Quick thoughts on the Canucks’ new line combinations

If you don’t know all the player numbers just yet, here are the lines with their last names:

Drew O’Connor – Elias Pettersson – Conor Garland
Jake DeBrusk – Filip Chytil – Brock Boeser
Evander Kane – Aatu Räty – Kiefer Sherwood
Arshdeep Bains – Max Sasson – Linus Karlsson

Quinn Hughes – Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson – Tyler Myers
Elias Pettersson – Victor Mancini

Thatcher Demko

Our initial thoughts are a bit of a mixed review. We’re not surprised the Canucks changed their lines after back-to-back uninspiring efforts. However, some of the decisions are a bit puzzling.

First off, we’re excited to see Pettersson and Garland matched together. Any Canucks observer has noticed that Pettersson hasn’t really had it through the first three games, despite showing flashes of nice plays. However, to truly get him going, it might be best to put him with Garland, who can alleviate some of the pressure of carrying play in the offensive zone.

O’Connor being on the line is somewhat of a surprise. Outside of picking up the only assist on Sherwood’s season-opening goal, there hasn’t been much, if any, offensive production from O’Connor. So, why the promotion? It can’t be for defensive reasons, as the Canucks often use both Pettersson and Garland on the same penalty killing unit.

Do they just prefer the forechecking/a bigger body presence? Are they trying to bring back O’Connor and Garland’s success from the World Championships? We aren’t convinced that’s going to work out. We’d prefer to have a primary shooter on that line, which brings us to our next thought.

Lekkerimäki, while he hasn’t done much outside of his goal against the Calgary Flames, should probably remain in the lineup. He has proven through the preseason that his shot is a weapon that the Canucks need in the lineup. The young Swede hasn’t been put in an opportunity to shoot much yet this season, as he was playing with Braeden Cootes, who has now been sent down to the WHL.

It would have been nice to see him given an opportunity higher in the lineup rather than completely taken out of it, but that could very well change quickly if the Canucks fail to produce offensively against the Stars.

However, with Lekkerimäki coming out of the lineup, Karlsson takes his place. We do like the look of that fourth line, or as one would call it, the “Abby line” with Bains, Sasson and Karlsson. We’ll see if they can pick up any magic from their Calder Cup Championship run from last season.

We also quite like the second and third lines. Giving the speedy Chytil some shooters on either side should complement the entire line, while pairing two bruisers in Kane and Sherwood on a line is intimidating for any opponent to face.

The defence corps stays intact, with one small change in reuniting Marcus Pettersson and Tyler Myers as the second pairing. This is the right move to give the Canucks back a dynamic shutdown pair. The Canucks can try to shelter the third pair of E. Pettersson and Mancini away from any danger.

But the most important piece of this puzzle is Demko starting in net. The Canucks will need him to perform as he did against the Edmonton Oilers if they want any chance of limiting this Stars offence, which has scored five goals in all three games this season.

What do you think, Canucks fans? What were your quick thoughts about these new line combinations?