Finding consistent depth scoring beyond the first line has been a real struggle for the Vancouver Canucks this season. While the usual suspects like Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Fil Hronek have been contributing regularly, the rest of the lineup has struggled to keep up.

The Canucks are hoping they can jump-start their offence on Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks with a new second line of Marco Rossi centring Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Liam Öhgren.

To say it’s been a tough start to the season for Rossi offensively would be an understatement. Rossi’s five points in 14 games have been well below the expectations he set in 2024-25, and his linemates have been constantly juggled throughout the Canucks’ first 15 games. With Filip Chytil out of the lineup, the Canucks desperately need to get Rossi going and help him get back the confidence that netted the Austrian centre 22 points in 33 games a season ago.

In stark contrast, Lekkerimäki has been one of the best stories of the season. His two-goal outburst against these same Ducks last week felt like a coming-out party for Prime Time, but his scoring and vastly improved range of skills have been on constant display throughout the first month or so of the Canucks’ games.

Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra has seen the work ethic from Lekkerimäki in practice every day. “It‘s a great sign for him that there is that growth. There is the improvement that we’re seeing daily,” Malhotra said of Lekkerimäki. “Just like all of our young guys, we continue to preach like ‘There’s more. There’s more there, There’s more to give’, and he takes that to heart. You see him in practice wanting to do the extra work after, his engagement during the course of the games, just getting it on forechecks and being physical to his capabilities is definitely a positive for him.”

The expectation from the coaching staff is that Rossi can recapture a similar drive and consistency that Lekkerimäki has. “[Like] some of the things that we just discussed with Lekki, obviously Marco’s not a big guy himself, but just his ability to come up with pucks and be physical to his own capabilities, getting through hands and just being harder on pucks; those are the things that we’ve been preaching to him,” Malhotra said of what he wants from Rossi. “And just the consistency in those things, you’ll see him [do them] from time to time. He obviously does a lot of good things. It’s a matter of doing them more often.”

That’s why the Canucks are pairing Rossi with Öhgren, one of his most consistent and successful wingers throughout his short tenure in Vancouver, and Lekkerimäki.

Öhgren has spent quite a lot of time on the ice with Rossi over the last year, and expects them to find their scoring touch as a group. “We want to be an offensive line, and to have Marco in the middle is great. He’s responsible back there, but great offensively as well,” Öhgren said Tuesday morning. “So I’m hoping to get a lot of offence and yeah, hopefully get some pucks in the net.”

Öhgren believes Rossi’s defensive skills round out the trio well and will make for a balanced attack that opens up ice for Lekkerimäki and himself. “He’s responsible in the defensive zone, and that helps me and Lekki to, you know, maybe go for offence a little bit more,” Rossi said. “But at the same time, Marco is great offensively as well. So when we get down there, we just gotta play with our instincts and just find the net.”

If this new look line can put together a solid outing against the Ducks and turn it into some greater group chemistry, it could solve a lot of problems for the Canucks at once.