Canucks preseason lines vs. Kraken, September 27, 2024

The Vancouver Canucks faced the Seattle Kraken in their first preseason game this year, and there was far more vitriol and vitriol than one would expect from a game with no real consequences.

There were fights, crowds and lots of unkind words during Tuesday's game, and now, three days later, the two teams will face each other again, albeit with altered lineups.

The Canucks have won both preseason games so far, but head coach Rick Tocchet still wants to see more from his players as he wants to teach them a faster style of play.

“To play fast, you have to come back fast – I thought we were coasting,” Tocchet said after Wednesday’s game against the Calgary Flames. “You have to be in shape to play this game so we will continue to run hard. If you want to play at this pace you have to be in shape. I think we have that.” I need to get a few people up to speed, which is fine.

“The two games were fine,” he added. “I just think we need to get a little quicker – think quicker.”

The Kraken, on the other hand, could be looking for a little revenge after the Canucks beat them on Tuesday. So far, the Kraken have lost both of their preseason games, a trend they hope to stop on Friday night in Seattle.

Vancouver Canucks projected lines

Since the Canucks didn't run Friday morning, we didn't get a first look at their lines and matchups. However, we can make an educated guess based on their practices and the roster they will take with them to Seattle.

These lines and matchups will be updated as the Canucks take the ice to warm up before puck drop in Seattle:

According to Tocchet, Kevin Lankinen will be the Canucks' starting goaltender in Seattle. This is the first appearance in a Canucks jersey for Lankinen, who signed with the Canucks less than a week ago. Until Demko returns from his injury rehab, Lankinen and Arturs Silovs are expected to compete for starting spots in the Canucks' net.

The most intriguing aspect of Friday's lineup is that Kiefer Sherwood will likely get a chance to play with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk. The question of who will play with Pettersson is completely open – rookie prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki has been their linemate throughout training camp, but there are plenty of other candidates for the job.

“There are a lot of different options,” Tocchet said. “I could say that [Höglander] on the left and I know Jake can play on the right. He's actually a good right winger too. Sherwood could go up there, there are a lot of different people there. I think Lekkerimäki did a good job in his time there. We are looking for someone to take on this job. It's important that we find a guy who can pick up the pace. It's the same thing, Petey needs to pick up the pace too, so we need to make sure we get that line under control.

Sherwood ran that line during practice on Thursday. In recent years, Sherwood has earned an NHL roster spot with hard-forward, hard-hitting play, but before that he racked up points in the AHL with his creativity and vision, so there may be someone who fits in the AHL's right top six -Role.

JT Miller has not yet taken part in the pre-season, but has trained with the team. Therefore, it is unclear whether he is suffering from a minor injury or whether the team is just taking its time getting him into the lineup. Tocchet has confirmed that Miller will play at some point in pre-season but is in no rush to get him into the lineup after he performed brilliantly in their fitness tests.

On defense, we can expect to see Kirill Kudryavtsev, Sawyer Mynio and Christian Felton for the first time this preseason, although the Canucks have seven defensemen likely heading to Seattle for injury reasons. Veteran AHL defenseman Christian Wolanin is the other defenseman who could move into the lineup.

Mynio and Felton have been together since the Young Stars Classic and have stuck together for most of training camp, so that's a likely pairing. With Carson Soucy and Vincent Desharnais playing together for most of camp, it's likely that Derek Forbort and Tyler Myers will get a chance to play together to see if they can find some chemistry before the regular season.

This gives Kudryavtsev a great opportunity with Filip Hronek. Kudryavtsev has impressed through Young Stars and training camp, so this may be a chance for the Canucks to see how he handles tough competition at the NHL level.

Seattle Kraken projected lines

The Kraken will have a more experienced lineup in Seattle than in Vancouver, which is typical of the preseason. Teams want to do their best for their fans on their home ice.

Jaden Schwartz – Chandler Stephenson – Oliver Bjorkstrand
Eeli Tolvanen – Shane Wright – Jordan Eberle
Jani Nyman – Ben Meyers – Brandon Biro
Lleyton Roed – Mitchell Stephens – Ryan Winterton

Ryker Evans-Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak – Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura – Maxime Lajoie

Joey Daccord
Niklas Kokko

The Kraken will form a pretty dangerous-looking top two line, with top free agent forward Chandler Stephenson and top prospect Shane Wright in the middle. These forwards should provide a good test for the Canucks' rookies on defense.

On defense, the Kraken will have a free agent addition to the lineup in Brandon Montour, his expected defensive partner Jamie Oleksiak and the experienced Adam Larsson.

Joey Daccord, who gave up two goals on 19 shots in a loss to the Canucks on Tuesday, will start for the Kraken.