when you’re sitting for so long and you’re sitting on the bench, and after 10 or 11 minutes you get back out there. That’s just part of the game.”
It’s the age-old hockey argument. The player says, “Give me more ice time and better linemates and I’ll produce.” And the coach counters with, “Produce more, and you’ll get more ice time and better linemates.”
“With his talent and ability, he needs to be a top-nine forward for sure and probably a top-six,” Desjardins said. “When he gets himself to the point in his game where he’s structurally sound, he can be that player. He’s good enough to do that. But right now he’s not at that point.”
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Waiving goodbye to 2015-16
As of Tuesday (Nov. 1), the pecking order on waiver claims will revert to the 2016-17 standings, with the lowest placed clubs getting first dibs. From the beginning of the season through Halloween, the NHL uses last year’s standings.
So, if you are Los Angeles and in search of a goaltender on waivers, prior to Friday’s games, the Kings would select 19th. Today, they choose 23rd. Or Edmonton, which spent the first month of the season second in the waivers pecking order. When the switch comes, the Oilers will be around 29th, depending on play this weekend.
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Soft Start, Hard November
The four Western Canadian teams have enjoyed a pretty soft October, with lots of home games against teams like Carolina, Ottawa and Buffalo. (Yes, St. Louis and Washington toured through the West as well.) That all changes in November, when all four teams have busy months laden with road games:
• Vancouver opens a six-game roadie on Wednesday. They play nine of 14 on the road in November.
• Winnipeg opens a 16-game November with a home-and-home against Washington, harkening back to those clubs’ Southeast Division days. Ten of the Jets’ November games are away from the MTS Centre.
• Calgary has 16 November games, with 11 on the road. They get Chicago twice, with four- and six-game trips in November.
• Edmonton plays 10 of 15 away from Rogers Place in November, with two games apiece against the Leafs, Ranges, Stars and Coyotes.
