Which players will make the Canucks’ taxi squad?

NHL teams are allowed to carry up to six players on their taxi squad this season, and the Vancouver Canucks have many options to choose from.

With the 2020-21 NHL season set to begin in less than three weeks, the Vancouver Canucks still have many decisions to make before opening night, including who they choose to carry on their taxi squad.

Previously, I mentioned that Micheal Ferland will likely be put on LTIR while Sven Baertschi seems destined to be sent down to the minors once again. He’ll probably be joined by Jack Rathbone too, who has tons of potential but not enough professional experience to carve out an NHL role just yet.

In their stead, Vancouver will need to find three more skaters to fill out their team, with Olli Juolevi, Brogan Rafferty, and Jayce Hawryluk being the most likely candidates to do so.

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With the full 23-man roster now set, the Canucks still need to figure out which players will make their taxi squad.

The group will consist of six players, and it makes sense to split the configuration into three forwards, two defencemen, and one goalie.

The lone netminder is easy to figure out, as Michael DiPietro is Vancouver’s de facto third option and also enjoyed a stellar rookie season in the AHL in 2019-20.

On defence, Guillaume Brisebois and Jalen Chatfield seem like logical choices. Brisebois is a steady presence with previous NHL experience who seems destined to carve out a role as the team’s number seven defenceman, similar to Oscar Fantenberg last year.

Meanwhile, Chatfield brings a physical presence to the Canucks’ backend who is capable of killing penalties, which is something the team desperately needs due to the offseason departure of Chris Tanev.

The forward group is tougher to figure out since there’s a cluster of players who all have professional experience and are capable of providing useful minutes for the team.

With that said, I think it’s a lock that Nils Hoglander will be included since he has the highest potential out of all the candidates and could be an X-factor for Vancouver if he adjusts well to the North American game and ice surface.

The final two spots could then be filled by Marc Michaelis and Tyler Graovac. Michaelis has put up good numbers playing for Minnesota State University and possesses a mature two-way game that will allow him to be utilized on the penalty kill.

On the other hand, Graovac has 70 games of NHL experience under his belt and suited up in eight matches last season for Vancouver, so the organization seems like they trust him to be utilized in a sheltered role.

The hardest decision I made during this process was excluding Kole Lind, but I believe that the Canucks would like him to develop some more in the AHL before calling him up, much like Rathbone.

In summary, I believe that the team’s taxi squad will be comprised of Hoglander, Michaelis, Graovac, Brisebois, Chatfield, and DiPietro. These players will bring the Canucks a combination of youth and experience, which gives Vancouver the versatility of deploying them under different circumstances. Let me know if you agree in the comments below!