Everything is happening right now for Mike Zalewski. Two days ago, the New Hartford native was enjoying the minor league life on an AHL contract. Yesterday Zalewski landed an NHL deal, and now today he is on his way to join the Canucks in Boston.

What is going on here?

I just wrote a whole article about Mike Zalewski yesterday, so I don’t really need to go into detail about his history with the Canucks and Comets to this point. As a refresher, he has eight goals and nine assists in 36 games this season, placing him fifth in points on the Comets.

All I really have to add about this situation today is how he could potentially fit into the Canucks lineup. The 6-foot-2 forward has played both centre and wing this season for the Comets, though he’s been predominantly in the middle since Linden Vey was recalled in mid-December.

Earlier in the year, Zalewski alternated frequently between centre and the wing while playing on a line with Cole Cassels. Part of this was probably to ease Cassels into playing centre at the pro level, and part of it was probably a result of Travis Green’s fascinating habit of uber-focusing on strong side draws (left handed Zalewski would take left-side draws, while right-handed Cassels would take right side draws), often leading him to play both positions in the same game.

My guess is that Zalewski has been recalled as a centre, given that Alex Grenier, Brendan Gaunce, or Hunter Shinkaruk would be more likely winger recalls. Now the Canucks were already at 23 bodies on the roster, meaning that Henrik Sedin is probably headed to IR in a corresponding move, unless someone else is wounded and we aren’t aware. Additionally, the Canucks were hoping to get Brandon Sutter back for Saturday’s game in Pittsburgh. This could mean a couple of different things.

First, it could mean that Zalewski will get a shot at centring the fourth line tomorrow in Boston at the expense of Adam Cracknell, before Sutter returns and Zalewski has to go back to Utica. Alternatively, it could indicate that Brandon Sutter has suffered a setback that is yet to be reported. If the latter proves to be the case, Zalewski will probably stick around longer.

Another possibility is that Zalewski will come up and not play at all. The Canucks seem to love to do this, as Taylor Fedun, Ashton Sautner and Alex Grenier have already had call ups this season that resulted in zero game time. That may seem wasteful, but on a human level these minor league guys love to hang out with the NHL veterans and learn a thing or two. Plus they usually get some pretty nice meals out of it, so that’s a win.

For those who are curious, Zalewski would not require waivers to go back down to Utica, even though he isn’t on an Entry Level Contract. He signed his ELC in March of 2014, his age-22 season according to the CBA waiver rules (even though he was 21 at the time), granting him three seasons or 70 NHL games of exemption. He’s played just two NHL games, both in the 2013-14 season, meaning his exempt seasons are 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. Therefore, he is exempt for the remainder of this season.

Here’s hoping that Zalewski can sneak into a game or two before being reassigned. He is a model of perseverance and dedication just for making it this far. While we wait to find out, enjoy this Zalewski goal from last weekend.