Canucks opening night lineup nearly set after cutting 13 players
The Vancouver Canucks have made their most significant roster reduction of preseason today, cutting 13 players.
That includes releasing veteran defenceman Danny DeKeyser, after an unsuccessful pro tryout. The 32-year-old blueliner who has 547 games of NHL experience, all with the Detroit Red Wings, began training camp paired with Tyler Myers. He failed to impress management enough to earn a longer look after just three preseason games.
Five Canucks players will need to clear waivers before being sent to their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, including defencemen Brady Keeper, Noah Juulsen, and Guillaume Brisebois; forward John Stevens; and goaltender Collin Delia.
Tristen Nielsen, who impressed observers at Young Stars in Penticton, has been released from his pro tryout contract and will join the Abbotsford Canucks. Also heading to Abbotsford without needing waivers are forwards Danila Klimovich, Will Lockwood, and Arshdeep Bains; goaltenders Arturs Silovs and Michael DiPietro; and defenceman Wyatt Kalynuk.
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The Canucks’ preseason roster now consists of 29 players, which includes four injured players: Brock Boeser, Ilya Mikheyev, Justin Dowling, and Travis Dermott.
Among the uninjured players, Vancouver is left with 15 forwards, eight defencemen, and two goalies.
Unless one of Boeser, Mikheyev, Dowling, or Dermott return before next week’s season-opener in Edmonton on October 12, the Canucks are likely to make just two more cuts — either two forwards, or one defenceman and one forward.
Forwards remaining that are likely on the bubble include Nils Aman, Phil Di Giuseppe, Sheldon Dries, and Linus Karlsson. Defencemen on the bubble include Kyle Burroughs, Tucker Poolman, Jack Rathbone, and Christian Wolanin.
The Canucks have had a forgettable preseason thus far, losing all five games they’ve played. They have two more games remaining, against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday in Abbotsford, and against the Arizona Coyotes Friday at Rogers Arena.
Canucks preseason roster
Forwards
- Nils Aman
- Brock Boeser
- Phil Di Giuseppe
- Jason Dickinson
- Justin Dowling
- Sheldon Dries
- Conor Garland
- Nils Höglander
- Bo Horvat
- Dakota Joshua
- Linus Karlsson
- Andrei Kuzmenko
- Curtis Lazar
- Ilya Mikheyev
- J.T. Miller
- Tanner Pearson
- Elias Pettersson
- Vasily Podkolzin
Defencemen
- Kyle Burroughs
- Travis Dermott
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
- Quinn Hughes
- Tyler Myers
- Tucker Poolman
- Jack Rathbone
- Luke Schenn
- Christian Wolanin
Goaltenders
- Thatcher Demko
- Spencer Martin
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