Who is the odd man out of Canucks lineup when Blueger returns?
Teddy Blueger is almost ready to return to game action, which means that the Vancouver Canucks coaching staff is about to have a difficult decision on their hands.
Blueger was injured before the first game this year, and thus he has yet to play a game for the Canucks. He returned to practice fully today and was wearing the fourth-line grey sweater, according to Thomas Drance from The Athletic.
Jack Studnicka is wearing a blue sweater, typical of #Canucks bottom pair or depth defenders.
Miller, PDG, Boeser in green.
Pettersson, Kuzmenko, Mikheyev in white.
Suter, Joshua, Garland in third-line red.
Blueger, Lafferty, Höglander, Beauvillier in fourth-line grey. pic.twitter.com/wUXLxI45tm
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) November 8, 2023
His participation in practice meant he “passed a very important test today,” and he has been upgraded to “day-to-day,” said head coach Rick Tocchet via Drance.
Blueger’s defensive acumen and penalty-killing ability mean that he should slot right into the lineup, but it’s going to be a difficult decision for Tocchet and his staff as to who should come out. The fact that the Canucks are off to their best start in franchise history means that any lineup change will be heavily scrutinized.
The Canucks have been finding a lot of success from their bottom-six as of late. The third and fourth lines have managed to score seven goals over the team’s last three games.
Blueger wearing fourth-line grey at practice could suggest that it’s one of the others from that bottom trio — Nils Höglander, Sam Lafferty, and Anthony Beauvillier — coming out of the lineup.
Before the season started, Höglander would have been a popular pick to spend some time in the press box or even in the AHL. However, the 22-year-old has been playing his best hockey since his rookie season.
He has already matched last year’s goal total in less than half the number of games, including a crucial one in a recent 6-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
NILS STARTED IT.
NILS FINISHED IT. pic.twitter.com/GxEpHiM2wU— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 7, 2023
Lafferty was acquired prior to the start of this season and has made a large impact in limited minutes. His speed has been a welcome addition, and he has six points through 12 games.
Finally, Beauvillier is making $4.15 million per season and has the strongest career resume of the three, with five seasons with at least 15 goals. He has started to string together some strong performances, including a recent two-goal outing.
Looking further up the lineup, Dakota Joshua is someone who has been publicly challenged by Tocchet this season. He has the worst five-on-five goals-for and shots-for percentage of any Canuck that’s played more than five games this season.
However, the trio of Joshua, Pius Suter, and Conor Garland has been solid together. The line has helped the Canucks control 56.25% of the shots while they’re on the ice at five-on-five, and they’ve yet to all be on the ice goal against during those minutes.
While in theory, Blueger’s return should only strengthen the lineup, the Canucks need to be careful. There is no obvious choice as to who should sit, and with the bottom six being solid contributors to the team’s success, the pros and cons of any change need to be strongly considered.
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