The Vancouver Canucks will feature their newest signing tonight against the Seattle Kraken as Kevin Lankinen is set to don the blue and green for the first time. Head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed it on Thursday (Sept. 26) in his media availability also saying that Arturs Silovs will start on Saturday against the Calgary Flames (from ‘Canucks: Kevin Lankinen expected to start in goal Friday vs. Seattle’, The Province, 9/27/24). This will be the Canucks’ second meeting with the Kraken after they dispatched them 3-1 on Tuesday (Sept. 24) on the strength of Nils Hoglander, Filip Hronek and Pius Suter’s tallies.
Setting the Stage – Canucks (2-0-0) vs. Kraken (0-2-0)
The Canucks enter this game on a high after a late comeback and overtime win over the Flames on Wednesday (Sept. 25). Daniel Sprong tied it at three on a solo dash where he danced through the entire Flames lineup and Jake DeBrusk finished it in overtime after a brilliant three-way passing play between him, Quinn Hughes, and Elias Pettersson. The Kraken, meanwhile, have not played a game since that 3-1 loss to the Canucks on Tuesday and will be trying to put together a better effort than their home opener when they fell 6-1 to the Flames.
Canucks Projected Lineup
The Canucks didn’t have a morning skate today, but the team did tweet out the roster heading to Seattle. According to that tweet, we will see a lineup that includes veterans Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, Filip Hronek, Jake DeBrusk, Tyler Myers, and Danton Heinen.
Kraken Projected Lineup
The Kraken did hold a skate this morning, and radio host Mike Benton tweeted out these lines:
Morning skate lines vs Vancouver, 9/27:
— Mike Benton (@Benton_Mike) September 27, 2024
Schwartz-Stephenson-Bjorkstrand
Tolvanen-Wright-Eberle
Nyman-Meyers-Biro
Roed-Stephens-Winterton
Evans-Larsson
Oleksiak-Montour
Mahura/Lajoie (rotating)
Daccord
Kokko #SeaKraken
So it appears the Canucks will be facing a mix of NHL and American Hockey League players this time around as they will go up against the Kraken’s newest forward acquisition Chandler Stephenson and Canuck killer Jordan Eberle. They will also face Joey Daccord for the second time after he played half of the first game on Tuesday.
Storylines to Watch
Kevin Lankinen Makes His Debut
As mentioned off the top, Lankinen is expected to make his preseason debut with the Canucks after signing as a free agent on Sept. 21. The veteran had been training in Finland and arrived in Vancouver on Monday (Sept. 22). He declared himself ready to go on Thursday and is excited for the opportunity to tandem with Silovs and eventually Thatcher Demko, saying, “I’m ready to go. I’ve been preparing all summer. Working out. Doing conditioning. I feel better than ever. So I’m good to go.”
Silovs has the leg up on him right now, but if Lankinen has a good game against the same Kraken that Silovs stonewalled on Tuesday, then the competition will be wide-open for who will start Game 1 against the Flames.
Miller Not Traveling to Seattle; Still Hasn’t Played a Preseason Game
We haven’t seen the projected top line of Heinen, J.T. Miller and Boeser in a game situation yet, and unfortunately, we won’t see it tonight. Despite Miller skating in the game group in practice on Thursday, he won’t be traveling to Seattle to play the Kraken. According to his media availability, we might not see him until the final game on Oct. 4.
Related: Canucks Preseason Notebook: Sprong, Hoglander, Silovs, Raty & More
“I’m obviously ready to play. Preseason is never pretty, let’s be honest. I’m just trying to worry about my habits and get those in the right spots and hopefully by Game 6 we’ll play pretty much the full team and it will get better as it goes. But I’m going to get in soon.”
The trio looked good in training camp practices and the blue-white scrimmage, so it should be an interesting line to watch when they finally play together in the preseason. Heinen has the motor and forechecking ability to thrive with Miller and Boeser and could see another breakout season if it stays intact throughout the campaign.
Sherwood Gets a Chance With Pettersson & DeBrusk
With Jonathan Lekkerimaki coming off back-to-back games, he won’t be playing tonight with Pettersson and DeBrusk. That means heavy hitter and Dakota Joshua clone Kiefer Sherwood will get the opportunity to shine with the duo. He definitely brings a different element to the line considering he doesn’t shy away from a check or back down from a physical challenge. If someone takes a run at Pettersson in this game, they better be ready for No. 44 to be in their face.
What’s Next for the Canucks?
The Canucks are in another back-to-back situation as they will travel to Calgary on Saturday for another preseason tilt with the Flames. They beat their Pacific Division rivals 4-3 in overtime the last time they met on Wednesday in Abbotsford.
