When Daniel Sprong was traded, some thought that would mean that Dakota Joshua and/or Jonathan Lekkerimäki would be coming into the Vancouver Canucks lineup for Saturday's game against the Edmonton Oilers.
Alas, that is not the case. Instead, the Canucks called up Arshdeep Bains and Nils Åman from the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL. While Joshua was at Saturday's morning skate, he did not take regular line rushes and seems unlikely to play after missing a couple of practices during the week.
As for Lekkerimäki, he might have been an option but he reportedly has a minor injury and won't even be playing for Abbotsford in their game Saturday night.
The biggest question for the Canucks, of course, is the status of Brock Boeser, who left Thursday's game after a blindside hit to the head by Tanner Jeannot. While Jeannot received a match penalty and was suspended for three days, that may seem like a paltry punishment if Boeser is out long-term.
Boeser was not on the ice for morning skate and, according to general manager Patrik Allvin, he is still being evaluated and will not play against the Oilers.
“I talked to him briefly,” said head coach Rick Tocchet. “Doesn't feel great, but I wouldn't say it's horrible, so I think he's indefinite right now. These things can change [in] a week or 24 hours. I don't know.”
That makes things tough for the Canucks as they face an Oilers team looking to bounce back from two losses to the New Jersey Devils and Vegas Golden Knights. The season has not started the way the Oilers hoped, as they have a 6-7-1 record and a minus-12 goal differential, but there are plenty of reasons to think they'll turn it around.
The Oilers are still one of the most dominant puck possession teams in the NHL, with a score-adjusted corsi percentage of 55.8% that is second only to the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL. The issue for the Oilers is they're just not getting the bounces. They have a 5.8% shooting percentage as a team at 5-on-5, which is the third-lowest in the league. Given the talent they have in their lineup, that's not likely to continue for long.
Special teams could play a major role. The Oilers' power play has not been clicking this season — they're 26th in the NHL at 14.3% — but should never be taken lightly. More importantly, the Oilers' penalty kill is the worst in the NHL at an execrable 59.5%. The Canucks have power play goals in back-to-back games; they should be able to keep that streak going.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
With Boeser out and Bains and Åman called up, the Canucks will have some very different lines on Saturday night.
Here are the projected lines from Saturday's morning skate:
J.T. Miller gets two new linemates in Pius Suter and Conor Garland. Miller spent quite a bit of time with Suter last season and Garland has been a boost to whatever line he's been on this season.
That means Elias Pettersson gets reunited with Jake DeBrusk, the winger signed this season to play on his line. DeBrusk has goals in three-straight games, so we'll see if the chemistry clicks a little better than it did to start the season.
Pettersson's other winger will be a familiar face in Nils Höglander, who gets another shot to prove he belongs in the top-six.
The third line of Danton Heinen, Teddy Blueger, and Kiefer Sherwood has been as reliable as they come this season, so it's no surprise to see that it's the only line that remains untouched.
Bains and Åman will join Aatu Räty on a fourth line of Abbotsford veterans.
UPDATE: At game time, Bains was announced as a scratch, with the Canucks dressing 11 forwards and 7 defencemen, with Noah Juulsen and Vincent Desharnais both warming up alongside Erik Brännström.
The Canucks starting goaltender will be Kevin Lankinen.
Edmonton Oilers projected lines
The Oilers may be malfunctioning offensively, but Leon Draisaitl is still racking up the goals. He has 9 goals and 16 points in 14 games this season and has clearly been the Oilers' most dangerous player.
Connor McDavid still has 10 points in 11 games, but that's disappointing production by his standards. He just returned to the lineup on November 6 after missing three games with an ankle injury.
Here are the Oilers' projected lines:
Jeff Skinner - Connor McDavid - Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin - Leon Draisaitl - Viktor Arvidsson
Adam Henrique - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Connor Brown
Mattias Janmark - Derek Ryan - Corey Perry
Mattias Ekholm - Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse - Troy Stecher
Brett Kulak - Ty Emberson
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Former Canuck Vasily Podkolzin has found a spot in the Oilers' top-six, though he's not exactly lighting up the scoreboard. Podkolzin has no goals and 3 assists in 14 games this season but some of that is bad luck. He leads the Oilers in corsi at 64.9% but the Oilers' shooting percentage when he's on the ice at 5-on-5 is a shockingly low 2.83%. Even for Podkolzin, who has always struggled to put up points despite solid underlying statistics, that's very low.
The Oilers' starting goaltender is expected to be Stuart Skinner. Goaltending has once again been a major issue for the Oilers, as both Skinner and Calvin Pickard have a save percentage below .890: Skinner's at .885 and Pickard's at .886.
