File: Vancouver Canucks Alex Burrows, right, bumps into Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo, dislodging his mask, during the third period in Vancouver on Feb. 4. Photograph by: DARRYL DYCK , THE CANADIAN PRESS

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Tonight will be game No. 750 in the National Hockey League for Alex Burrows. He can’t say for sure there will be No. 751 with the Vancouver Canucks.

The 34-year-old winger with a ringside seat for the Canucks’ massive youth movement knows it will soon be his turn to sit out to allow someone younger to play.

“It’s part of a cycle,” Burrows said this morning after the Canucks skated ahead of tonight’s game against the San Jose Sharks. “I was part of it as a young guy before. I came in and took an older guy’s position maybe. Now the way this organization is moving, the way Willie’s been coaching pretty much all year, you could see the writing on the wall. So it’s just a matter of time, I guess.

“I’m hoping to play tonight and then I’m hoping to play on Monday again. But it’s not up to me. They’re going to bring some young guys in. We’ve been told that. There’s nothing really you can do.”

Pointless in 10 games and goal-less in 15th, Burrows stays on coach Willie Desjardins’ fourth line tonight largely because winger Radim Vrbata (groin) will sit out another game.

But Burrows knows what’s coming. He saw veteran teammates Chris Higgins and Brandon Prust waived and sent to the American Hockey League. He knows half the roster was on Jim Benning’s trade list, and that the GM has publicly committed to playing “the kids” in the final quarter of the season as the Canucks play out their schedule, hopelessly behind in the playoff race. With one season and a $4.5-million salary-cap hit left on his contract, Burrows knows, too, that the Canucks could buy him out this summer.

So the walk-on from Montreal, the undrafted player who made his way to the NHL by starting with a tryout in the East Coast League, is savouring games like tonight.

“You just try to enjoy it and have fun with the boys and try to be a good teammate,” Burrows said. “For me, that’s always important. These guys are going to remember me as a good teammate instead of the old guy that was grumpy. I just want to be a good guy to them and help them out as much as I can.”

Goalie Jacob Markstrom is the Canucks’ only lineup change tonight.