The Canucks wrapped up their preseason work at UBC on Monday morning and then headed straight for Edmonton, where their new season opens Tuesday night. The final skate came with one notable absence: Jake DeBrusk did not take part, though he did travel with the team, leaving his status for the opener up in the air.
DeBrusk’s spot was filled on the left side by Arshdeep Bains, who skated with Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Lekkerimäki. The move came after Saturday’s 4-3 win over Seattle, when DeBrusk was believed to have been nicked by a Lekkerimäki shot in the second period. He stayed in that game, finished it, and scored the late-game winner, but he was held out of practice on Monday.
Another tweak from the Kraken game had Paul Cotter moving to left wing alongside Aatu Räty and Brendan Gallagher. Cotter had played centre on Saturday, while Räty did not dress for that one.
The biggest new face on the ice was Leevi Meriläinen, who skated with Vancouver for the first time since being claimed off waivers from Ottawa on Friday. The timing could hardly be more relevant. The Canucks begin with four games in six nights, including back-to-back home dates next weekend against Calgary and Vegas, so the 24-year-old may not have to wait long for game action.
Meriläinen joined a crowded goalie group at UBC, skating with Kevin Lankinen and Chris Driedger, who is still in camp on a pro tryout. That situation should clear up soon, with Nikita Tolopilo having cleared waivers and set to be assigned to Abbotsford.
For Meriläinen, the last few days have been a blur. “It’s been a long few days packing everything up in Ottawa and getting here.
It’s exciting for sure. It’s an opportunity for me to take and I’m going to try to do that.
I’m just going to be ready to play whenever.”
Manny Malhotra said the team is being careful with DeBrusk rather than alarmed. “We just needed an extra day to evaluate.
We don’t expect any changes to his availability for tomorrow. We just wanted to make sure he felt good today and got things taken care of.
Typical bumps and bruises. We just wanted to be cautious and make sure we got the imaging we needed and move forward from there.”
Malhotra also addressed the challenge of opening the season with consecutive games against the Oilers. “We obviously know who they are and what they’re capable of doing.
I think it’s all the more reason for us to adhere to our structure and play the way we need to defensively. It’s on us to defend in layers, to defend by committee.
That being said, we don’t want to just sit in our zone and soak pucks and defend all night. We want to be on the front foot and apply pressure to them in their end.”
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