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Fans Already Calling For Changes to Vancouver Canucks Lineup After What Just Happened
Photo credit: Bob Frid - Imagn Images.
Some fans are already calling for changes to the Vancouver Canucks' lineup on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers despite their season opening win just 48 hours ago.
The Vancouver Canucks will travel to Edmonton, Alberta for their first road game of the 2025-26 season as they face Vasily Podkolzin and the Oilers on Hockey Night in Canada.
Adam Foote's group are coming off a 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night, which included a four-goal third period and a two-goal night from the team's new second line centerman, Filip Chytil.
Ahead of Thursday's game, the Vancouver Canucks released their lineup which showed that veteran forward Evander Kane was demoted to the third line, where he played alongside Jonathan Lekkerimaki and 2025 first round pick Braeden Cootes.
Fans hoping to see lineup changes tonight against Edmonton Oilers
Vancouver native Evander Kane made his Canucks debut on Thursday, registering an assist, was a plus-one and had four hits in 16:40 of ice time and while it's not the worst stat line, NHL insider Jeff Marek believes that he can be a lot better too.
"Did Evander Kane look great last night? No. Did Evander Kane look, you know, rusty and probably a little bit slow? Yeah. I tend to not make up my mind about veterans until we're getting a little deeper into the schedule, but not the best game by Evander Kane." Marek said.
He added, "But as far as Lekkermaki goes, you know there are just some players where you want to say to them 'look, when we get you the puck that means we want you to shoot, so every single time you have the puck on your blade in the offensive zone, shoot.'"
He added, "But as far as Lekkermaki goes, you know there are just some players where you want to say to them 'look, when we get you the puck that means we want you to shoot, so every single time you have the puck on your blade in the offensive zone, shoot.'"
Swapping Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Evander Kane from right wing to left wing and vice versa probably won't make much of a difference if we're being completely honest, but one way the Canucks could get the most out of the Vancouver native is by opening up a spot in the top-six.
Last game, Arshdeep Bains was given the opportunity to play on the second line with Filip Chytil and Conor Garland, with the 24-year-old registering his first career assist in the National Hockey League.
Bains' time in the top-six more than likely won't last too long, with many surprised that he was named to the opening night roster to begin with despite a strong performance in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
A simple solution would be a straight swap of Evander Kane and Arshdeep Bains, with the 34-year-old getting into the top-six with Chytil & Garland, while the Surrey, BC native could form a so-called "Kid Line" with Cootes & Lekkerimaki.
We'll have to wait and see what Adam Foote decides to do with his lineup on Saturday a little later on today, but it wouldn't be much of a surprise to see a change or two to give the group a bit of a spark, something they lacked in the first 40 minutes on Thursday.
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 11 | 686 ANSWERS Fans Already Calling For Changes to Vancouver Canucks Lineup After What Just Happened Should the Vancouver Canucks swap Evander Kane and Jonathan Lekkerimaki for tonight's game? | ||
| Yes | 403 | 58.7 % |
| No | 283 | 41.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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