A lot has happened for the Vancouver Canucks since Elias Pettersson was last in the lineup.

Pettersson last played on Friday, December 5, against the Utah Mammoth. He played 21:47 minutes, finishing with a minus-3 rating in the 4-1 loss. The Swede took warm-ups the following night ahead of the game against the Minnesota Wild but was reportedly testing an injury and ultimately deemed himself unable to play.

The Canucks wrapped up their homestand without Pettersson with a 1-2 record. Little did they know, the 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres would be the last time Quinn Hughes would play in a Canucks sweater. One week after Pettersson’s last game, Hughes was traded to the Minnesota Wild, and three new guys were brought in: Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren and Zeev Buium.

With some new blood in the lineup, the Canucks rattled off four wins in a week’s span, sweeping the Metro New York area and stealing a 5-4 overtime win over the Boston Bruins. The team avoided perfection, as they lost their first meeting with former Head Coach Rick Tocchet to end the road trip.

All of that has happened without Pettersson in the lineup. There’s no indication that he will return in the Canucks’ first game back against the San Jose Sharks. However, when he does return, what should the Canucks’ lines look like?

The Canucks’ lineup is already crowded as is. They have Nils Höglander sitting out due to maintenance? Head Coach Adam Foote said his scratching against the Bruins was to ease him back in after missing so long with an injury. However, it seems like more of a coaching decision after he missed the following game two days later against the Philadelphia Flyers. And when Pettersson returns, now you have to take two forwards out of the lineup. Management should capitalize on a trade sooner rather than later, not only to create roster spots for the returning players, but also because the young guys are the ones producing right now. They deserve more ice time.

Anyway. For this exercise, we will assume the Canucks have not traded anybody by the time Pettersson returns, whenever that is.

Is it crazy to thrust Höglander in on the first line when he hasn’t been in the lineup for two straight games? Yeah, maybe. But he and Pettersson were rolling at the tail end of last season when the Canucks were still pushing for a playoff spot. Pairing them with Jake DeBrusk, even on his off-wing, would give that line a scoring threat and hopefully get him going after he has just one 5v5 goal nearly halfway through the season.

After moving away from it last game, we’ll put Brock Boeser and Conor Garland back together with Marco Rossi in the middle. They haven’t exactly been the best line, but putting a playmaking, play-driving forward like Garland is what Boeser needs to thrive. And we believe Rossi’s game will turn around once he’s not tasked with facing opponents’ top lines.

The stinger would be seeing Öhgren coming out of the lineup. Personally, this author is a big fan of Öhgren and his game. However, somebody has to come out of the lineup, and considering he’s the newest guy, he may be the casualty from the lineup – despite the team wanting to see more of him, but we’ll get to that later.

Now, this is more about glorifying Evander Kane amid trade rumours. He’s one of the pending UFAs that the Canucks have mentioned are likely to move. Placing him on the top line, with Pettersson and DeBrusk, who he often lined up with before, would only boost his trade value in a move later down the line.

This lineup also sees Aatu Räty return to the lineup. Which, as a 23-year-old who is still trying to develop a role at the NHL level, is something that’s important for the organization to see as they enter this transitional period. In doing so, David Kämpf comes out of the lineup. But, if we’re being honest, that should be the role that Räty grows into if he’s going to become a mainstay in the NHL – a defensive centre, faceoff ace role.

The only grip would be having Drew O’Connor back at centre. Is that ideal? Of course not. However, Foote went with O’Connor over Räty down the middle before; he might just be comfortable doing so again. Sasson has been great, and his speed is something the Canucks need in their lineup, but until somebody is moved, he could be another player sitting on the sideline.

Now let’s get really crazy.

Remember last training camp when Räty was so impressive that he made the team out of training camp? Höglander and Garland were his wingers. They work together. We already know that Pettersson and Garland work together, as does Höglander with both other options. So the trio of them could be lethal.

Öhgren moving up is the big move. As we mentioned, Foote has shared that they want to see more from the Swedish winger. Placing him on the wing with Rossi – who he’s familiar with from his Minnesota days – and Boeser, could unlock another level of potential from the kid who’s already impressing.

In the bottom six, DeBrusk and Räty have shown good chemistry together before. And adding Sherwood brings another level to the line. Kane being on the fourth line with Kämpf, who struggles with offence, might not be the best pairing if the team is trying to build his trade value. However, the simpler matchups might be something Kane can exploit and help facilitate a trade out of Vancouver more easily.

Sasson, again, comes out. But that’s not performance-related; it’s just due to capacity. Vancouver has an abundance of forwards ready to play – as well as Jonathan Lekkerimäki. This should make it easier for Canucks management to move on some forwards to give the young guys more runway as they trend toward rebuilding. We can’t imagine O’Connor coming out all that often, but in a crazy scenario, we had him in the press box.

What do you think, Canucks fans? Who should play on Elias Pettersson’s line once he returns? Let us know in the comments below!