Vancouver Canucks

Nikolay Goldobin starts with Sedins vs. his old team as Canucks meet Sharks
April 4, 2017, 2:40 PM ET [167 Comments]
Carol Schram
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Tuesday April 4 - Vancouver Canucks at San Jose Sharks - 7:30 p.m. - Sportsnet Pacific

Vancouver Canucks: 78 GP, 30-30-9, 69 pts, sixth in Pacific Division
San Jose Sharks: 79 GP, 44-28-7, 95 pts, third in Pacific Division

The spotlight shines back onto Nikolay Goldobin as the Vancouver Canucks kick off a two-game road trip with a visit to the Shark Tank on Tuesday night.

Goldobin, of course, was the prize asset that the Canucks received in exchange for Jannik Hansen at the trade deadline—a skilled 21-year-old who hadn't been able to crack the lineup on a forward-rich San Jose team.

Since joining the Canucks on March 4, Goldobin has a single point in eight games—the game-winning goal in his debut against the Los Angeles Kings, in the game where he saw just 5:51 of ice time.

Of course, the flashy Russian was also sidelined for two weeks with a nasty illness, but Ben Kuzma of The Province reported on Monday that "Goldobin is back up to 190 pounds through a regimen of workouts and protein shakes. He looks better. He feels stronger."

Goldobin was scratched from the Canucks' lineup for last Sunday's game against San Jose, but Willie Desjardins was largely complimentary when speaking about the player to Kuzma.

“He’s good with the puck,” said Desjardins. “When he’s got it, he makes very good plays, so guess it’s being more involved away from the puck. It’s trying to get him to play the way we need him to play. With his talent and when he plays hard, he’s a guy who can play."

Frequent linemate Brandon Sutter offers this take on Goldobin's development:

“When he has the puck he makes pretty good plays,” said Sutter. “The challenge for him is the other side of it, what to do without the puck and that takes some time to really learn it. You have to have the want to get the puck to go into the corners and the hard areas.

“To do that, you have to have grit and balls and he has to find that.”

For his part, Goldobin has a Bure-like focus on what it'll take to show the management group from his old team that they made a mistake giving up on him:

“I just want to score a goal so they (Sharks) know that I’m a good player. They have a lot of vets, so it was hard to make that team.”

Sharks beat writer Kevin Kurz has enthusiastically supported the Hansen-for-Goldobin swap for his side since the day it happened. He says Goldobin's treatment in San Jose ran parallel to what has happened in Vancouver so far.