Amidst confirmation that they might need an extra defenceman for a few days, the Vancouver Canucks have reached into the league below for reinforcements, calling up Alex Biega from the AHL’s Utica Comets. At the same time, they made a surprising second call-up, giving the nod to forward Brendan Gaunce.

Biega comes up to replace Dan Hamhuis, who suffered a lower-body injury at some point. While he played all the way up until the final buzzer against Detroit, Hamhuis sat out last night’s 5-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens. It was implied that the disappearance was more of a “maintenance day” than anything, but now it appears that he won’t travel with the team to Dallas and Arizona.

Biega played seven games with the Canucks last season, but spent most of his season with the Utica Comets, where he played in 85 regular season and playoff games and combined for 3 goals and 20 assists. So far this year, he’s played in all five of Utica’s games and has one assist.

Biega was signed by the Canucks on July 5th, 2013, and has remained a team asset ever since.

Brendan Gaunce comes up to replace Brandon Prust, who also won’t be travelling with the team on this road trip. As you can see above, Prust suffered what appeared to be an ankle injury late in last night’s game after an awkward fall into to the boards. While Chris Higgins is expected to be back as soon as Friday, there’s no guarantee on that yet, so having the insurance of Gaunce plays out well for the team.

Gaunce played 85 combined games with the Comets last year, in what was the 2012 first round pick’s first professional season. Over that time, he scored 15 goals and added 23 assists. So far this year, he has a goal and assist over five games.

The Canucks return to the ice on Thursday night, when they take on the Stars.