Arshdeep Bains got called up from the Abbotsford Canucks on Thursday but is not expected to be in the lineup for the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. Instead, Friday's game will see the return of Pius Suter to the lineup after he missed the team's first game of the season with a minor injury.
It's a welcome addition, simply because Suter tends to have a calming influence on the ice with his detailed two-way game and the team really could have used a calming influence on Wednesday. Things got out of hand in a hurry in the opener against the Calgary Flames, as the Canucks coughed up a 4-1 lead after the first period.
While the Canucks got the game to overtime to earn a point thanks to an incredible last-minute goal by J.T. Miller, that performance is not one that head coach Rick Tocchet wants to see again.
"When you give up a three-goal lead, you're a little more high alert," said Tocchet, adding later, "If you're in the right spots and you're willing to put your work boots on, you're going to get your chances. But if you're a little bit lazy and your details aren't there, the advantage goes to those teams that really work hard."
The Canucks will face the Philadelphia Flyers, who will be playing their first game of the season. Much of the attention will be on rookie Matvei Michkov, who is making his NHL debut.
Michkov, the Flyers' seventh-overall pick from the 2023 draft, is being touted as a potential Calder Trophy candidate after an outstanding post-draft season in the KHL, where he put up 19 goals and 41 points in 47 games for HK Sochi. The only 19-year-old who has ever had a better season in the KHL was Kirill Kaprizov, who had 20 goals and 42 points in 49 games. Kaprizov is now a star for the Minnesota Wild and the Flyers are betting that Michkov will be their future franchise forward.
The Flyers are also expected to have 18-year-old Jett Luchanko, their 13th-overall pick from the 2024 draft, in the lineup as the team continues to get younger along the path of their rebuild.
Friday's game will also feature a tribute to Alex Edler, who signed a one-day contract so he could officially retire from the NHL as a Canuck. Edler played 15 seasons with the Canucks and holds multiple franchise records for defencemen, though many of those records are now under threat from Quinn Hughes.
"I have those records because I was here for so long. He’s going to break every record cause that’s how good he is," said Edler on Friday morning. "They’re going to be gone very soon, and he deserves that. You all see him out there. He’s a top player."
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
Suter is not the only player coming into the lineup for the Canucks, as Noah Juulsen is expected to make his season debut on defence. Nils Åman and Vincent Desharnais are expected to come out of the lineup.
Here are the projected lines:
The defence pairing of Derek Forbort and Desharnais was the Canucks' worst on Wednesday, so it's not entirely surprising to see Tocchet and defence coach Adam Foote switch things up but it's perhaps a bit surprising that they made a chance after just one game. There's no need to overreact to one bad game but it's still a bit concerning to see Desharnais already scratched in his second game as a Canuck.
The Canucks signed Desharnais to a two-year contract with a $2 million cap hit on July 1 and it was one of the Canucks' only moves that didn't make a lot of sense. With his size and reach, Desharnais was decent enough at in-zone defence with the Edmonton Oilers but his struggles to transition the puck up ice meant he spent an awful lot of time defending in his own zone.
Juulsen is not necessarily an upgrade on Desharnais — more of a lateral move — but he is well-liked by Tocchet and the Canucks' coaching staff and he plays a heavy, physical game, which is a fit against a John Tortorella-coached Flyers team. In theory, Desharnais also plays a heavy, physical game, but he didn't record a single hit on Wednesday.
Suter is expected to step onto the third line with Aatu Räty and Conor Garland, bumping Nils Höglander down to the fourth line. That's a bit of a strange move, as Höglander generally played well on Wednesday and has shown some chemistry with Garland throughout the preseason. Perhaps the thinking there is to give more support to their young centre, Räty, by giving him another defensively responsible centre on his wing.
Kevin Lankinen will be the Canucks' starting goaltender after Arturs Silovs gave up six goals on 25 shots on Wednesday.
Philadelphia Flyers projected lines
The Flyers are not a team that should be taken lightly. They have a lot of young talent in the lineup and play a fast, aggressive style. The Canucks have to hope that Wednesday was a wake-up call and that they come out with a much stronger 60 minutes against the Flyers.
Sean Couturier and Ryan Poehling did not join the Flyers at morning skate but are expected to play Friday night.
Here are the Flyers' projected lines, courtesy of PHLY Sports' Charlie O'Connor:
Matvei Michkov - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett - Morgan Frost - Tyson Foerster
Joel Farabee - Jett Luchanko - Bobby Brink
Scott Laughton - Ryan Poehling - Garnet Hathaway
Cam York - Travis Sanheim
Egor Zamula - Jamie Drysdale
Erik Johnson - Rasmus Ristolainen
Samuel Ersson
Ivan Fedotov
The Flyers' expected number-one goaltender is Samuel Ersson, who started 49 games for the Flyers last season and put up an ugly .890 save percentage. Whether the 24-year-old goaltender can take a step forward this season will help determine the Flyers' fate.
