Sundin to Debut Tonight

Finally.

Over 6 months after the Vancouver Canucks made a contract offer to Mats Sundin Canuck fans will finally get to see Sundin in action. Sundin will play tonight against the Edmonton Oilers, likely on a line with Kyle Wellwood and Mason Raymond.

It's hard to gauge exactly how good Sundin will be, he's a great player but at 37 and coming in half way who knows how he will play. Still, the guy is extremely talented and will make a strong contribution whether he is a point a game guy or not. He should at the very least be a boost to the Canucks dreadful shootout record or even end the games before they get there (I believe he is tied for the active lead in overtime goals).

Going out on a limb I'm going to predict 30 points from Sundin over the final 41 games... let's just hope he plays all 41 and doesn't get added to the list of Canucks with groin strains or broken feet.

Canuck Notes

• Earlier in the week Jannik Hansen was sent down to Manitoba, paving the way for Mats Sundin to be added to the roster. Hansen's game had fallen off considerably from the beginning of the season and since he was one of the few players not subject to waivers he was the one to go. The organization continues to keep Mike Brown around at the expense of others, despite getting no value from his play. Hansen will likely be back at some point this season, hopefully he can find some offensive touch as the rest of his game is pretty solid.
• The NHL All-Star teams have been announced. As if the game wasn't enough of a joke. I don't want to get into the whole list of players more deserving, but I will say that Daniel Sedin should be the Canucks representative and there is no way Luongo should be on the roster. But really who cares, everything to do with the game is a joke.
• I didn't get a chance to comment on the Jason LaBarbera trade... a nice pickup by Gillis, especially for only a 7th rounder. LaBarbera has played very well since being acquired and it looks like the writing is on the wall for Sanford. Assuming all other things being equal LaBarbera is a bigger goalie than Sanford and that clearly makes a big difference. We've already seen pucks hit the shoulders of LaBarbera and have seen too many go over Sanford's. When it comes right down to it Sanford had a chance to lock his job down, but wasn't good enough.