Evander Kane gets demoted to fourth line as Vancouver Canucks juggle forwards
Is the leash finally tightening on Evander Kane?
Night in and night out, it’s almost not a surprise anymore when Kane leads Vancouver Canucks forwards in five-on-five ice time.
Perhaps that will change on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but don’t hold your breath.
Here were the Canucks lines on Saturday morning from Toronto, courtesy of The Athletic’s Thomas Drance.
Forwards
DeBrusk – Pettersson – Karlsson
Öhgren – Sasson – Boeser
O’Connor – Kämpf – Sherwood
Kane – Räty – Höglander
Defence
M. Pettersson – Hronek
Buium – Myers
E. Pettersson – Willander
Thatcher Demko was slated to get the start in net for the Canucks.
Head coach Adam Foote has had his lines in a blender recently. He moved away from a line featuring Jake DeBrusk, Elias Pettersson, and Linus Karlsson, even though they had shown chemistry in limited minutes.
During 38 even-strength minutes together, that trio has controlled 81.3 per cent of expected goals for the Canucks, according to MoneyPuck.
Last Saturday, that line wasn’t even on the ice for a shot attempt against during an overtime loss to the Boston Bruins.
He went away from that trio after one mediocre performance against the Buffalo Sabres. That meant Kane got a promotion back to the top line, if you want to call it that, alongside Pettersson and Boeser.
That lasted a little over a period before Foote made the switch to a trio of Höglander, Pettersson and Boeser.
Now, after Höglander replaced Kane on the top line last game, both players now find themselves on the fourth line, alongside centre Aatu Räty.
It’s hard not to argue that the fourth-line demotion isn’t deserved for both players.
Kane has one goal and six points in 16 games since December 1st. Still, his minutes haven’t been meaningfully cut.
He still leads all Canucks forwards in five-on-five ice time per-60 this season. Kane also leads all forwards in that category over the last 10 games. Oh, and he led all Canucks forwards in five-on-five ice time during their last loss against Detroit as well.
If this is part of project: ‘Showcase Evander Kane,’ it isn’t going all that well.
For Höglander, he doesn’t have a point in 10 games played this season after returning from ankle surgery.
The Canucks enter the contest against Toronto back at 32nd overall in the NHL standings, after the Winnipeg Jets leapfrogged Vancouver with a win last night.