Patrik Allvin acknowledges his Vancouver Canucks have a rather notable area of concern.

"Do I think we need another defenseman?" the general manager said Wednesday, according to Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre. "I think we can get help on the back end, yes."

Several Canucks blue-liners have been shouldering heavy workloads this season due to injuries. Vancouver ruled Carson Soucy out for six-to-eight weeks on Nov. 15, and Guillaume Brisebois has been out since sustaining a concussion in the preseason.

Quinn Hughes has vaulted himself into the Hart Trophy conversation with his elite play, but he's averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time (24:45) and over 26 minutes in the last 10 games. Filip Hronek ranks second on the club in that department for the season (24:38), averaging 25:36 over his last 10.

Ian Cole is also logging over 20 minutes per contest, while Tyler Myers played a personal season-high 23:06 on Tuesday night.

Allvin freed up $4.15 million of cap space by trading Anthony Beauvillier to the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this week. Vancouver is now approximately $5.73 million under the cap ceiling, per CapFriendly.

"There's a lot of pieces out there," the GM said. "But again, I think we owe it to the players internally here to put them in that position to succeed. We all know that we have some injuries, you know, on the back end and Pius Suter up top. We're looking at ways to see where we can strengthen our team."

The Canucks have experimented with several internal depth options, including Cole McWard, Noah Juulsen, Mark Friedman, and Akito Hirose.

Vancouver has regressed to a degree since getting off to a roaring start to the campaign. The Canucks now sit third in the Pacific Division by points percentage (.674) with a 15-7-1 record and four more games played than the Los Angeles Kings.

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Matt and Blake discuss a 3-1 win over Anaheim, the Anthony Beauvillier trade and where they should spend the cap space, Brock Boeser leading the league in goals, the Vegas game on tap Thursday night, Andrei Kuzmenko game after escaping the doghouse, Patrik Allvin's media session, the call-ups of Linus Karlsson and Matt Irwin.

Frank Corrado stops by to discuss Brock Boeser's sensational season to date, the trade of Beauvillier, whether Elias Pettersson is injured, and how Andrei Kuzmenko can get on the right side of the coach (and his offseason Bali excursion). Plus, the difference between "okay" and "fine" both at the rink and at home.

Canucks Army writer Dave Hall makes his S&P debut with plenty to discuss. Filling Chris Faber's shoes, Abbotsford forwards and defencemen deserving calls to the NHL, Cole McWard's NHL season debut and his game, Nils Höglander finally an NHL player now seeking a top-6 role, the progress of Canucks' prospects Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Tom Willander, Hunter Brzustewicz and Elias Pettersson (D-Petey) and their World Junior outlooks. Presented by Applewood Auto Group.

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Winnipeg Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi called out the Los Angeles Kings' Blake Lizotte on Wednesday, saying his former teammate left him with an injury that was nearly season-ending when the two met in October.

"He's done a lot of little things like that," Vilardi told TSN's John Lu. "It's stuff that you guys say, 'It was an awkward fall.' It wasn't an awkward fall. It's someone pushing your feet out from the back when he gets caught under me, and then he tackles me. It's that simple."

Vilardi sustained a sprained MCL on the play, which has kept him out of the Jets' lineup for the past 18 games.

"I was pretty close to being gone for the rest of the season, so it's frustrating when I look at stuff like that and think about it," Vilardi continued. "Obviously, I don't think his intent was to hurt me, but you make plays like that - it's a stupid play - and it's frustrating to think that guy sits in the box for two minutes and then I have to deal with what I've dealt with for the past month and a half."

The two were teammates from 2019-23 with the Kings. Vilardi was dealt to the Jets in the summer as part of the package that brought Pierre-Luc Dubois to Los Angeles.

Vilardi didn't address whether Lizotte had reached out after the collision.

"That's between me and him ... I'm not going to get into that," he said, per Winnipeg Free Press' Mike McIntyre.

Head coach Rick Bowness said Vilardi's expected to be a game-time decision for Thursday's clash against the Edmonton Oilers, according to Lu.

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Detroit Red Wings fans are going to have to be a little patient while waiting for Patrick Kane's first game donning the Winged Wheel.

The newly signed winger is aiming to make his Red Wings debut within the next 7-10 days, he said Wednesday, according to EP Rinkside's Sean Shapiro. Kane added that Detroit's clash against his hometown Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 5 is his earliest return date, but his first game will more likely be against either the San Jose Sharks next Thursday or the Ottawa Senators next Saturday.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion underwent hip resurfacing surgery in June and inked a one-year, prorated $2.75-million deal with Detroit on Tuesday. He hit the ice with his new teammates for morning skate in Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Kane made it clear that his delayed debut isn't because of any issues from his surgery.

"Health wise, I was cleared for contact ... almost two months ago," he explained. "It's just probably more at this point getting up to speed with the team, having a few practices, and just kind of getting acclimated with everything more so than the condition of the hip. The hip feels good. ... I think we're just easing into it and making sure I'm ready to go instead of just kind of throwing me into the fire."

Kane hasn't played since May 1 when the New York Rangers were eliminated by the New Jersey Devils in the opening round of the playoffs. He put up 21 goals and 57 points in 73 games last season for the worst statistical campaign of his career, but he was dealing with a nagging hip issue throughout the year.

The 35-year-old said he feels "a lot better" thanks to the surgery.

"Just the ability to put weight on the right leg and being able to weight shift side to side," he said. "Also just my lateral movement is so much better. ... I think I'm in a good spot. Obviously you never know how long it's going to take to get up to speed here - especially in the NHL.

"I'm hoping it's pretty quick. Hopefully after a couple games it's just out of my mind and I can just play the game."

