Canucks: 3 dark horses that could make opening night roster
The Vancouver Canucks will have some decisions to make when the time comes to fill out the opening night roster. Here are three dark horse candidates.
The official start date for the next NHL season hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s never too early to start wondering which players will shape out the roster for the Vancouver Canucks.
You have to imagine that Travis Green already has the top half of his roster pencilled in. However, this time around there will be a vacancy or two open for the proper dark horse candidate if he is strong enough to fight for it.
Green knows changes have to be made if this roster wants to take the next step. But with Jim Benning unable to sign big names in free agency this year or move out any deadweight contracts, he knows he will have to great creative with restructuring his lineup.
The thing is, Green needs a darkhorse or two to come along and demand a spot through a good performance in training camp. If nobody can do that for him, Vancouver will be forced to stick with the players that failed last season.
Vancouver needs to add scoring power with a defensive edge to the bottom-six. They also need defenders who can transition the puck out of the defensive end and help generate offence in the other direction. Let’s take a look at three underdogs who could earn a roster spot in 2021.
Sven Baertschi
Say what you want about him, but Sven Baertschi is still a player who is good enough to play in the National Hockey League. Although it does seem unlikely the relationship between him and Canucks’ management is salvageable, if Baertschi wishes to play in the NHL next year, he’ll have to suit up in Vancouver blue.
As Benning said it on TSN radio, it’ll be up to Baertschi to decide if he wants to play if he does in fact get an invitation to be a part of the opening night roster next year.
“Sven will come to camp. We’ll see where he’s at, where he fits and if he deserves to be on the team, he’ll be on the team. If not, he will be depth for us. But that will be up to Sven.
Baertschi has enjoyed successful years on the wing of Bo Horvat and last year he showed good chemistry with Adam Gaudette in training camp. He spent all of last year working on the defensive side of his game and he did his part not to shy away from getting physical and being an all-around better two-way player.
In 43 games with the Utica Comets of the AHL, Baertschi was a player producing at over a point per game. He finished the 2019-20 season with 45 points (13 goals, 33 assists). He was invited to be a part of the Canucks bubble during the summer months but he decided not to participate. The question now is, will he be a “no show” when training camp rolls around in 2021?