Canucks taking no chances when it comes to Conor Garland
Conor Garland was a late scratch for the preseason finale, but this is apparently a precautionary measure by the Canucks as opposed to any cause for concern.
Last season was arguably the best yet of Conor Garland's six seasons in the NHL with the then Arizona Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks. He had single-season bests for goals, +/- rating, blocks and hits, while his total points and Corsi For % in All Situations were both the second-best of his career.
In addition, Garland also played 82 regular season games for the first time in his NHL career, while he also appeared in all 13 of the Canucks' playoff contests. He's become an invaluable part of the roster and is projected to play on the third line in 2024-25.
With all of this in mind, you can appreciate why the Canucks would want to be cautious with the 28-year-old, as they prepare for thei home opener on Oct. 9 versus the Calgary Flames. And that's exactly the approach they've decided to take, in light of recent events surrounding the winger.
Garland suffers a mishap during morning skate
As reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Garland tweaked something during practice on Friday morning. As a result, he was a late scratch for the Canucks' finale preseason game versus the Edmonton Oilers.
As per Friedman, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet claimed Garland could have played, but eventually decided why take the risk with him? In fairness, this approach makes perfect sense, particularly when you consider the other injury issues looming over the team, including to the likes of Thatcher Demko, Dakota Joshua and Pius Suter.
It doesn't sound as if Garland is dealing with anything too serious and as things stand, he has been listed as day-to-day. However, until he's actually confirmed as ready to go for the regular season opener, you can certainly understand if this is a bit of concern with the Canucks fan base, just because of the aforementioned injury issues the team is dealing with in general.
As we've written about already, general manager Patrik Allvin's preference is to not have to utilise Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) until closer to the trade deadline. However, if someone such as Suter is not back in a reasonable time period, going down the LTIR route becomes an unfortunate likelihood for the Canucks.
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At least Garland shouldn't cause any such concern, with the belief that he will indeed by ready to go on Wednesday night against the Flames. He has been excellent overall during his time in Vancouver with -- among other things -- 145 total points, a +32 rating and 56.2 Corsi For % in All Situations, in 240 games for the Canucks.
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