The Vancouver Canucks got banged up last night in Anaheim. As a result, it looks like they’ll have an interesting lineup tonight in Los Angeles.
Coach Willie Desjardins confirmed this morning that wingers Chris Higgins and Jake Virtanen were hurt and wouldn’t dress against the Kings.
In game-day line rushes, AHL callup Andrey Pedan, a defenseman, was skating on the wing with Jared McCann and Radim Vrbata.
Sedin's & Hansen
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 1, 2015
Baertschi-Burrows-Horvat
Pedan-McCann-Vrbata
Prust-Cracknell-Dorsett
Edler-Tanev
Hamhuis-Weber
Sbisa-Bartkowski
Hutton
But hold on, that doesn’t necessarily mean Pedan will make his NHL debut tonight. This morning, the Canucks announced they’d called up d-man Alex Biega from AHL Utica. Theoretically, inserting Biega could allow the offensively inclined Yannick Weber to move up to forward. Biega and Weber both shoot right. Pedan shoots left.
But wait, there exists another possibility -- that both Pedan and Biega could play. That will depend on Chris Tanev’s status. He got banged up yesterday as well, though he was able to skate this morning.
Weber likely to skate as a forward tonight. Biega may play instead of Pedan. If Tanev can't go, both will play. #Canucks
— Brad Ziemer (@BradZiemer) December 1, 2015
Confused? It’s OK. So is everyone.
As an aside, the Canucks not only got banged up last night, they also got pushed around and embarrassed in a 4-0 loss to the Ducks.
On that note, here’s what Pedan did to Jarred Tinordi in a Utica-Hamilton game last season: