The ideal Vancouver Canucks lineup with and without Dakota Joshua: Canucks Conversation
1 month ago
On yesterday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal pitched their ideal lineups for the Vancouver Canucks with and without Dakota Joshua, who remains out of the lineup with a hand injury. Vancouver has been missing its gritty third-liner, as the team has gone 7-6-2 in the five weeks since Joshua sustained the injury in a game against Chicago.
Here are the guys’ lineups in full:
“My lineup, Harm, is very similar to what they’re rolling with right now,” Quads stated, referring to his lineup without Joshua. “The one thing I’ll say is I’d like to see Lindholm go up and Suter go to the third line. That might be the only tweak I make, but right now, this is the lineup I’m going with.”
“I’m going to mix it up a little,” said Harm as he referenced his lineup with Joshua. “I’m going to reunite the lotto line. First of all, you’re hopefully going to get Elias Pettersson going. J.T. Miller is the best linemate Pettersson has ever had; you look at their track record together, and the on-ice results have been positive, so I’m going with that. Then I’m going with a second line of Hoglander, Lindholm, Garland; a third line of Mikheyev, Blueger, Suter; and then Podkolzin, Aman, Lafferty on the fourth line. The main point is getting Pettersson going, but also in this scenario, Lindholm has better linemates than Mikheyev and Lafferty. He’d have some offensive drivers to play with. Hoglander and Garland are two possession-type guys that have at least some offensive touch. Playing with Mikheyev and Lafferty, I’ll be honest, I don’t have any even-strength expectations for Lindholm.”
“I love your thought process of getting a spark going,” said Quads, who turned his attention to his lineup with Joshua. “I’m of the opinion that not only Rick Tocchet won’t do it, but I don’t think the Canucks can do it. They can’t go to the lotto line if that’s the rest of their lineup. We’re not just talking about late in games when you need a spark, so you put them together. We’re talking about starting games and keeping them together all game. The only time we’ve seen it work this year was when that third line was buzzing at the start of January. I have them in my best possible lineup with Dakota Joshua. I’ve got Blueger back centring with Garland and Joshua, a third line of Hoglander, Lindholm, and Suter. It’s a much deeper lineup, a third line that can compete with some of those teams. I don’t think you can afford to go with the lotto line if Dakota Joshua isn’t healthy, but he gives you so many options when he does return.”
“I don’t have the lotto line together, which is a bit ironic,” Harm said of his lineup with Joshua. “When Joshua is back in the lineup, you’ve got to put the Garland, Blueger, Joshua line back together – I’d have them as the third line. Suter, Miller, Boeser as your top line – it almost doesn’t matter who the third player is with Miller and Boeser, they just produce. Then Hoglander, Pettersson, Lindholm. For Lindholm, I have to give it another shot with him at wing because I want to reunite that third line when Joshua is healthy. They just had a different level of chemistry, the way they read off each other on the forecheck, pressure pucks. So if you’re not going to have Lindholm at 3C, I’m not going to have him centering the fourth line. He’s got to slot in on the wing, and that’s where I’ve got him with Pettersson. Hopefully, you’re able to make that work.”
You can watch the full replay of yesterday’s show below:
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