Vancouver Canucks lines vs. New Jersey Devils (Oct. 9, 2026)
Elias Pettersson is on a roll.
The Vancouver Canucks’ top centre is off to one of the best starts of his career, with two goals and six assists in five games. Moreover, he’s on a five-game point streak, matching his longest streak to start a season, set way back in his rookie season in 2018-19.
Can Pettersson set a new standard on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils?
The Devils certainly look vulnerable. They’re 1-2-0 to start the season, with their lone win requiring overtime to beat the hapless Philadelphia Flyers.
After that win in their season opener, the Devils got rocked 6-0 by the New York Islanders, then fell 5-3 to the Utah Mammoth.
The Devils have had plenty of time to lick their wounds, with three days off after losing to the Mammoth. They’re still likely to be hungry to prove themselves, as this was supposed to be a bounce-back season after missing the playoffs.
Led by Jack and Luke Hughes, the Devils were supposed to be the next big thing in the NHL. At this rate, would Quinn Hughes even want to join his brothers in New Jersey? Maybe the Minnesota Wild have nothing to worry about.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
The Canucks didn’t practice on Friday and, with an early game — 3:30 p.m. local time in New Jersey — the Canucks won’t be holding a morning skate on Saturday. So, the lineup for the Canucks requires some educated guessing.
With that in mind, here are the Canucks’ projected lines:
Jake DeBrusk – Elias Pettersson – Jonathan Lekkerimäki
Paul Cotter – Marco Rossi – Brock Boeser
Liam Öhgren – Max Sasson – Linus Karlsson
Arshdeep Bains – Drew O’Connor – Brendan Gallagher
Zeev Buium – Filip Hronek
Jamie Oleksiak – Tom Willander
Elias Pettersson – Luke Schenn
Leevi Meriläinen
Kevin Lankinen
After Aatu Räty and Victor Mancini struggled more than most against the Carolina Hurricanes, it wouldn’t be surprising to see veterans Brendan Gallagher and Luke Schenn draw back into the lineup.
Paul Cotter is set to play his first game against the Devils since they let him go to free agency. Cotter had 25 goals and 37 points across two seasons with the Devils; he’s on pace for 66 goals and 98 points with the Canucks this season.
The Canucks’ starting goaltender has not been confirmed, but with back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday, whoever doesn’t get the start against the Devils will presumably play against the New York Rangers on Sunday.
After Leevi Meriläinen had to come into Thursday’s game in relief of Kevin Lankinen, who gave up six goals on 18 shots, it would make sense for Meriläinen to start on Saturday.
New Jersey Devils projected lines
The Devils had some injury issues, with Jonas Siegenthaler suffering an injury on Tuesday and Jack Hughes missing practice on Thursday for what the Devils called a maintenance day. Both are expected to be in the lineup on Saturday, however.
Here are the Devils’ projected lines:
Timo Meier – Nico Hischier – Luke Evangelista
Anthony Mantha – Jack Hughes – Jesper Bratt
Arseny Gritsyuk – Evan Rodrigues – Dawson Mercer
Amadeus Lombardi – Cody Glass – Jesper Boqvist
Luke Hughes – Brett Pesce
Jonas Siegenthaler – Dougie Hamilton
Brenden Dillon – Declan Chisholm
Jake Allen
Nico Daws
The Devils’ starting goaltender is expected to be Jake Allen, who has an .875 save percentage in his two starts this season. Backup Nico Daws gave up six goals to the Islanders in his one start.