Vancouver Canucks Twirl: Kane Gambling? Yandle, The Bertuzzi

The Vancouver Canucks continue to work towards the start of training camp with a number of moves under General Manager Jim Benning’s belt.  We still have about a six week wait, so while we’re plodding through the dog days of August watching hockey in Europe …

Let’s Skate …

-Evander Kane is a known gambler. Big time. Did he wager on NHL games? His wife Anna says yes, he says no. Take it as just one factor associated with a marriage gone bad, or legit concerns? The league has begun an investigation.

It’s the quiet season between free agent frenzy and training camp but this story will likely be simmering just below the surface for a bit. Or who knows, another blow up might be right around corner. We’ve earlier connected you to San Jose Hockey Now’s breaking story from yesterday – now the foreign press is running the tale.

-Keith Yandle‘s iron-man streak is now on the line in Philadelphia. The Flyers signed the soon to be 35-year-old defenceman to a one-year deal on Wednesday worth $900,000 bucks, after the Florida Panthers paid him to go away. The offensive defenseman says it was a “no brainer” to sign with the Flyers, not just to keep his career going, but to keep potential history alive.

Yandle (at 922, 2nd all-time) is just ahead of Patrick Marleau (910) and Phil Kessel (900) in his consecutive games streak. This season, all of them could catch and pass the all-time record holder Doug Jarvis (964), presently a senior advisor for the Vancouver Canucks. Jarvis’s streak lasted the length of his career, from 1975 in Montreal to 1987 in Hartford.

Yandle is a bottom-pair defenceman on the left side behind Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim. Samuel Morin, who also plays forward, would be his likeliest competition if he stays healthy, while Cam York, the 14th overall pick in the 2019 draft, is a legit threat from Philly’s prospect core. Egor Zamula might be another. They’re young though, 20 and 21 respectively.

-Todd Bertuzzi, mostly remembered fondly as a member of the Vancouver Canucks West Coast Express line with Brendan Morrison and Markus Naslund, has a less famous nephew who just re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings. 26-year-old Tyler Bertuzzi re-upped for two seasons at $4.75-million per. He made $3.5-million on a one-year deal last season.

The Wings drafted the winger 58th overall in 2013 from the OHL’s Guelph Storm. He helped the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins win a Calder Cup in 2017.

Todd, who was also drafted out of Guelph two decades earlier, finished his NHL career in Detroit in 2014, playing his final five seasons there. If the rebuilding Red Wings can improve quickly enough, they hope Tyler might someday upstage his uncle.