Preseasons can be a little strange.

On the one hand, they’re the precursor to a long campaign of hockey; the first step in a months-long journey. In that, they’re a time for a team to come together and start to operate as a holistic unit.
On the other hand, they’re all about intrateam competition.

Preseasons bring teammates together, and they also put them head-to-head.

Most of the time, the competition in training camp and the exhibition schedule is more of an unspoken thing. More implied than stated outright.

But sometimes, it’s stated outright. For the Vancouver Canucks, here at the outset of the 2024/25 season, it’s one of those ‘stated outright’ times.

Specifically, we’re talking about the competition for the open spot on what has already been determined will be a scoring line built around Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk.

“There’s a lot of different options to go,” Tocchet told media after Thursday’s on-ice sessions, “I could put Hoggy [Höglander] on the left, I know Jake [DeBrusk] can play the right side – he’s actually a good right-winger too. Sherwood could go up there. There’s a lot of different guys. I think Lekkerimäki has done a nice job in his time there. It’s a job we’re looking for somebody to take a hold of.”

Later on in the same talk, Tocchet made sure to add Daniel Sprong to the list of candidates, noting “He is definitely a candidate to go there. It would be crazy not to give him a chance up there.”

But the key phrase there was “a job we’re looking for somebody to take a hold of.” That’s a quote that the players in question should absolutely take as a challenge. Because it is. It’s a statement from the head coach that one of the most important forward roles on the team – one of its most plum positions – is fully up for grabs, and may the best winger claim it.

Now, the way Tocchet puts it makes it sound like an open competition. And, in a sense, it is. But in the era of predominant sports gambling, we can’t deny that there are odds at play here. Some of the candidates have either started with or earned themselves a bit of an inside track in the race to join Pettersson and DeBrusk.

Below, we take our shot at their various chances of making the most of this shot.

No matter how one wants to define ‘inside track,’ it’s hard to deny that the widest one belongs to Höglander. He’s the only one on this list to have spent significant time alongside Pettersson already, and they’ve shown flashes of chemistry together on top of their off-ice friendship.

Then there’s the fact that Höglander sure seems to have shown up to camp with a new gear. He’s been drawing praise from the coaching staff since Day One, and has already shown well in exhibition play.

He might not be the most exciting option to join the Pettersson-DeBrusk line. But he is the most likely.

Working against Höglander is the notion that he can sometimes be an individualistic player who doesn’t always mesh well with linemates. But that notion is lessening the longer Höglander stays in the NHL, and this season could very well mark his full transition into being a (complementary) top-six talent.

It’s not exactly his job to lose, but it’s one he’ll be given every chance to win.

Sprong’s chances are a little tough to figure out. Tocchet did specifically speak to Sprong being a good candidate for the line. At the same time, he also felt compelled to call out one of Sprong’s flaws, noting that “There’s just times in between where he gets a little lost.”

That might not be a fit if the Pettersson-DeBrusk line is going to face any sort of difficult defensive matchups. Which they rightly should, given Pettersson’s history of Selke votes and DeBrusk’s arrival from the incredibly-sturdy Boston system.

In any case, Tocchet did describe a desire to work with Sprong on his issues. That work occurring after Sprong has already been given a spot on a top line seems questionable given Tocchet’s expectations about players earning their chances. But perhaps Sprong can do enough of the work within the preseason to make it happen.

Those last minute heroics against Calgary are about as good a start as he could get on that, at least.

The rookie Lekkerimäki was, perhaps surprisingly, the first player placed alongside Pettersson and DeBrusk in camp. And when those players made their preseason debut against Calgary, Lekkerimäki was still on that line.

Coming into the season, many put Lekkerimäki’s odds of making the team at a pretty slim margin. He just turned 20 this summer, and would be in his first full season of North American pro hockey. Presumably, he still has plenty to learn in Abbotsford.

Then again, most folks said things like “Unless he’s going to get top line minutes, he should be in the AHL.” Well, now top line minutes are on the table, and Lekkerimäki is doing at least a little impressing in his audition for those minutes.

In reality, with so many other solid options on the table, this is probably just an audition for Lekkerimäki to spend time on that line in the medium-distance future. But if others skate there during the preseason and don’t show as well as he did, Tocchet may rethink the plan enough to at least start the season with Lekkerimäki in the top-six, against the odds.

Stranger things have definitely happened in Vancouver.

The next player to get an official shot with Pettersson and DeBrusk looks to be Sherwood, who could be slotted next to them for Friday’s exhibition rematch against the Seattle Kraken after skating with the duo at Thursday practice.

On the one hand, that could just be down to the testiness that is expected between the two burgeoning rivals. Sherwood’s definitely someone who can draw a little physical attention away from the Canucks’ star players.

On the other hand, Sherwood has spoken about signing in Vancouver due to the concerted belief that he would be given the opportunity to rise up the depth chart. And this is one such opportunity.

Tocchet has shown a willingness to try non-traditional-top-six talents on scoring lines, like he did when he gave Phil di Giuseppe an extended run with JT Miller and Brock Boeser last season. Sherwood could be another such case, especially given some of those underlying numbers from Nashville that hint at some untapped offensive potential.

Chances are best that Sherwood becomes an energy-producing fixture on the fourth line. But if he knocks in a few goals while on the big line in the preseason, there’s no reason he can’t stay there.

It’s well-known by now that Tocchet likes his forward duos. And the primary three duos that will make up the Canuck’s top-nine this season would seem to be Pettersson and DeBrusk, Miller and Boeser, and Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua.

That would seem to indicate that Garland’s chances of playing with Pettersson and DeBrusk are pretty low. But with Joshua still recovering from a procedure to treat testicular cancer and his status for opening night uncertain, there is at least some possibility of Garland being temporarily elevated into the top-six.

Looking at this list, it’s quite possible that Garland is the overall most talented option. And he has played well enough alongside Pettersson in short stints in seasons past.

The only thing really working against this is that Joshua’s return is fairly imminent, and thus Tocchet may want to go with something that looks like a more semi-permanent option. Then again, maybe Garland looks really good alongside Pettersson and DeBrusk, and then maybe Tocchet has to rethink the Garland-Joshua pairing. Anything could happen.

When he was signed, Heinen looked like a really good candidate to join any scoring line, including the one centred by Pettersson. But as training camp has unfolded, it’s become more and more clear that Heinen is essentially already penciled in to take the wing on the Miller-Boeser line.

Were that not the case, and had he not already shown some chemistry with Boeser in particular, we’d have Heinen’s odds much, much higher. And given the chaotic nature of an NHL season, we imagine he’ll eventually get his time with Pettersson and DeBrusk.

But for now, at the season’s opening, Heinen’s spot on a top-six line would already seem to be secured. Just not this top-six line. 

Betters like their longshots, so here’s the longest one we got.

While Lekkerimäki has been making the headlines, there’s another forward prospect showing incredibly well in camp and exhibition, and that’s Raty.

The organization still hopes he can be a centre in the long run. But Raty has played plenty of wing in his pro career thus far, and does have an abundance of skill to offer, as well as a developing two-way game that might mesh well with Pettersson’s.

With all these other candidates, we can’t even say for certain that Raty will get a chance to skate with Pettersson and DeBrusk. But if he does, we can imagine him having some success there, and thus all it could take is one shot to change the story here – and the odds.