The Vancouver Canucks will be without Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson when they take on the Seattle Kraken later this afternoon, but they will have Jake DeBrusk in the lineup, who leads the team with 15 goals. He is also playing his 500th game in the NHL, joining 19 other skaters from the 2015 Draft to do so. He joins Brock Boeser from that class, who did it on Dec. 12 against the Florida Panthers.
DeBrusk was drafted 14th overall by the Boston Bruins and played 465 games in the Spoked B before leaving in free agency to sign a seven-year deal with the Canucks. He had 138 goals and 266 points along with 27 goals and 47 points in the playoffs and is already off to an amazing start in Vancouver with 15 goals and 25 points in 34 games. He is only four away from matching the amount he had all of last season and is on pace for a career-high 36 goals, which would be his best total since his draft year when he put up 42 goals with the Swift Current Broncos.
The Canucks will need DeBrusk to keep his hot streak going against the Kraken since they will be without their captain and leading scorer in Hughes, who paces the team with 42 points. Not to mention his centre and linemate for the last month or so in Pettersson. In his absence, he will be reunited with his former pivot JT Miller and the aforementioned Boeser on the top line. Puck drop is at 1 PM from Rogers Arena and can be viewed on Sportsnet Pacific and listened to on Sportsnet 650.
