It seemed like the Vancouver Canucks waiving Nils Åman was to make room on the roster for Dakota Joshua. But maybe it wasn't.
On Tuesday, the Canucks called up Aatu Räty from the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL and sent down Arshdeep Bains. It seems like waiving Åman, a centre, had more to do with making room for Räty than Joshua. Instead, it seems like sending Bains down is making room on the roster for Joshua.
That's supported by Joshua not taking the morning skate with the Canucks on Tuesday according to The Athletic's Harman Dayal. If waiving Åman was to make room for Joshua, he'd presumably be in the lineup against the Anaheim Ducks. Instead, it seems he's not quite ready to go.
"It was a scheduled day off," said head coach Rick Tocchet of Joshua. "He's been going pretty hard, so we had a scheduled day off for him."
The Canucks calling up Räty comes in the wake of them seeming to remember that Pius Suter, who has served as the team's fourth-line centre for most of the season, is actually a very effective top-six winger.
Suter was bumped up to the top-six against the San Jose Sharks, playing with Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland, and he had a fantastic game. He scored two goals, including the game-winner, and that trio dominated possession together. Accordingly, he's likely to start the Canucks' game against the Anaheim Ducks on that line.
"Pius, you can play him anywhere," said Tocchet. "Sometimes in a game, I will put him back at centre because I need him there. I've done that in the past. It's good to have that luxury of having a centre that can play wing."
That means the Canucks needed a fourth-line centre. Enter Räty, who has been fantastic in the AHL. He leads Abbotsford in scoring with 7 points in 8 games, is counted on to win key faceoffs, and plays in every situation. Honestly, it was time for Räty to get another shot after his first three games this season didn't go particularly well.
"I think it was a perfect thing for him to go down for a couple of weeks," said Tocchet. "He's really done a nice job offensively down there. I think him being up early, now he goes down and comes back up, I think the game will be a little slower for him in his mind. I like that philosophy: getting guys up here, giving them a taste, then sending them back and having them come back up — it's a good recipe for success."
The Canucks could use Räty's help in the faceoff circle. While J.T. Miller has been his usual dominant self — at least when he's taken faceoffs — and Teddy Blueger has been above average, Pettersson and Suter have been below average in the dot. Räty, before he was sent down, won 14-of-23 faceoffs for a 60.9% faceoff percentage.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
Dakota Joshua was not the only Canucks missing from Tuesday's morning skate. Derek Forbort, who left Monday's practice early according to The Athletic's Harman Dayal, also missed the skate.
Here are the projected lines for Tuesday night:
Suter will slide into the top-six and Räty onto the fourth line but the Canucks' forward lines are otherwise unchanged.
On defence, with no Forbort, Erik Brännström will move back to the left side with Vincent Desharnais expected to draw back into the lineup on his right side. Brännström held his own on the right side but made one key error that cost the Canucks a goal against the Sharks. We'll see how eager they are to go back to Brännstrom on the right side in the future.
The Canucks' starting goaltender will be Kevin Lankinen, who has thoroughly grabbed hold of the starter's net through the first ten games of the season.
Anaheim Ducks projected lines
The Ducks may be in the basement of the Pacific Division to start the season but they shouldn't be taken too lightly. They have a 4-5-2 record, so have earned points in the majority of their games.
While they're the lowest-scoring team in the NHL, they've also allowed the third-lowest rate of goals against at 5-on-5. Much of that is due to their goaltending, as Lukáš Dostál has been lights out to start the year, with a sparkling .937 save percentage despite facing the highest shot volume in the league. He is expected to be the Ducks starting goaltender against the Canucks.
Here are the Ducks' projected lines:
Robby Fabbri - Leo Carlsson - Ryan Strome
Frank Vatrano - Mason McTavish - Troy Terry
Cutter Gauthier - Trevor Zegras - Alex Killorn
Ross Johnston - Isac Lundeström - Brock McGinn
Cam Fowler - Olen Zellweger
Pavel Mintyukov - Brian Dumoulin
Urho Vaakanainen - Radko Gudas
Lukáš Dostál
James Reimer
Troy Terry currently leads the Ducks in scoring with 5 goals and 9 points in 11 games, while Leo Carlsson, Ryan Strome, and Mason McTavish are tied for second with 6 points each.
Robby Fabbri has been particularly cold to start the season with just 1 goal and no assists through 11 games. Still, he's expected to skate on the top line with Carlsson and Strome.
The big question mark is Trevor Zegras, who looked like a potential superstar when he entered the league but has just 3 points in 11 games and is down on the third line. Will he get his game sorted out? Will it happen against the Canucks? Probably not.
