The Vancouver Canucks will finally wrap up their preseason on Friday with a game against their Pacific Division rivals, the Edmonton Oilers.
For the first time in the preseason, the Canucks will be dressing a lineup that is actually representative of what they might dress during the regular season. That includes J.T. Miller playing in his first game of the preseason after taking a knock in the team's training camp scrimmage that was not an injury, don't put in the paper that I got injured.
"Just kind of been taking care of something and not forcing it," said Miller on Tuesday. "We've had the luxury of having some time over the last two weeks, so just trying to be smart. Should be good to go Friday...I was worried that if I got in earlier, something could have been made something worse that we didn't need to."
It's curious that it's taken this long for the Canucks to ice something that looks like their regular lineup. This is the first game of the preseason where the Canucks' projected defence partners — Quinn Hughes/Filip Hronek, Carson Soucy/Tyler Myers, and Derek Forbort/Vincent Desharnais — will play together, even if some of the forward lines have gotten their reps in.
"It's pretty much our first game as a collective group here," said Miller after the morning skate. "It's preseason, we're just trying to get good habits going into the regular season."
Head coach Rick Tocchet, at least, is not too worried about having just one game with the team's regular squad.
"It's our job as coaches to have practices where there is intensity and you try to mimic it," said Tocchet. "I honestly don't see that there's going to be much rust. We've had some really good practices and I think it's been a good camp for a lot of guys."
Akito Hirose returns to the ice
One of the best pieces of news to come out of Friday's morning skate is that Akito Hirose returned to the ice. The defenceman has been in concussion protocol since taking a heavy hit from Calgary Flames forward Adam Klapka on Saturday.
Hirose took the ice in a regular jersey, rather than a non-contact jersey in a different colour, which suggests that he's close to being medically cleared, if not cleared already.
"You kind of get a little more pace to see how he feels after," said Tocchet about getting Hirose back on the ice. "We'll see how he is the next day."
Assuming that Hirose is cleared, that's great news not only for his health but also for the Canucks' salary cap situation. If Hirose is cleared, he can be sent down to the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks, as he's exempt from waivers.
That small change could make a major difference for the Canucks being able to avoid using LTIR for cap relief as they put together their opening-day roster.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
Depending on when Pius Suter returns from his day-to-day injury, Friday's lineup ought to look an awful lot like what the Canucks will dress opening night.
What remains to be seen is which of Aatu Räty, Arshdeep Bains, and Nils Åman will be sent down to the AHL. Since he is exempt from waivers, the smart money is on Bains, but he's had a solid preseason, which could force the Canucks to instead put Åman on waivers.
Here are the projected lines based on Friday's morning skate:
The key takeaways here are that Elias Pettersson is getting two new linemates to start the season in Jake DeBrusk and Daniel Sprong. Assuming that Sprong can earn and keep Tocchet's trust, there's real potential in this trio putting up some serious points.
It's also interesting to see Räty keep his spot as the third-line centre between Nils Höglander and Conor Garland with Teddy Blueger returning from injury. That's a line that was put together at the start of training camp and has largely stuck together since then. It remains to be seen what will happen when both Bleuger and Suter are healthy.
The Canucks have been playing Carson Soucy and Vincent Desharnais together but the results have not been great so far. It's not surprising to see them go back to something that has worked before with Soucy and Tyler Myers, putting Desharnais with his fellow free-agent signing Derek Forbort on the third pairing.
Arturs Silovs will get the start on Friday and is expected to play the whole game. Odds are, he'll also get the start on opening night of the regular season.
Edmonton Oilers projected lines
Like the Canucks, the Oilers will be dressing essentially their opening-night lineup on Friday. Though no one should expect playoff-level intensity, Friday's game ought to look a lot more like NHL hockey than what we've seen so far in the preseason.
Here are the projected lines courtesy of Oilers TV's Tony Brar:
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Connor McDavid - Zach Hyman
Jeff Skinner - Leon Draisaitl - Viktor Arvidsson
Mattias Janmark - Adam Henrique - Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin - Noah Philp - Corey Perry
Mattias Ekholm - Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse - Ty Emberson
Brett Kulak - Troy Stecher
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Former Canuck Vasily Podkolzin got an audition on Connor McDavid's line in the last meeting with the Canucks but he'll be looking to earn a job on the fourth line on Friday night.
Meanwhile, another former Canuck, Troy Stecher, is aiming to lock down his spot on the third pairing with a strong performance.
This is the first game the Oilers' projected second pairing of Darnell Nurse and Ty Emberson will play together. The 24-year-old Emberson played 30 games with the San Jose Sharks last season and came to the Oilers in a trade for Cody Ceci and a third-round pick. Nurse and Ceci were a significant weakness for the Oilers in the playoffs; now the Oilers are banking on Emberson helping Nurse to get back on track.
