By now, you’ve heard the news. The Vancouver Canucks will be without Nils Höglander for the next 8-10 weeks after the 24-year-old forward underwent surgery to fix a lower-body injury sustained in the Canucks’ September 24th preseason game against the Calgary Flames.

It’s obviously a tough blow for Höglander, who got off to a solid start this preseason and looked poised to be a key contributor to the Canucks’ top-nine forward group. As a result, the Canucks are left with a fairly sizable hole in their forward group. So how should the Canucks configure their lines for the next couple of Höglanderless months? Let’s explore.

There are two forwards who we’ve got a close eye on as the preseason winds down: Braeden Cootes and Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Both players, who were far from shoo-ins to be on this roster when camp opened, have stood out and are continuing to get more opportunities to show what they can do before the regular season begins. The fate of these two — especially Lekkerimäki — will largely dictate how the Canucks configure their forward lines.

It’s tough to know for sure if Jonathan Lekkerimäki is NHL-ready, but his last two preseason games have certainly suggested as much. On Friday, Lekkerimäki picked up an assist on Braeden Cootes’ goal after some hard work along the walls and real determination to get to the middle of the ice before letting go of one of his signature shots through traffic.

Then on Sunday in Edmonton, Lekkerimäki showed off his dangerous release on a one-timer goal that pulled the Canucks within one against an NHL-looking Oilers lineup.

And who passed him that puck? Filip Chytil, the Canucks’ obvious choice for second-line centre.

Aside from the points, Lekkerimäki’s work off the puck has been exceptional this preseason, and his defensive IQ is a strength as well. The question for Lekkerimäki isn’t whether or not he has the skill required to compete at the NHL level, it’s more about finding success while dealing with the physicality and speed of the NHL game. And truly, the book is still out on if Lekkerimäki is ready for that. But if he is? That sure helps the Canucks withstand the loss of Höglander.

If Lekkerimäki is able to play on the Canucks’ second line from the get-go, that would free up Conor Garland to move to the third line, giving the Canucks three solid forward lines instead of a clear top six and clear bottom six. Garland has proven time and time again that he can drive play on a line himself, and that would be a welcome skill set to have on a third line. The lines in this scenario would look something like this:

DeBrusk-Pettersson-Boeser
Kane-Chytil-Lekkerimäki
O’Connor/Sherwood-Blueger-Garland
Sherwood/O’Connor-Räty-Karlsson
Extras: Bains, Sasson

And how about if Braeden Cootes makes the team? At 18 years old, Cootes likely wouldn’t stick around beyond nine NHL games, but he’s pivoted a strong training camp into an even stronger first NHL preseason, meaning we at least need to talk about the possibility. The lines might look something like this if that’s the case:

DeBrusk-Pettersson-Boeser
Kane-Chytil-Lekkerimäki
O’Connor/Sherwood-Blueger-Garland
Sherwood/O’Connor-Cootes-Karlsson
Extras: Bains, Räty

Two more preseason games to go…

In the event that the Canucks decide Lekkerimäki needs to begin his season at the AHL level, they’d likely need Conor Garland to move up to the second line to play with Filip Chytil.

DeBrusk-Pettersson-Boeser
Kane-Chytil-Garland
O’Connor-Blueger-Sherwood
Bains/O’Connor-Cootes-Karlsson
Extras: Räty, Sasson

Kiefer Sherwood’s ability and willingness to play both the left and right wing allow them to get both he and O’Connor into the bottom six, and Sherwood has played top six minutes for this team before. Could he do it again? That would allow the Canucks to swap him and Garland, getting the same benefit from options one and two, where Garland goes down to be the primary play driver on the third line. Something like this:

DeBrusk-Pettersson-Boeser
Kane-Chytil-Sherwood
O’Connor-Blueger-Garland
Bains/O’Connor-Cootes-Karlsson
Extras: Räty, Sasson

Today’s practice lines — more to come in Scenes from Canucks practice later today — give an interesting glimpse at some other scenarios. Could Evander Kane go down to the third line? He looked good playing alongside Cootes and Lekkerimäki in the Canucks’ recent preseason game, but will the coaching staff want that to be a line in an actual NHL regular season game?

How about Arshdeep Bains playing in the top six? Bains’ offensive abilities have been somewhat stifled through his first 13 NHL games, but his bottom line game has been enough for him to skate on a top six line in the past. He skated alongside Chytil today.

While Lekkerimäki and Cootes both still need to earn their spots, it’s hard to say anything other than options 1 and 2 are the best case scenario for the Canucks as they try to withstand the multi-month loss of Nils Höglander. The only question now is: can these two young players earn themselves NHL roster spots? We’ll soon find out.