Broken nose and all, prospect Kole Lind has been added to the Vancouver Canucks taxi squad.
Kole Lind cleared to play by #Canucks doctors yesterday (broken nose) and has been assigned to the taxi squad.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) April 2, 2021
Whether it’s because of the long list of injured centres piling up in Vancouver (Elias Pettersson, Brandon Sutter, Jay Beagle) or because Adam Gaudette has been struck with the coronavirus, or simply because he’s paid his dues at the AHL level, Lind has been called up to the big leagues and he’s one step closer to making his NHL debut.
Drafted in the second round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Lind was taken by the Canucks with the 33rd overall pick. Vancouver liked what they saw in Lind after he put up 30 goals and 87 points in 70 games playing for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL.
Lind would spend another season with the Rockets before joining the Canucks’ farm team in Utica New York. He played in 58 games that year for Kelowna, improving on his stats from the previous season, registering 39 goals and a total of 95 points. Some big numbers for a player who appeared ready to take the next step.
Surprisingly, Lind struggled in his first full season with the Utica Comets, but he’s come a very long way since then. From 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 51 games his first year around, to 44 points through 61 contests last year, and eight points (five goals, three assists) in eight games this year.
On top of the big leap of improvement, Lind has taken on the task of transitioning his game from the right-wing to the centre position — not an easy accomplishment for a young buck playing a man’s game, but he’s found a way to make it work. It might actually be the reason he gets his first taste of NHL action.
The Canucks currently have regulars Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller playing centre, but beyond that, there really isn’t much experience to turn to. Tyler Graovac is the next centre on the depth chart, but even he’s only got 72 NHL games under his belt, and just 11 points. Then there is newcomer, Travis Boyd, who was picked up off of waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs last week.
Enter Kole Lind. He’s been tearing it up at the AHL level, and it’s time to see what the kid’s got against the best in the world. He’s an excellent playmaker with pure offensive skill — something the Canucks could use somewhere in the team’s bottom-six.
The Canucks have postponed games through April 6th because of COVID-19 concerns, but get ready to see Lind in a Canucks jersey shortly after the team returns to the ice.