Heading into Wednesday's action, the Red Wings were third in the Atlantic Division with a 11-6-3 record, which was attractive to Kane when he was deciding on his next landing spot.

"They're really building something that I think is going to have a lot of success here, so I'd like to be part of that, especially starting this year," he said. "They're in a playoff spot now and they've been playing really well as of late. I'd like to jump in there and help them make the playoffs."

By signing in Detroit, Kane also reunited with former Chicago Blackhawks linemate Alex DeBrincat. Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said he will likely play the two of them together once Kane is ready to see if they can rekindle their chemistry, per NHL.com's Dan Rosen.

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Corey Perry cleared unconditional waivers Wednesday, allowing the Chicago Blackhawks to officially terminate his contract.

The 38-year-old becomes an unrestricted free agent after the move.

Chicago waived Perry with the intention of terminating his one-year, $4-million contract after an internal investigation found he "engaged in conduct that is unacceptable and in violation of both the terms of his standard player's contract and the Blackhawks' internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments."

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson noted the incident that resulted in Perry's termination was a workplace matter, not a criminal one, during a press conference Tuesday.

Perry was a healthy scratch on Nov. 22 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, which head coach Luke Richardson described as an "organizational decision," according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Davidson said Saturday that Perry would be away from the team for the "foreseeable future". The player's agent, Pat Morris, released a statement the same day saying Perry was stepping away from the team "to attend to personal matters."

Perry played 16 games with the Blackhawks, accumulating four goals and nine points.

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Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy thinks there's a lot his team can gain in the long run from its current three-game losing streak.

"I think the mindset in here - or at least one that I'm trying to take - is, adversity is good," he said after practice Wednesday. "I think it's something that we didn't really have much (of) last year. This is a bit of a change of pace in here.

"You get used to winning so much that the losses, they hurt. They feel a lot different than maybe how they used to feel when they're so few and far in between. ... We're gonna learn a lot more about ourselves with this and as this season progresses."

Boston fell to the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Monday to extend its latest skid. The Bruins usually excel at keeping the puck out of their own net, but they've been outscored 17-8 over their past three losses, which were all in regulation.

The Bruins set new NHL records for most wins (65) and points (135) in a single season in 2022-23. Boston only lost three consecutive games once en route to claiming the Presidents' Trophy as the league's best regular-season team, but it salvaged a point from one of those losses. The last time Beantown lost three straight regular-season games in regulation was April 2022.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery shared McAvoy's mindset.

"In a lot of ways, we've welcomed this kind of adversity," he said. "We knew it was gonna come. We knew we weren't a 14-1-3 team, and that's just being honest. We're also not a team that gives up 17 goals in three games. We've gotta get back to who we are."

Montgomery noted that the Bruins' struggles really started about six or seven games ago.

"It gets back to checking," he said. "I think we've just been an easy team to play against here."

Despite their latest losses, the Bruins still sit on top of the Atlantic Division with a 14-4-3 record, three points clear of the Florida Panthers despite playing one fewer game.

"There's no need to panic, but this is not our standard, so we don't want to see it go on any further," McAvoy reasoned.

Boston's next chance to get back into the win column comes Thursday against the struggling San Jose Sharks.

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There are just three games on the NHL schedule Wednesday night. Although nothing stands out in terms of sides or totals, a few props caught my eye.

Let's take a closer look.

Cole Caufield over 3.5 shots

Caufield is a very matchup-dependent shooter. Take the past 10 games: Caufield faced seven teams currently holding playoff positions and three teams on the outside looking in.

He failed to register four shots in the seven games against playoff teams, falling well short on most nights. He only reached three shots twice.

Caufield teed off on the non-playoff teams, however, going over his total in all three games while generating 19 shots - better than six per night - in aggregate.

Caufield has a tantalizing matchup tonight against the Blue Jackets. They've struggled defensively all season long and recently lost one of their best blue-liners, Damon Severson, to injury. That bodes well for Caufield, who recorded eight shots on a whopping 15 attempts against the Blue Jackets earlier this season.

I'm not sure Caufield will match those outputs, but volume shouldn't be an issue against one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL.

Odds: -125 (playable to -145)

Kirill Marchenko over 2.5 shots

Marchenko - like many goal-scorers - has extreme home/road splits. He's feasted in Columbus this season, recording three shots or more eight times in 11 tries (73%) while averaging a healthy 3.6 shots on goal per game.

His numbers have fallen off a cliff away from home, however. Marchenko is averaging just 1.9 shots per game and has gone over his total in only three of 10 appearances on the road.

Marchenko finds himself in a very strong spot on Wednesday night. He'll have the luxury of playing on home ice - where he averages two more attempts per game - against a Canadiens team that allows more shots per night than anyone but the Sharks and Islanders.

Getting cushy usage against an exploitable opponent, Marchenko should have plenty of opportunities to fire in this one.

Odds: -140 (playable to -155)

Alex Ovechkin under 3.5 shots

Ovechkin isn't generating a ton of shot volume these days - at least, not compared to his usual standards.

He has gone under the number in 10 of 18 games this year and eight of the past 12 overall. Similarly to Caufield, he is mostly enjoying shooting success against weak opponents.

Ovechkin's only hits over the past 10 games came against the Sharks, Islanders, and Sabres. He failed to get the job done versus better shot-suppression teams like the Panthers, Devils, Golden Knights, and Oilers.

That likely spells trouble heading into a game against the Kings. They rank third in shots against this season and their numbers are better when playing at home.

The Kings are very structured and - led by Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault - they have a fantastic combination of defensive centers they can throw at top players to defang them offensively.

It will likely be sweaty - sometimes it takes just one or two power plays for Ovechkin to get within striking distance - but I see value in targeting his under in Los Angeles.

Odds: -130 (playable to -150)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ToddCordell.

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