Hockey is back! And the dawn of the McDavid era is upon us.
The Vancouver Canucks’ – the hosts of the now annual, and actually really cool Penticton Young Stars tournament – prospects will face the Edmonton Oilers’ prospects in an exhibition at 7:30 pm PST on Friday night. The game will mark the first Canucks hockey any of us will have watched since Vancouver coughed up a three-goal first period lead to the Calgary Flames in Game 6 of their first-round series loss back in April. It’ll also mark the first time Connor McDavid has sported an Oilers jersey in a professional-level game.
Will McDavid dominate and give Canucks fans a taste of the sort of other-worldly speed and puck control dominance that will come to characterize the next decade of Pacific Division hockey? Or will the Canucks find a way to keep the phenom relatively in check, and put together a win in the interior? You’ll have to tune in to find out!
Lineup
The Canucks will open the Young Stars tournament with a trio of top-10 prospects in Jake Virtanen, Cole Cassels, and Hunter Shinkaruk on the first line. Jared McCann will centre former Erie Otters teammates Brendan Gaunce and Dane Fox on a secondary line, while 2015 mid-round pick Dmitry Zhukenov will have his first opportunity to make an impression on Canucks fans while playing with former Wisconsin Badger Joseph LaBate and AHL signee Mike Zalewski. The Canucks will ice a pretty traditional checking-type fourth line consisting of Kyle Petit, MacKenze Stewart and tryout Rodrigo Abols.
On defense it seems as if the Canucks will go with a European-style lineup consisting of four pairs:
  • Ben Hutton – Jordan Subban
  • Guillaume Brisebois – Ashton Sautner
  • Anton Cederholm – Carl Neill
  • Tate Olson – Evan McEneny
Those defenders (and the forwards too) will have to be on point against an Oilers lineup that will include two recent top-1o picks in addition to a generational talent in McDavid. 
McDavid, by the way, will play with enforcer Mitchell Moroz and Victoria Royals forward Greg Chase. Leon Draisaitl, a top-five pick at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, will centre a second line featuring tryout forward Josh Winquist and talented Russian left wing Anton Slepyshev. That’s a pretty insane top-six.
Only one forward in Edmonton’s projected bottom-six is even signed to an NHL deal. Virtanen’s Hitmen teammate Connor Rankin will play on a third-line with Kyle Platzer and fellow tryout Cole Sanford (a five-foot-eight forward out of Medicine Hat). A trio of tryouts in Braden Christoffer, Alex Loiseau, and Rihards Bukarts will fill out Edmonton’s roster. 
On defense, Darnell Nurse will play with five-foot-nine puck moving ace Joey Laleggia. Six-foot-six Ben Betker, out of the Everett Silvertips, will play on a second pair with the perfectly named Ethan Bear – a 2015 draft pick. A couple of tryouts in Colton Waltz and Loik Leveille will make up the Oilers’ prospects third pair.
In goal Finnish netminder Eetu Laurikainen gets the nod for the Oilers, and he’ll stare down the rink at recent AHL signee Clay Witt – who will start for the Canucks.

Game Day Notes

  1. It’s pretty interesting to see McDavid on a line with Mitchell Moroz, a guy known more for his martial skills than his scoring ability.
    “I hope nobody does anything stupid, but I know what I’m out there for in that case,” Moroz said of playing with McDavid following Edmonton’s game day skate on Friday. “He’s the face of the franchise already, and I’m here for a little bit of a reason, but mostly I’m hear to make plays and clear some room for him as well.”
    Before you go rolling your eyes, it’s probably worth noting that the first game of this tournament – currently in progress between the Flames and the Jets – was chippy and physical.
  2. Gaunce, a former first-round pick, was drafted as a centre, but the Canucks have made it clear that they prefer him on the wing. 
    “We thought last year that he was better off for the wing… I still have the same beliefs,” Green said following Friday’s game day skate. “I thought it was a good decision to put him on the wing last year, I liked the way his game developed.
    “He’s a big body guy who skates well, and I’ve definitely thought at times about ‘will he play centre again?’ He might,” Green continued. “But I thought the way his curve was going last year he was going in a good direction as a big power forward, and I think we’ll start him on the wing again this year.”
    3. I chatted with former Erie Otters and current Canucks prospect Fox, Gaunce, and Pettit on facing McDavid, their old teammate, and they had some amusing things to say. I particularly liked this from Pettit:
    “I think the biggest thing for us to try and stop him is to shutdown his speed,” Pettit said on Friday. “You can’t let him get to his top speed and that’s tough. That’s just why he’s such a good player, he’s always at top speed.”
    So basically… Good luck!