The Vancouver Canucks skated for 45 minutes on Wednesday morning on the Father David Bauer rink at The University of British Columbia. It was the same 21 skaters – 13 forwards and eight defencemen – and two goalies as Tuesday at Rogers Arena. However, there were a few subtle tweaks to the way Rick Tocchet deployed his players.

What we saw

For a second straight day, versatile forward Pius Suter was absent from practice. Tocchet said afterward that Suter remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury suffered in Monday’s exhibition game in Edmonton. The Canucks skated in the following formation:
After rotating in as an extra forward on Tuesday, camp standout Aatu Räty was reunited with Nils Höglander and Conor Garland for today’s practice. That line was buzzing once again as Garland scored a highlight reel goal, driving wide and cutting hard to the net on a rush drill. 
With Räty elevated to the third line, Teddy Blueger dropped down to the fourth line and rolled through a variety of winger combinations with Kiefer Sherwood, Nils Aman and Arshdeep Bains.
Everything was status quo when it came to the defence corps. The top six to start the season looks settled and really has been since training camp in Penticton.
Prior to practice, the Canucks put in some work on the power play. JT Miller, Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk gathered to focus on down-low plays. Those three placed a stick on the ice just outside the crease and worked on saucer passes into the slot. Assistant coach Yogi Svejkovsky oversaw the power play drills, aided by both Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
The Canucks are expected to take Thursday as a team day off before concluding their preseason on Friday night against Edmonton at Rogers Arena.

What we heard

Rick Tocchet on Arshdeep Bains making it to the final round of roster moves: “I think his camp was okay, but I think he’s getting stronger and I’ve liked his last two games. We’ll see whether we get him in on Friday, but it would probably be a good game to see how he goes against Edmonton. Can he keep that level? Because we have guys that are pushing for those spots. Winning battles. Not turning pucks over. You get a chance to score like he did on the power play. That’s the next level for him.”
Teddy Blueger on ramping up his return to play after undisclosed off-season surgery to his lower body: “It’s been good. It’s been a couple of weeks total of skating with the guys out there. I feel good. I think things are going pretty well. Better week-to-week and day-to-day, so it’s been good progress.”
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