The Vancouver Canucks started the season a mediocre 0-1-2 before grabbing their first win against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 17. They are now riding a four-game winning streak and sit pretty at 4-1-2, projecting to finish with the same amount of points they had last season when they won the Pacific Division. They also have three line combinations that are clicking and a goaltender in Kevin Lankinen who has strung together four incredible starts where he has only allowed eight goals.
Related: Predicting Brock Boeser’s Next Contract With the Canucks
The success those three lines are having will make it difficult to insert Dakota Joshua into the top nine when he eventually returns to the lineup. It’s a great problem to have, though, as his addition will create a scary deep lineup with four lines that can score.
Line 1: Jake DeBrusk – J.T. Miller – Brock Boeser
The newly-formed top line of Jake DeBrusk, J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser hasn’t really clicked yet, but I think given time they will become a very difficult trio to stop. While DeBrusk hasn’t looked overly dangerous with Miller and Boeser, he might start turning things around now that Miller can take faceoffs again and line up as a center to start shifts. Surprisingly, the line itself wasn’t caved in Corsi-wise despite rarely starting with the puck, posting an impressive 57.69 Corsi for percentage (CF%) before the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins when Miller returned to the faceoff dot.
The Canucks have also scored three high-danger goals with them on the ice and out-chanced their opponents 21-12 (9-4 high-danger chances) at five-on-five. All in all, they are trending in the right direction, so it makes sense to keep them together for the time being.
Line 2: Dakota Joshua – Elias Pettersson – Conor Garland
Joshua and Conor Garland are the Canucks’ other dynamic duo, so of course, they should be reunited when Joshua comes back. As a pair last season, they played 542:54 at five-on-five, outscoring opponents 30-13 (18-7 high-danger) and out-chancing them 289-210 (138-77 high-danger). They also controlled play, posting a 56.21 CF%. Oh yes, they were rarely scored on, too, as Canucks goalies recorded a .939 save percentage (SV%) with them on the ice. All of that to say, it’s a no-brainer to put him back together with his buddy Garland.
The only difference will be their center, as Elias Pettersson will take over Teddy Blueger/Elias Lindholm/Pius Suter’s role between them. Despite Pettersson’s slow start to the season, he is way more talented offensively than Blueger and Suter, their other regular centers last season. Lindholm is probably on par with him when he is on his game, so the Canucks would be basically recreating the third line that dominated in the playoffs last season. It will take some time for Joshua to get back up to speed after his recovery from testicular cancer, but when he does, we all know what a force he can be physically. He should open the ice up even more for Pettersson to work his magic.
I think this could turn out to be a lethal second line capable of turning the tide in a game, and might even allow Pettersson to break out of his funk and return to the elite player we saw last season in January when he scored 14 goals and 21 points in 13 games. Joshua and Garland are Energizer bunnies who always work hard and bring energy to every shift; if Pettersson doesn’t feed off of that and follow suit, there’s something wrong.
Line 3: Danton Heinen – Teddy Blueger – Kiefer Sherwood
Fans saw what this line could do in the game against the Chicago Blackhawks where Danton Heinen scored his first two goals as a Canuck and Kiefer Sherwood threw a career-high (and franchise record) 12 hits. They were noticeable every time they were on the ice and looked eerily similar to the Joshua-Blueger-Garland line of last season. Heinen started the campaign with Miller and Boeser, but never really looked comfortable with them. The minute he was aligned with Sherwood and Blueger, he looked more like the guy who became a fan-favourite Swiss Army knife in Boston. I think he needs to be with players who play like him, and Sherwood and Blueger definitely fit that mould.
TIC-TAC-GOAL❗️
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 23, 2024
Danton Heinen has his FIRST as a Vancouver Canuck. pic.twitter.com/ABod1WBEFx
Since being put together, they have dominated the opposition, especially when it comes to high-danger chances. Overall, they have out-chanced opponents 14-12, but in terms of high-danger chances, they have a 6-1 edge with two of them finding the back of the net. As a line, they have four goals – two from Heinen and two from Sherwood – and Blueger has three assists.
There is a world where Joshua fits with Blueger and Sherwood, but that would take him away from Garland, which I don’t think is a good idea at this point. Spreading the physicality between two lines benefits the Canucks more, and given Heinen has seemingly found his game since he was put on this line, the positives far outweigh the negatives.
Line 4: Nils Hoglander – Pius Suter – Daniel Sprong/Arshdeep Bains
With Joshua getting inserted into the top six, Nils Hoglander will drop to the fourth line. Yes, a 24-goal scorer from a season ago will be playing on the fourth line. He already has two goals this season and has been rewarded for his two-way play with over two minutes more of ice time, including time on the power play, which he didn’t see last season. This line likely won’t see the typical fourth-line deployment as Hoglander and Pius Suter are trusted defensively, and could cover up what Daniel Sprong lacks in that department. It could turn into a very effective bottom unit considering all three have a history of scoring in the double-digits and they will be playing against the other team’s lesser defenders and forwards.
Arshdeep Bains, who scored his first NHL goal against the Penguins, could swap in and out for Sprong, but even then, this line should still be a difficult one to contain offensively.
Canucks Will Be a Difficult Team to Defend When Joshua Returns
When Joshua rejoins the Canucks, the lineup will feature the deepest group of forwards they have had since they won the Presidents’ Trophy in back-to-back seasons in 2010-11 and 2011-12. All lines will be capable of scoring goals and providing energy and physicality when needed. They also should be good defensively as every unit has at least a couple of defensively-conscious forwards on it. All in all, it should be exciting to watch these trios go to work as the Canucks march towards the playoffs and another chance at the Stanley Cup.
All advanced stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick
