Markus Granlund out, Nikolay Goldobin in as Vancouver Canucks get back to work

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      Much to the chagrin of many Vancouver Canucks fans, the team’s head coach has refused to make certain players in his lineup healthy scratches.

      Instead, Travis Green often opts to make the talented Nikolay Goldobin ride the pine instead of the often ineffective Loui Eriksson. Last year, he sat defencemen Ben Hutton and Troy Stecher in favour of players like Erik Gudbranson and Michael Del Zotto, who was traded last month for a late round draft pick.

      Another player the coach has leaned on despite evidence that he’s not all that efficient on the ice? Markus Granlund.

      The forward, who Green deploys like a swiss army knife, insisting that he can play the power play and penalty kill if need be, is one of only four players who has played in every Canucks game this season (the others are Bo Horvat, Jake Virtanen and the aforementioned Eriksson).

      That’ll come to an end tonight against the Colorado Avalanche, as Granlund will be removed from the lineup in favour of Goldobin, who will presumably play with Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser. 

      This is a positive move, and one that makes the Canucks much more entertaining to watch. While Goldobin hasn’t had a ton of puck luck this season, especially when it comes to actually scoring goals (he has five on the season), he’s still easily one of the team’s more effective offensive players.

      Still fourth on the club in points with 23 despite missing seven games due to being scratched, Goldobin is excellent at creating chances, and has shown great chemistry with Pettersson. While he needs to find his game away from the elite rookie, there’s no reason a team so starved for offensive creativity should be sitting a player of Goldobin’s calibre.

      Granlund, on the other hand, does have eight goals (17 points overall) and has often been deployed in defensive situations. But he just doesn’t move the needle very much—if at all—offensively when he’s on the ice. He’s also been one of the team’s worst regular penalty killers in terms of goals against per 60 minutes of shorthanded time.

      And, if the Canucks win tonight against a Colorado team they are currently tied in points with, there's a good chance Green rolls out the same roster on Monday against the Philadelphia Flyers. 

      In the long-term, the Canucks have a decision to make on Granlund, who is a restricted fee agent in the offseason. This is the first inkling that the team has actually been not satisfied with his play, and could mean that they aren’t intent on bringing him back. Perhaps he can be moved at the deadline, but given his middling numbers on a team that’s not good unless Pettersson is on the ice, it’s hard to see.

      It’s another good sign in a trend that’s slowly been evolving in which Green has been benching veterans in favour of younger, more talented players. It started with sending Sam Gagner to waivers over Adam Gaudette and continued with playing Hutton and Stecher over Del Zotto. It’s possible that Eriksson or Gudbranson could be next, but given their hefty price tags, that would be quite the development.

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