Myers dropped to Canucks' third pair after season-low ice time
The Vancouver Canucks are making only a couple of tweaks to their lineup for tonight’s game in Nashville, including one involving their biggest player.
After starting the first five games on the Canucks’ second pair with Ian Cole, Tyler Myers has a new partner. Myers was skating beside Carson Soucy on what appears to be Vancouver’s third pair at the morning skate in Nashville, per Thomas Drance of The Athletic.
#Canucks line rushes at morning skate. This is your projected lineup for Frozen Frenzy night Tuesday in NSH:
PDG-Miller-Boeser
Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Mikheyev
Joshua-Suter-Garland
Beauvillier-Lafferty-HöglanderHughes-Hronek
Cole-Friedman
Soucy-MyersExtras: Juulsen, Studnicka pic.twitter.com/czLRUDTet2
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) October 24, 2023
Rick Tocchet was downplaying the move after practice, clearly not wanting to say that it was a demotion.
The move is a continuation from the last game when newcomer Mark Friedman was elevated to play with Cole, while Myers dropped down to Soucy’s pair.
Cole ranks third in ice time among Canucks defencemen this season, playing 21:05 per night. The duo of Filip Hronek (25:02) and Quinn Hughes (24:59) gets the lion’s share of the minutes on the back end.
Myers has seen his ice time drop steadily on this road trip. He played 19:38 in Edmonton, 17:47 in Philadelphia, 15:58 in Tampa, and 13:06 in Florida.
The 6-foot-8 blueliner drew the ire of fans during the game against the Lightning when two glaring Myers gaffes cost the team.
Myers’ 13:06 ice time in Florida was the lowest he’s seen since joining the Canucks in 2019, save for a game in 2022 when he was given a game misconduct in the first period.
Tonight’s game against the Predators (which has an unusual start time) is the last of Vancouver’s five-game road trip. The Canucks begin a three-game homestand Friday at Rogers Arena, beginning with a game against the St. Louis Blues.
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