Are things heating up? Are we less than a month to training camp now? A few trades have started to come out from the league, and the Canucks have made a few waves after their utterly divisive Podkolzin trade.

- Star goalie Thatcher Demko appears to be injured, he may have had surgery… it’s all a little murky at the moment. The chatter is that Demko won’t be ready for training camp or preseason games. The team is hopeful he’ll be ready for opening night on October 9th, but that is up in the air at the moment. Demko injured himself in the first round against Nashville, and then pushed really hard to get back to the net during the playoffs and was likely to make it if the Canucks beat Edmonton. Apparently after that big push, he didn’t get back on the ice to skate. And while he’s arrived in Vancouver with the other goalies, there’s so much uncertainty around him that the Canucks brass is looking at goalie options.

- The goalie the Canucks are eyeing at the moment is free agent Kevin Lankinen. He has 100 NHL games under his belt, has an average save percentage in the NHL, and wouldn’t cost anything to acquire. However, he made 2 mill last year as a backup, and the Canucks want to work outside of LTIR this year to maximize their cap savings, so other moves would probably have to happen to facilitate that.

There are going to be other goalies that get sent down through waivers, or small trades to be made, so this will be interesting to keep an eye on as the team goes forward.

- Ian Clark is no longer the Canucks goalie coach! He’s one of the best in the business, but it seems like he wanted to step away from all the on-ice things and take on a more leadership role. He’s now the goalie scout and goaltending development coach, while the Abby goalie coach Marko Torenius has been promoted to Goaltending Coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

“When Ian approached me to say that he needed to make a change in his role to transition off the ice, we quickly went to work to find a solution,” said general manager Patrik Allvin in a statement from the team.

“With Clarkie wanting something different at the hockey club, we were extremely fortunate to have Marko in the system and ready to take on the responsibility of becoming our new goaltending coach in Vancouver. Unfortunately, Ian can no longer go on the ice regularly to do the things that have made him successful. But this new role will fit with his expertise and having Clarkie going out to find and develop talent will be a big asset to the organization.”

- The Canucks signed Sammy Blais to the Abbotsford team, and have given him a PTO with the big boys. He’s a hard-nosed player who will help with the team’s depth if he can show he deserves a contract. If not, he’ll be good for the baby Canucks as well.

- The logic behind the Podkolzin trade was made after their summer winger signings, as the Canucks leadership felt he was on the outside to make the team and wouldn’t make it through waivers. Instead of losing him for nothing, they took a pick for him to get something in return. Apparently that pick is burning a hole in their pockets even now, so don’t expect Allvin to be holding onto that through the draft.

One step closer to actual hockey news. Until then, banter away:

Quote from Sportsnet

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