In their win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night, Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser was blindsided by Los Angeles Kings forward Tanner Jeannot. Boeser was cutting through the middle of the ice and Jeannot caught him with a hit up high in the head. Jeannot was recently given a three-game suspension for his hit, but Boeser will most likely miss more time than that with a head injury. Losing Boeser is a big blow to the Canucks lineup, but it leaves room for others to step up in his place.
Jake DeBrusk
It’s no surprise that everyone in the Canucks forward group will need to step up in Boeser’s absence, but Jake DeBrusk will be looked upon early to help out the top six. The Canucks went out and spent big money on him in free agency with a cap hit of $5.5 million per season for the next seven years, so they have big expectations for him. It took him a while to adjust to a new system, but once he scored his first goal against the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 9, he has scored at a point-per-game pace. He will now have a bigger role on the Canucks number one powerplay unit as he will be relied on more regularly to score on the man advantage with Boeser out.
Danton Heinen
With Boeser out of the lineup, the Canucks will be in an all-hands-on-deck situation to keep their goal-scoring totals near their average. Someone who will need to help Vancouver’s scoring is Danton Heinen. A player that the Canucks sought out in free agency this past summer and signed to a two-year contract. He has scored seven points in 13 games this season, which is admirable for what he is being asked to do. Now with arguably their best scorer out of the lineup, the Canucks will need more offensive performances from guys who have been playing on the third line all season long like Heinen.
The Canucks forward will also be playing on the second powerplay unit for the foreseeable future and has a very good chance of being successful. He will be playing with young forwards Aatu Raty and Jonathan Lekkerimäki while also having reliable defenceman Fillip Hronek on the back end. With those players surrounding him on the man advantage, Heinen has a great chance of scoring more points and providing more goals for a Canucks team that will need them with Boeser out of the lineup.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki
The time has finally come. Lekkerimäki has been called up to the NHL and will make his much-anticipated debut. Since being drafted in 2022, the Swedish forward has been a highly touted prospect in the Canucks system and the organization has been waiting for him to make the jump to North America. He made the full-time jump this season and in seven games with the Abbotsford Canucks, he has scored seven points with five of them being goals.
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Lekkerimäki will be slotted in on the first-line right wing with J.T. Miller as the center and Pius Suter as the left winger. Being on the first line right out of the gate could be a daunting task for a young player, but Lekkerimäki is ready for that pressure. He has played top minutes in Abbotsford already and has never shied away from top-tier talent going back to his time in Sweden. His shot is lethal and his offensive abilities are elite. He is being put in a great spot to succeed with Vancouver and he will also have an elite player in Miller feeding him the puck so he can capitalize. Lekkerimäki will also be bringing a youthful boost to the Canucks which every team needs.
Boeser’s injury is not what Vancouver wanted. But the team has players that can step up and help in his absence. These three players have been looking for an opportunity to do more in the lineup and now they have a perfect chance to do so.
