Vancouver Canucks: Big Lineup Decisions to be Made with Emerson Etem
With Emerson Etem in the lineup, the Vancouver Canucks will have a few big decisions to make.
The Vancouver Canucks acquired forward Emerson Etem from the New York Rangers in exchange for forward Nicklas Jensen and a sixth-round draft pick in 2017. In other words, the club acquired an NHL-ready forward in exchange for a struggling AHL player.
First-line winger Jannik Hansen is out with an upper-body injury and was put on injured reserve. Still, with the return of Jake Virtanen and the addition of Etem, the Canucks have 14 forwards and a total of the maximum 23 players on their roster. Therefore, head coach Willie Desjardins is forced to make some changes for tonight’s match-up against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
First of all, Alex Burrows will be on the first line with Henrik and Daniel Sedin. That combo has not been too successful lately, which is the reason why they were split up in the first place, but the trio has a big history of successful play. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Here’s to hoping that it will tonight.
Sven Baertschi, Bo Horvat and Radim Vrbata have finally found some chemistry on the second line. Horvat scored twice against the Carolina Hurricanes, so there is no need to change anything up here.
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The bottom six is where things get interesting. Last practice, it looked like Chris Higgins and Virtanen were skating on a third line centred by Adam Cracknell. Linden Vey centred the fourth line with Brandon Prust and Derek Dorsett on his wings, meaning that Jared McCann will sit out tonight’s game. So how does Etem fit in?
Considering the fact that Vey was the most recent AHL call-up, it would only make sense to scratch him in favour of Etem. The problem here: None of Etem, Higgins, Virtanen, Prust and Dorsett are centers. It does therefore not seem unlikely for Vey to stay in the lineup.
But who will be scratched then? Prust-Cracknell-Dorsett is one of the better fourth lines in the league. There were many games in which that line had the most even strength ice time on the entire team, more than the Sedins. Scratch one of them? Perhaps not the best idea.
That leaves Virtanen and Higgins, perhaps even second-line winger Baertschi. However, Virtanen just returned from the World Junior Championship in Finland and is set to return to the lineup tonight. There would be no point in keeping him in the NHL over the WHL if he wasn’t going to play.
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So how about Higgins and Baertschi? As mentioned before, Baertschi has really found his stride on a line with Horvat and Vrbata. After going scoreless for 13 games, Baertschi recorded four goals and six points over the past six contests. He now has six goals and 13 points on the season. The line is working — if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
That leaves us with Higgins. An aging veteran who has just two goals and three points in 23 games this season. Perhaps the most obvious choice to be scratched.
A line of Etem and Virtanen, centred by Vey or Cracknell could bring a lot of speed to the lineup, along with a dangerous combination of scoring skill and grit. Virtanen and Etem each have three points in 19 games, but the line would certainly be interesting to watch.
Whatever Desjardins will decide, the real issue will be when Hansen and Sutter return. The Canucks can send Vey to the AHL Utica Comets to make room for Sutter, but that still leaves the club with 24 players on the roster.
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Unfortunately, it could result in Virtanen or McCann being sent down to juniors. Neither rookie would profit from being a regular healthy scratch and getting eight minutes of ice time if they play.
The Vancouver Canucks have some big decisions to make — and they need to make them soon.