The Canucks have made a few minor cuts to their training camp roster, but are still carrying a lot of players due to the split-squad games in Alberta and China. We can expect to see some significant cuts next week after the veterans fly back to Vancouver and the Canucks have a four-day break between games.
For their split-squad game in Edmonton, the Canucks are icing a lineup that is essentially what we should expect to see in Utica to start the season for the Comets. That lineup includes Jake Virtanen, Anton Rodin, and Nikolay Goldobin, along with Evan McEneny and Philip Holm on defence. There’s still a chance that one or two of those five could crack the Canucks’ roster, but it’s a safe bet that all five start in the AHL this season.
Keeping track of all this might be a bit confusing, so let’s lay it all out. There are 54 players left on the Canucks’ training camp roster: some are obviously NHL-bound, a whole bunch are definitely heading to the Comets, and there are a few on the bubble that could go either way.
Here are those 53 players, arranged into where they currently stand and thrown into a makeshift depth chart. I’ll follow it up with a quick discussion.
Clearly Canucks
Sven Baertschi - Bo Horvat - Thomas Vanek
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Sam Gagner
Loui Eriksson - Brandon Sutter - Markus Granlund
???? ?????? - Alexander Burmistrov - Derek Dorsett
Alex Edler - Chris Tanev
Ben Hutton - Troy Stecher
Michael Del Zotto - Erik Gudbranson
Patrick Wiercioch
Jacob Markstrom
Anders Nilsson
Obviously Comets
Jonathan Dahlen - Michael Chaput - Alexis D’Aoust
Darren Archibald - Jayson Megna - Wacey Hamilton
Michael Carcone - Zach MacEwen - Carter Bancks
Joseph LaBate - Griffen Molino - Yan-Pavel Laplante
Cole Cassels
Brett McKenzie
Andrey Pedan - Jaime Sifers
Guillaume Brisebois - Jordan Subban
Ashton Sautner - Jalen Chatfield
Thatcher Demko
Richard Bachman
Michael Garteig
One note on this list of Comets: Brett McKenzie is listed there, but he is, in fact, eligible to return to the OHL for his over-age year. It’s unclear what the Canucks plans are with him.
UPDATE: Wacey Hamilton, Carter Bancks, and Jaime Sifers have all been sent to the Utica Comets camp. All three are signed to AHL contracts with the Comets and do not have contracts with teh Canucks, so this isn't too surprising. Of note: Darren Archibald and Alexis D'Aoust also only have AHL contracts, but are still at Canucks camp and are playing Friday against the Oilers.
On the Bubble
Brock Boeser
Jake Virtanen
Anton Rodin
Nikolay Goldobin
Reid Boucher
Olli Juolevi
Evan McEneny
Philip Holm
Alex Biega
Scottie Upshall
Ryan White
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As you can see from the list of Canucks, there are 20 players whose spot on the roster is essentially secure. You might quibble with Derek Dorsett being on that list, but I’m fairly confident that he isn’t at risk of losing his spot given the importance the Canucks place on his role on and off the ice.
That leaves three roster spots for the players on the bubble, who I grouped into three cohorts: young wingers, defence, and PTOs. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Canucks grab one from each group, such as Boeser, Biega, and Upshall.
If you assume that Boeser already has his spot locked up and that the Canucks will carry eight defencemen, there’s really only one forward battle left. Given how Virtanen has performed, you could argue that the final battle comes down to Virtanen vs Upshall: the young, physical winger up against the veteran penalty killer on a PTO. There’s still a chance that the Canucks will play the asset management card and keep up the waiver-eligible Boucher or Rodin instead.
Which three bubble players would you choose for those final three roster spots?
