Photo: Kevin Neufeld | Inside The Rink
The Vancouver Canucks are sitting two points back from a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with a record of 6-7-0 as they enter the month of November. They continue to try and stay afloat with 4 straight games at home starting this Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, but there has been one major apparent struggle that the Canucks have been dealing with early in the season… Injuries!
As of right now, the Vancouver Canucks injury report includes Quinn Hughes, Conor Garland, Filip Chytil, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Teddy Blueger, Nils Hoglander, and Derek Forbort. Names like Brock Boeser and Victor Mancini have also been in and out of the lineup multiple times throughout the last two weeks. For a team looking to stay afloat around .500 and on the brink of a playoff spot, the last thing the team needs is inconsistent lineups, especially within the top six forward core, at the start of the season.
This team has a history of lacking chemistry, and when injuries enter the locker room, they start to separate lineups, hindering the team’s ability to gain chemistry. Head Coach Adam Foote is also entering his very first season as a head coach, which also throws off locker room energy as he’s still trying to get the whole team on the same page. Foote’s going to have to find his way through the maze of injuries and wait patiently for key contributors like Conor Garland and Filip Chytil to return in the near future, as their injuries are less severe and slotted for a return this week.
The Vancouver Canucks catch a massive break ahead of tonight’s game against the Nashville Predators as captain Quinn Hughes returns to the lineup for the first time since October 25th, since suffering a groin injury in a 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. He’s been as solid as solid can be, notching one goal and six assists through nine games, so Vancouver will be looking back to their captain for a much-needed spark on offense and a pillar of hope on defense as they look to get back over .500 mark and start shooting for a top spot in the Pacific Division.
Vancouver needs to capitalize on the out-of-character performances from some of their deeper roster guys like Kiefer Sherwood with nine goals, Drew O’Connor with two goals and three assists, or Aatu Raty with four assists, as well as consistent contributions from their top dogs like Elias Pettersson with three goals and five assists or Conor Garland with three goals and 8 assists. Instead, they are stuck with a mediocre 6-7-0 record and struggling to simply get shots on goal. Until they have a cohesive and competitive roster, they will remain in no man’s land with the playoffs just out of reach.
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