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Scenes from practice: Boeser moves to left wing as Canucks shake up forward lines
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Nov 7, 2025, 16:20 ESTUpdated: Nov 8, 2025, 00:34 EST
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After a team day off on Thursday, the Vancouver Canucks returned to the practice ice on Friday morning at Rogers Arena. While Thatcher Demko’s absence was the big story, it was also notable that the team made a couple of changes to its forward group ahead of a busy two-game weekend.

What we saw

Adam Foote moved Drew O’Connor to right wing on a line with Lukas Reichel and Jake DeBrusk, while Brock Boeser found himself skating on the left side with Aatu Räty and Kiefer Sherwood. Coming off his 10-shot night in Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, Evander Kane was skating alongside Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland. The Calder Cup line of Arshdeep Bains – Max Sasson – Linus Karlsson remained intact. Extra forward Mackenzie MacEachern served as a defenceman at practice and was paired with P-O Joseph. 
With Demko taking his maintenance day, the Canucks turned to practice goalie and local mortgage broker Alex Kotai to tend one of the nets while Kevin Lankinen had the other. Jiri Patera, recalled on Friday morning, was in transit from Colorado, where Abbotsford is set to play a weekend series. The Canucks felt they needed to recall Patera today in the event that Demko is unable to play this weekend. They couldn’t wait until Saturday to put in a call to the farm, since the minor league team is on the road this weekend.
There was positive news on the injury front Friday as both Teddy Blueger and Jonathan Lekkerimäki took to the ice after the main group. They both skated in non-contact jerseys and were put through their paces by skills coach Jason Krog. Adam Foote did not have timelines for either player’s return to a full practice. However, Foote did say that Nils Höglander, injured in preseason, was ahead of schedule. But Foote made it clear that Höglander is still weeks away from joining the team.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Teddy Blueger working with Jason Krog after Friday’s main practice. Neither skated in the practice but both are working their way back from injuries.

— Patrick Johnston 🇨🇦 (@risingaction.bsky.social) 2025-11-07T20:04:59.062Z

What we heard

Adam Foote on trying to replicate the process from a 45-shot effort against Chicago, but find a way to convert a few more chances: “We’re right there. They know what they did the first two periods of last game. If you get 21 scoring chances in two periods, you’re doing the right things. And they did. And those are going to start going in.”
Kiefer Sherwood on busy weekend with visits from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday and the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday: “Come ready to play. Two big games. We’ve got to get back to over .500 and use the crowd to our advantage. Two good teams right now and we’ve just got to focus on us and executing our systems.”

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