The Vancouver Canucks made a highly anticipated roster move on Sunday, bringing up top forward prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who came alongside Ty Young, and sending down Arturs Silovs, Arshdeep Bains, and Nils Aman.
And while sending Silovs down might only be temporary, he, Aman, and Bains are all playing in Sunday's Abbotsford Canucks game against the Bakersfield Condors to get more playing time.
On the other hand, what we know about Lekkerimäki joining the Canucks is that it probably confirms the inevitable: Brock Boeser is going to be out for a little while. Whether Boeser is out for one week, one month, or one year is unclear. The Canucks have ruled him out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, which appeared to be to the head. Tanner Jeannot's head-hunting hit, which was eventually punished by the NHL, caused the injury.
"These things can change a week or 24 hours. I don't know,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said of Boeser and his upper-body injury.
And now that Daniel Sprong has been traded to the Seattle Kraken for free after less than a dozen games with the Canucks, Vancouver is especially short on right wings. Lekkerimäki and Conor Garland are the last remaining of their kind on the Canucks' roster.
Sunday #Canucks practice lines
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) November 10, 2024
Suter. Miller. Lekkerimäki.
DeBrusk. Pettersson. Garland.
Heinen. Blueger. Sherwood.
Joshua. Räty. Höglander.
Hronek. Juulsen.
Soucy. Myers.
Brännström. Desharnais.@Sportsnet650 pic.twitter.com/H5xThpIQDw
Canucks ready to let Jonathan Lekkerimäki rip
Boeser has yet to be placed on injured reserve, which would rule him out for a minimum of one week and open up a roster spot, but the fact that Lekkerimäki, who was just injured himself, was re-called, tells us that Boeser is going to be out for at least a game. That, in turn, opens the door for Lekkerimäki to make his NHL debut, rewarding a strong start to the AHL regular season and his first full season on North American ice.
Based on Sunday's practice lines, courtesy of Sportsnet's Brendan Batchelor, the Canucks are going to have Lekkerimäki ready to go. Lekkerimäki, the 15th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, has five goals, two assists, and seven points in seven AHL games with Abbotsford. The Canucks need a sniper to help replace Boeser in the lineup, and they have no better internal option than Lekkerimäki to make that happen.