Team needs answer to riddle in the middle
Coach Desjardins has four compelling choices for two spots on third and fourth line
This much we know: Radim Vrbata will play with Daniel and Henrik Sedin on the top line when the Vancouver Canucks open the regular season next week.
Beyond that, the forward lines seem to be in state of flux as the Canucks head into their final pre-season game tonight against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena.
Nick Bonino will almost certainly centre the second line with Alex Burrows as one of his wingers. But will the other winger be Chris Higgins, Zack Kassian or maybe even Linden Vey?
And the third- and fourthline centres? Well, it’s difficult to say.
Vey, who the team hoped to use as its third-line centre, is now being looked at on the wing. He spent much of Thursday’s game in Edmonton skating on the right wing with Bonino and Burrows.
“I think (centre) is where I’d like to play him, but I don’t know if that’s where he will play,” head coach Willie Desjardins said Friday.
Vey, who leads the Canucks with five pre-season points, has been solid offensively but not as good in the defensive zone.
He may have to make way for the bigger Shawn Matthias, who played well in Vancouver’s 2-1 win in Edmonton.
“I thought he (Vey) looked really good on the right side with Bonino and Burrows,” Desjardins said.
“But Higgins also looked good there later in the game, too. Matthias gives us some flexibility and I thought he had a really good game at centre. It’s nice we’ve got a little more flexibility after last night.”
The Canucks have something of a riddle in the middle they must solve between now and Wednesday’s season-opener in Calgary. They have four centres — Vey, Matthias, Brad Richardson and the injured Bo Horvat — competing for the final two spots in the middle.
Richardson has played some wing in his career, but is also Vancouver’s best faceoff man. Desjardins said it’s possible he may use Vey and Richardson on the same line.
“Maybe he swings back and forth,” Desjardins said.
“Maybe you have Vey and Richardson on the same line, one’s on the wing, one’s at centre, it doesn’t really matter. One’s a leftie, one’s a rightie for faceoffs, so that might be something we try.”
After Friday’s roster moves — Vancouver waived centre Cal O’Reilly and sent rookie winger Hunter Shinkaruk to Utica, N.Y. — the Canucks have 25 players on their roster.
That includes injured rookies Horvat and defenceman Frank Corrado. They must get down to 23 players by Tuesday.
The Canucks got some good news about Horvat, whose X- rays on the shoulder he injured in Edmonton came back negative. “We were worried, for sure, we thought it could be worse than that, but I think it’s just a contusion,” Desjardins said. “I don’t know how long that means, but it’s big that it’s not broken.”
Shinkaruk was sent down early Friday after showing some offensive spark in the pre-season, when he scored two goals and had four points in four games.
“He’s a young guy and he’s got to get a more all-around game to come up here,” Desjardins said.
“I thought he was good offensively, I thought there were times when he showed real well … but he needs more experience at the pro level. He sat out much of last year, so to get his game at the best it can be he needs a little bit more time. There are a couple of things defensively that maybe hurt him a little bit.”
Shinkaruk’s demotion and Horvat’s injury leaves Nicklas Jensen as the last youngster standing.
Jensen didn’t hurt his chances with a strong game Thursday, when he made a nice play to set up Alex Edler’s game-winner.
“He skates well, he has opened up ice well,” Desjardins said of Jensen. “He hasn’t looked out of place. But I think you could say that about Bo Horvat as well. He hasn’t looked out of place, either. Our lineup should be hard to crack, it should be tough for young guys to get in and the good thing is these guys are pushing hard and they are making the choices hard.”
Jensen’s future could depend on Horvat’s health. Jensen can be sent to the minors without waivers, while Horvat is too young to play in the AHL and either stays here or is sent back to junior.
ICE CHIPS: Defenceman Kevin Bieksa missed Friday’s practice with what Desjardins called “soreness.” Winger Tom Sestito started practice but left early with a stiff neck … O’Reilly will be assigned to Utica if he clears waivers this morning … PGA Tour rookies Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor will drop the puck in a ceremonial faceoff before tonight’s game. The two Abbotsford residents make their debuts as PGA Tour regulars at next week’s Frys.com Open in Napa, Calif.