In the wake of mounting injuries, the Canucks are in dire need of reinforcements as they embark on a daunting six game road trip.

As these realities sank in and the moments until their next game inched upon them, it became increasingly clear that fresh troops were needed at the front. To combat this, the Canucks harkened the formerly aligned Teutonic contingent from the Utica Comets, recalling Andrey Pedan and Ronalds Kenins. 

The Canucks released a statement regarding this on their website and tweeted out the information late this afternoon.

This isn’t the first recall of its kind for Kenins and Pedan, who have both suited up for the Canucks in games this season. The Latvian Locomotive, Kenins, was last recalled at Pedan’s expense at the beginning of December and has played for the Canucks in two games this season. Assuming you’ve forgotten Pedan’s debut with the Canucks, he played four minutes against the Los Angeles Kings at forward on December 1st.

While the late timing of this move is somewhat peculiar (and by that I mean late), there’s no arguing against its necessity. Dan Hamhuis is expected to miss the next two months, ailing from what has literally been described as a broken face. The injury was suffered in the Canucks victory over the Rangers on Wednesday, when Hamhuis unintentionally blocked a Dan Boyle slap shot with his face in the third period. Gruesome stuff.

Perhaps slightly under, Derek Dorsett has left the team for what are being described as personal reasons and the timetable for his return is unknown. It was reported earlier today that Dorsett was travelling back to his hometown to pay these issues his fullest attention.

It will be interesting to see if Pedan is afforded a more traditional role going forward, as it appears there will be no shortage of time to accommodate as much. One can only assume that the Canucks are looking to recapture lightning in a bottle with Kenins, who worked wonders for Bo Horvat’s game down the stretch last season.