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Vancouver Canucks kick off NHL preseason in LA, China roster released |
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Saturday September 16 - Vancouver Canucks at Los Angeles Kings - 2 p.m. - Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet 650
The wait is over! One positive side effect of the Canucks' trip to China next week is that they're part of the first game of the 2017 NHL preseason.
The Canucks are in Los Angeles to take on the Kings at 2 p.m. PT this afternoon. Pretty awesome that the game will be broadcast nationally on Sportsnet360—it wasn't so long ago that many preseason games were radio-only affairs.
Here's a super-quick look at the big stories to watch today:
Based on Friday's practice, expect to see a lineup that looks something like this:
Upshall - Horvat - Goldobin
Baertschi - Burmistrov - Boeser
Boucher - Granlund - Dorsett
LaBate - White - Virtanen
Bancks
Del Zotto - Gudbranson
Holm - Biega
Pedan - Stecher
Brisebois - McEneny
Markstrom / Nilsson
I haven't been able to find a detailed breakdown of how the Kings will be deployed today but according to insider Jon Rosen, new coach John Stevens is leaning toward a heavy dose of the veterans from his "Group B" practice squad.
The Canucks and Kings are both going into the new season with fresh faces behind the bench. The difference for L.A. is that John Stevens has been part of the coaching staff on the main club for the last seven seasons, while the Canucks' Travis Green has moved up to the NHL after four years in Utica.
No word yet on exactly who the Kings will send to China but again, expect a veteran-heavy lineup. A couple of things that we do know:
The Kings have three interesting PTO candidates in their mix, who have all been skating in Group C. At forward, veterans Brandon Prust and Brooks Laich are trying to earn jobs, while defenseman Chris Lee is trying to make his NHL debut at age 36 after a strong performance with Team Canada at last spring's World Championship and a successful run in the KHL.
The Canucks have released their full list of the players who will be making the trip to China:
As promised, the China roster is veteran heavy. It even includes the two PTO players.
Forwards: Scottie Upshall, Derek Dorsett, Brandon Sutter, Loui Eriksson, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Reid Boucher, Thomas Vanek, Ryan White, Alex Burmistrov, Sven Baertschi, Bo Horvat, Markus Granlund, Sam Gagner
Defense: Michael Del Zotto, Chris Tanev, Alex Edler, Ben Hutton, Erik Gudbranson, Troy Stecher, Alex Biega, Patrick Wiercioch
Goal: Jacob Markstrom, Anders Nilsson
Most notably—no Brock Boeser, no Jake Virtanen, no Nikolay Goldobin, no Anton Rodin. The kids will be competing against each other against in the Canucks' home game against Vegas on Sunday, then in Calgary and Edmonton next week. The standouts should get a chance to battle for a spot once the group reconvenes for the last week of camp.
Despite the snubs, both Goldobin and Rodin reiterated on Friday that they have no intention of deserting the Canucks anytime soon:
Here's how the two groups that are still in Vancouver are skating today:
I haven't spent too much time trying to read the tea leaves at this early stage of camp. We still have three weeks to go before opening night. Game situations will start to give us a better idea of which players are going to improve their prospects. Let's get started!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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