About a month ago, Utica Comets GM and former Canuck Ryan Johnson was asked about Nikolay Goldobin. The young winger was off to a hot start in Utica, with 5 goals and 12 points in 10 games at that point in the season. Some fans might have wondered when Goldobin would get called up to the Canucks.
Johnson had a fantastic reply: “Nick needs to play a big block of games and when he gets called up, I don't want to see him ever again in Utica.”
For Johnson, it was far more important that Goldobin’s journey to Vancouver would be a one-way trip than to see Goldobin get an early call-up. When I mentioned this to Goldobin, he laughed.
“I was happy to hear this sentence from him,” he said with a smile. He hadn’t heard it before. “It’s really good. We talked a lot when I was there in Utica and he said, just continue to work hard and you will end up in the NHL.”
The question is, will Johnson see Goldobin back in Utica? Is Goldobin in the NHL to stay this time?
Goldobin certainly made a good impression in his season debut, as he picked up an assist while playing in an offensive role alongside Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser.
“I’m really happy that coach is trusting me on that one,” he said. “I’m going to prove that I belong, to stay there first line and work hard.”
“I feel like I should get a lot of points in this league,” he continues, then adds “Hopefully,” with a chuckle. “I want to be a good player, so I was just happy to get that pass for Boes for the game-winning goal.”
He was less noticeable in his second game and was replaced by Sven Baertschi for some shifts in the third period as the Canucks defended the lead.
“I put Goldy with Horvat because I thought it was the right thing to do,” said Travis Green. “I also put Baertschi back with Horvat for the last period. You know, to be honest, that was part of the defensive part of the game and we were matching Horvat against Matthews. I felt more comfortable with Baertschi there than Goldy, just because Goldy is a younger guy.”
Goldobin was back with Horvat and Boeser at practice, however, a vote of confidence for a young, skilled player. It’s also clear that the defensive side of his game has improved, even if Green was more comfortable with Baertschi in his place defending a lead against the Leafs.
The skill level and the offence are definitely there and there’s potential for chemistry between him, Horvat, and Boeser. The biggest issue is a simple one: numbers.
The Canucks currently have 22 players on their active roster, one fewer than the 23-man roster limit. At the moment, the Canucks have no need to use their full salary cap and, with time in-between games, don’t need to carry that extra player as injury relief, allowing them to bank some cap space.
That means that one player can return from injured reserve without the Canucks having to make a roster move. The only problem is that they have two players on injured reserve, both of whom are likely to return in about a week.
When Brandon Sutter and Erik Gudbranson return, the Canucks will need to send a player down to Utica. The most obvious candidate is Goldobin, who is waiver exempt and, it could be argued, still has some growing to do to become a complete player.
Goldobin isn’t the only Canuck on the roster who is waiver exempt, however. There are two others: Brock Boeser and Jake Virtanen.
As the Canucks leading scorer, Boeser obviously isn’t going anywhere, but there’s an argument to be made for sending down Virtanen. He’s still averaging below 10 minutes per game and seems to lack confidence in his offensive abilities. Would a stint in Utica playing first-line minutes make him a better, more confident player?
Goldobin has very little left to prove at the AHL level when it comes to offence; his start in Utica had a lot more to do with rounding out his two-way game. Virtanen, on the other hand, struggled to put up points in the AHL last season, with just 9 goals and 19 points in 65 games.
I think you can also make the argument that Virtanen deserves more ice time with the Canucks, however, and doesn’t necessarily need to spend any more time in the AHL. But if it comes down to Virtanen or Goldobin to get sent down, that’s a tough call to make.
The Canucks, along with Goldobin and Virtanen, have some time before a decision has to be made and there’s always the possibility that another injury elsewhere in the lineup will render that decision moot. Until then, Goldobin has a few games to prove that he belongs, so that Ryan Johnson never has to see him in Utica again.
