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Canucks shake up lines with Mikheyev finally ready to play

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Oct 21 2023, 5:23 pm
Canucks shake up lines with Mikheyev finally ready to play
Bob Frid/USA TODAY Sports

Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed to the media this morning that Ilya Mikheyev will make his season debut tonight versus the Florida Panthers.

This will be a big game for Mikheyev, who was limited to 46 games with the Canucks last season after undergoing ACL surgery in January. He made a solid impact when healthy, scoring 13 goals and 28 points.

While speaking with media today, Tocchet not only said Mikheyev will be back in the lineup but that he will be placed on a line with Elias Pettersson.

“He’s going to help Petey,” Tocchet said. “I think we’ve got to get a guy in there that can get in there and win some puck battles for us and get the puck to Petey. When you have a player like him, the more touches you get on his stick, the more good things are going to happen. But I’ve got to manage his minutes. I’ve got to be careful with him, too. I don’t think it’s prudent for him to be playing a ton tonight with Petey. So I might throw some [other] guys in there once in a while to relieve Mik, but he’s anxious to go.”

Andrei Kuzmenko will also play alongside Mikheyev and Pettersson, as he was skating on their right wing at this morning’s practice. Conor Garland, meanwhile, who played on the first line last game with Kuzmenko and Pettersson, has been demoted to the fourth line and will play with Anthony Beauvillier and Jack Studnicka. To make room for Mikheyev, Nils Höglander will be a healthy scratch.

The blue line is expected to look the same tonight, though it will be Casey DeSmith rather than Thatcher Demko between the pipes. It will be the second start of the season for DeSmith, who kicked aside 37 of 40 shots in a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers last Saturday.

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