News and notes: Canucks place Bear on IR, Trotz to take over as Preds GM, Devils land Timo Meier

What do you do when you would normally do an Around the League column, but one of the pieces of news you have is actually Vancouver Canucks-related? You bust out the news and notes headline! Let’s get into it on this beautiful Sunday afternoon.

The Vancouver Canucks have placed defenceman Ethan Bear on injured reserve, general manager Patrik Allvin announced early Sunday afternoon.

Bear logged just 17 seconds of ice time in the Canucks’ 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins before exiting after taking a shot off the face. There’s no timeline for his return at this time, as the Canucks flew out to Dallas today and did not practice.

The Canucks have called up Noah Juulsen in Bear’s place. Juulsen was in the lineup for last night’s Abbotsford Canucks game in Colorado, which ended in a shootout victory thanks to a nifty move from Nils Höglander.

Juulsen will meet the club in Dallas, as will newly acquired forward Vitali Kravtsov, who’s expected to make his Canucks debut tomorrow night against the Stars.

Here’s a headline we’d bet you didn’t ever expect to read on a Sunday morning in February.

Yes, Barry Trotz — that Barry Trotz, who is one of the most well-respected head coaches in NHL history — is taking on a new challenge as the general manager of the Nashville Predators, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Friedman also added that President and GM David Poile is retiring effective June 30th.

According to Friedman, Trotz will begin working with the Predators immediately, but won’t officially take over as GM until June 30th. Poile is expected to be sticking around in a consulting role, according to Friedman. Trotz has a career NHL coaching record of 914-670-60.

The hottest trade chip on the market is gone, with five days to go until the NHL trade deadline. According to multiple reports, the first of which came from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the New Jersey Devils have landed winger Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks.

So far this season, Meier has 31 goals and 21 assists through 57 games played.

At the time of this writing, the return on the trade is not known, but we will be sure to update this article when it’s announced. What we can tell you is that Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli has been in touch with GMs from other teams, and has a read on what those teams offered the Sharks, to no avail.

This certainly indicates that when the trade return eventually comes down, it’s going to show the Devils had to buck up to land this year’s top free agent.

If you’re looking for a Canucks spin on this one, the only one we can really give you is that the Carolina Hurricanes were in on Meier and have now missed out on landing the pending UFA forward. Could they come to the Canucks looking for a winger? It’s certainly possible!

UPDATE: The Devils and Sharks have both made the trade official:

Join us on March 3rd for the Daily Faceoff Live: Trade Deadline edition as Frank Seravalli and the panel break down all of the latest rumours, news, and rumblings from around the NHL. The show will be live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter from 9 AM-1 PM PT to keep you up to date on all things trade deadline no matter where you’re watching from.