Pettersson back with DeBrusk and Boeser; Kane with Chytil on day one of training camp

It will be interesting to see how the lines form. A couple of things are clear just from these groups, though.

First, Jake DeBrusk will open camp with Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser on what would almost certainly be the Canucks’ first line if the season started tomorrow. Second, with Evander Kane skating in Group B, he’s going to skate on a line with Filip Chytil as his centre. But who will be the right wing on that line? Conor Garland? Or will it be Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who opened camp a year ago on a top six line alongside Elias Pettersson. The latter option would leave the door open for Garland to skate on a “third line” with Nils Höglander and Teddy Blueger.

Obviously, the line of Dakota Joshua alongside Blueger and Garland found success in the past. Will the Canucks try to recapture some of that magic by inserting Höglander on that line?

On defence, the top two pairings of Quinn Hughes with Filip Hronek and Marcus Pettersson with Tyler Myers appear to be set (to the surprise of no one). What’s interesting is that Tom Willander appears to be the young defenceman getting the first chance to play alongside Derek Forbort on what would be the team’s third pairing on paper. Will he stay there? That’s something to keep an eye on as camp progresses.

If we had to guess, the Canucks’ top three forward lines and defence pairs will look something like this by the end of the day:

DeBrusk – Pettersson – Boeser
Kane – Chtyil – Lekkerimäki/Garland
Höglander – Blueger – Garland/Lekkerimäki/Sherwood

Quinn Hughes – Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson – Tyler Myers
Derek Forbort – Tom Willander

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