Photo Credit: Winslow Townson/USA TODAY SPORTS

The Vancouver Canucks have made a roster move today, assigning forward Mike Zalewski to the Utica Comets in anticipation of some re-enforcements from the IR.

Zalewski, who has had a productive season with Utica thus far, was signed by the Canucks on January 19th and called up the following day to replace an injured Henrik Sedin. It was just the second tour of duty for Zalewski in his NHL career, having previously played in two games for the Canucks in 2013/14.

While Zalewski was held off the stat and shot sheets in his season debut against the Boston Bruins, he did manage to pick up an assist on Jannik Hansen’s hat-trick clinching goal on January 23rd against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Zalewski was a top five player possession player on the Canucks in both appearances, but he played extremely sheltered minutes as far as both quality of opponents and offensive zone starts went. 

With Brandon Sutter expected to return to the lineup tomorrow for a pre-All Star Break trial run, sending down Zalewski now is the most opportune scenario for the Canucks, who are extremely close to the salary cap ceiling and could use every dollar possible as the trade deadline looms. On that note, the 23-year-old may end up being a cost-effective call-up if players start being shipped out, but I wouldn’t expect him back in the Canucks lineup before then, barring another centre injury.

Zalewski will likely draw back into Utica’s lineup on Friday night when they take on the Albany Devils.