WWYDW: Eff Em Kay

Before we’re able to answer the question of who should replace Higgins one would have to first think about what exactly that would entail. To me, Higgins is definitely going to wind up being in more of a 3rd line checking role this year. Arguably that’s always been the role he has been most suited to but especially this year with who else we have on the left side, that seems overwhelmingly likely. Prust has no business playing above the 4th line and you’re definitely going to want to give Baertschi a more offensively favorable role. Of course, that could change long term if Baertschi washes out, but short term he’s definitely going to get his shot to be the 2nd liner which makes Higgins the 3rd liner/checker.

So, what should we do then? To me, it should probably be Kenins spot to lose at least for the moment. Sure, you could use it to give a prospect with some higher offensive upside a shot (Shinkaruk seems most likely). The thing is though, that’s gonna give you another player like Baertschi who probably belongs in a pure scoring role which isn’t really ideal. If anything, I see us maybe calling up a player like that from Utica mid-season if they’re thriving and if Baertschi is floundering. What we’re looking for right now though is somebody reliable who we can use in a 3rd checking role. That’s Kenins. He’s sound defensively and he’s even got at least some offensive upside too. Plus if Horvat ends up as the 3C Kenins excelled with him last season.

I’ll also add that Virtanen and/or Grenier don’t really come into this in my opinion. Again, this is where you need to think about the role rather than just who the next best player is. You’re gonna need a LW unless you’re gonna play someone off their natural side and I don’t want to do that, especially with a prospect. Also, McCann and/or Cassels *definitely* don’t come into this. Not saying they couldn’t make the team, but if they do it’ll be at the expense of Vey riding the bench. Higgins spot doesn’t come into it. So yeah, really, the only other notable option besides Kenins is Gaunce. He’d fit into that role much better. As I said though, it should be Kenins spot to loose. If Gaunce comes in and blows everyone away and looks totally NHL ready then sure, but otherwise, give Kenins the chance.

There are a lot of different looks the team could try out if they were feeling adventurous, but with the lines they’ve been running looking pretty set, and with their financial commitments to Prust and Dorsett, I can’t imagine them doing anything too drastic.

As much as I’d love to see Virtanen slot in on the second line, I doubt that they would want to have both him and Baertschi on a second line together, and they probably wouldn’t want him with Horvat on the third line, just because they seem to like mixing experience with inexperience. They also seem to be sold on Sutter on the second line, which is a shame, because a Horvat, Virtanen, Vrbata line could be pretty deadly.

Or, you could go back to the Horvat Hansen Kenins line, and then rotate Virtanen in and out of the fourth line, to ease him into NHL action but that means scratching one of Dorsett or Prust, which I sadly can’t imagine them doing. I saw Botchford talking about a potential Prust, Virtanen, Dorsett line, but to my knowledge none of those guys are actual centres, right?

But anyway, if it’s what I would do, I think you keep Virtanen up and blend the lines in one of those configurations.

Oh and in all of these scenarios, I’m promoting McCann to 4th line centre, and…well, poor Vey.

Many thoughtful contributions in this thread, good work.

But, no one has looked at the Canucks schedule over the first 6 games. They play Flames x2, Ducks, Kings, Blues and Oilers. I think this heavily divisional schedule affects how they play, and as a result who they use to fill in for Higgins.

I can see the marching orders including lots of grit, character, scrums and setting the tone against teams they will face many more times over the season.

It is really a tough call and other variables come into play. The first player I would mention as a prime candidate for this spot is Gaunce. The guy has impressed consistently through the youngstars tournament along with the hockeyville exhibition. I really like what he brings to the table. I feel Kenins is a great player to have in the lineup too. It seems Baertschi and his 1-way contract make it his roster spot to lose (although I wasn’t all that impressed with his game in Victoria). That being said I would probably play it safe with the young prospects (Virtanen, Mccann)