Höglander benched as Canucks' latest controversial healthy scratch

Desperate for a win, Bruce Boudreau is making another controversial lineup decision for tonight’s game.

After sitting out Conor Garland on Tuesday, the Vancouver Canucks head coach has decided to bench Nils Höglander for tonight’s game in Minnesota.

Höglander has no goals and one assist in four games this season but has played well. Boudreau agrees but is sitting the 5-foot-9 forward in part because of his size.

“We’ve got 13 forwards… This is a bigger, physical team and sometimes you make decisions on that,” Boudreau told reporters in Saint Paul. “I told Hoggy he’s playing pretty good. I really like the way he’s playing, and be ready to get back in a hurry. Sometimes you look at your opposition and you see what you need.”

Fans and media on Twitter were questioning the decision to sit Höglander, while Dakota Joshua, who has just 46 games of NHL experience, is remaining in the lineup. The 6-foot-3 forward has been largely ineffective in the first four games.

Others are calling for veteran winger Tanner Pearson (no goals, two assists) to sit.

It’s one thing to sit a 21-year-old on an entry-level contract like Höglander. It’s another to sit Garland, who is making $4.95 million per season, as Boudreau did in Columbus.

Boudreau said the Garland decision was all about sending a message and he expects a big response from the 26-year-old.

“He’s a really good player, but we just need better,” said Boudreau. “Like I said the other day, I have to pick one out of six guys that I could have done that with… [Garland has] good character. So it’s not something that he’ll take lightly. He’ll work harder. I know he will. That’s what we need from him.”

Garland is expected to return to the lineup on a line with J.T. Miller and Ilya Mikheyev, as Harman Dayal from The Athletic shows below. Tucker Poolman is a game-time decision, according to Boudreau.

#Canucks forward lines from morning skate

Mikheyev-Miller-Garland
Pearson-Horvat-Boeser
Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Podkolzin
Joshua-Åman-Lazar

Nils Höglander looks like he may be the healthy scratch pic.twitter.com/CI4nyKuR5L

— Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) October 20, 2022

The Canucks need more from everyone right now. They’re the first team in NHL history to blow multi-goal leads in four consecutive losses to start a season. One more loss would see them suffer the embarrassment of playing their home opener with no wins and five losses — though they did earn a point with an overtime loss against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

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