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Preseason Game Thread: Canucks vs Edmonton Sept 17/19

The first true home game of the Golden Anniversary season is tonight as the Canucks host the Oilers at Rogers Arena.

By Kent Basky
NHL: Edmonton Oilers at Vancouver Canucks Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

After dropping a 4-3 decision in Victoria last night, the Canucks are right back at it as they host the Edmonton Oilers tonight at Rogers Arena. And unlike the lineup they iced on the Island, this is something far closer to what they’ll open the season with:

A couple interesting things about this roster: Reid Boucher getting the assignment with Micheal Ferland and Elias Pettersson is a chance for him to show the Canucks maybe he’s ready to make the step to the parent club after some solid seasons in Utica. Landon Ferraro gets in tonight alongside Adam Gaudette and Nikolay Goldobin. Zack MacEwen will start with Tanner Pearson and Brandon Sutter, while the hero from last night’s game in Calgary Jake Virtanen will skate with Tyler Graovac and Vincent Arsenault. On defence, Alex Edler and Tyler Myers will be the first pairing, and Quinn Hughes will match up with Alex Biega. Ashton Sautner will have either Jalen Chatfield or Brogan Rafferty, and Thatcher Demko gets the start, though we may see a period from Zane McIntyre.

The Oilers meanwhile won’t have Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl in their lineup tonight, and while the Oilers took down the Winnipeg Jets 2-0 last night, just 4 players who skated last night have made the trip to Vancouver. One of those in for the Oilers tonight is Markus Granlund. Yes, that Markus Granlund. Will there be sweet revenge, or just more of the play that saw him wear out his welcome here? We’ll see tonight. Shane Starett gets the start in goal for the Oilers and he’ll either look like a career minor leaguer or the second coming of Grant Fuhr. I am sure he’s a wonderful guy, but I wanna see EP40 light him up.

So, not at all what you can call an NHL lineup for the Oilers tonight, but in fairness, you could probably say this about them anytime they’re missing McDavid and Draisaitl.

And finally, the first cuts were made by the Canucks today. No real surprises, as they sent a bunch of players back to Utica, sent 4 players back to their junior teams including Jett Woo, and released Will Warm from his tryout.

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