Ahead of their home matchup with the New York Islanders on Thursday evening, the Vancouver Canucks took to the ice at Rogers Arena for morning skate.

On top of showing line rushes on the morning of the much-anticipated season debut of Dakota Joshua, the Canucks also got some work in on the power play. It was there that we saw some new-looks for the man advantage units.

Once Brock Boeser went down with an upper-body injury following a dirty check to the head from Tanner Jeannot, a spot opened up on the Canucks’ first power play unit. The biggest factor in the Canucks’ power play formations is what handedness the player in the bumper spot. When the Canucks’ power play was most dangerous, Bo Horvat was the staple in the bumper. It looked something like this:

This formation led to plenty of success, and allowed JT Miller to play where he’s most effective: going downhill on the left half wall. This makes Miller a passing threat into the bumper, and allows him to keep the puck to the outside while looking for options.

That’s an important part of our story because since the departure of Horvat, the Canucks’ PP has looked for a left-shot bumper man to allow Miller to play the spot he’s most dangerous in and relatively speaking, they’ve been unsuccessful at it. Pius Suter has gotten opportunities there, but the club has also experimented with Conor Garland in the spot. When a right shot like Garland plays the bumper spot, the Canucks move Miller to the other half wall. There, he’s still a shooting and passing threat, but on his off-wing, it’s naturally more difficult for him to be effective. When Boeser first went down, these were the lines the Canucks rolled with on their Remembrance Day practice:

For their game against the Calgary Flames, however, the Canucks elected to change things up, taking Suter off PP1 and replacing him with Jonathan Lekkerimäki in the bumper spot. Known for his lethal shot and quick release, Lekkerimäki got a few quality looks in that spot, and that’s where he’ll play tonight. Here are the Canucks’ expected power play lines for tonight’s game against the New York Islanders:

Starting with the first unit, Elias Pettersson has started to find a home at the net-front spot on the power play this year, and he’ll be there tonight. Pettersson’s hands in tight and ability to deflect pucks are an asset for that spot on the power play. Pettersson will have Conor Garland feeding him from the left side, as the right-shot Garland will be a one-timer threat on the left wall. Miller will go to the right, and will look to set up Lekkerimäki for some looks in the bumper spot. We asked Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet about Lekkerimäki playing the bumper spot after morning skate today. Here’s what he had to say.

“I think when you have a guy that talented, like Boeser, the Islanders probably don’t know much about him, but he’s a guy that you give him just a second with the puck, it can be in the net. When you have those bumper guys, like Bo Horvat, he’s another one of those guys, especially when he was here,  they’re tough to defend, because they just need a second and it’s off their stick and in the net. Jonny’s trending that way with his talent.”

It’s sound logic from Tocchet, as Lekkerimäki’s shot has been talked about since before he was even drafted by the Canucks back in 2022. Lekkerimäki has five goals through seven AHL games this season before earning the call up to the NHL, and should be a threat to score even if he’s in a spot that typically takes plenty of experience to get truly good at. It’s never too soon to start getting that experience, right?

PP1 even scored on Tuesday night with Lekkerimäki in the bumper spot after JT Miller and Conor Garland swapped sides so that Miller was going north-south down the left side. Miller snapped a pass to Elias Pettersson, who deflected the puck past Dan Vladar:

On the second unit, the Canucks have elected to go with two defencemen in order to get Erik Brännström some power play time after his two point night against the Flames on Tuesday. Brännström has plenty of offensive talent, and will get a chance to showcase it tonight as PP2’s quarterback. Filip Hronek slides to the left side and becomes a one-timer option.

Check out my video breakdown of these new look power play units below!