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The Vancouver Canucks open up their preseason at home tonight against one of their new division rivals, the San Jose Sharks. Puck drop is at 7PT/10ET and can be seen on the NHL Network (US) or Sportsnet-Pacific.
Since this is a preseason game and there are no prior stats on record, this game preview will be different than what you'll normally see from me.
Here are the Canucks lines - credit to Ben Kuzma and Cam Tucker - as well as some thoughts on what we may see tonight.
Alex Burrows - Ryan Kesler - Hunter Shinkaruk
Nicklas Jensen - Brendan Gaunce - Pascal Pelletier
Tom Sestito - Bo Horvat - Dale Weise
Darren Archibald - Kellan Lain - Zach Hamill
Dan Hamhuis - Frankie Corrado
Yannick Weber - Henrik Tommernes
Alex Biega - Andrew Alberts
Eddie Lack
Joe Cannata
- Eddie Lack will get the start for the Canucks tonight. He's expected to play the first 40 minutes before Cannata comes in to finish things up in the 3rd.
- I'm really intrigued by the top line John Tortorella is going with tonight. Depending on the health of David Booth, there could be a spot available in the top-6 for Hunter Shinkaruk or Nicklas Jensen to grab. Shinkaruk was very good in the Young Stars tournament and this is a nice reward for his play.
He has a lot of speed and can put the puck in the net so he should fit right in with Burrows and Kesler.
- It's nice to see Jensen get an opportunity to play in the top-6 as well. His numbers at the Young Stars tournament won't jump out at you but I thought he was very effective and created a lot of scoring chances for himself and teammates. He'll need to capitalize on his chances more in the preseason if he hopes to make the Canucks opening day roster.
- Interesting to see that Bo Horvat has been slotted with Sestito and Weise. The Canucks are expected to run a 4th line of Sestito - center - Weise to start the regular season so perhaps this is an audition for Horvat to see if he can handle that role.
Personally, I think Horvat should be sent back to junior if he's not going to play in a top-9 role every night. Horvat would play 25 minutes a night on the London Knights - who will host the 2014 Memorial Cup - so sending him back would do more for his development than eight minutes a night in the NHL would.
If he's not going to play regularly, he shouldn't remain in Vancouver this season.
- The Canucks have some question marks on the right side of their defence so a good preseason from Corrado would all but guarantee a regular spot in their top-6 this season. He's pretty much a lock as is but nothing will be given under Tortorella. A good game tonight would be a good start towards earning a spot.
I'll be tweeting thoughts tonight so be sure to follow along on twitter.
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What about Mike Santorelli?
Opportunity knocking for Nicklas Jensen.
A look at the Canucks player ratings in NHL 14.
Where will the Canucks finish in the Pacific Division?
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