August 11th, 2024
Alex Rickman
At the moment, it isn’t entirely clear who Elias Pettersson will line up alongside next season. As Pettersson has had to cycle through a wide variety of partners throughout his NHL tenure, we don’t immediately know what kind of player he is best suited to play alongside, making it hard to project who may find themselves playing alongside Pettersson come puck drop. With several new wingers having made their way to Vancouver in free agency as well, it’s hard to say that one potential line stands out above the rest as the most likely to be the one we get in the 2024-25 season. Let’s go through some of the potential options to see who could earn the right to play alongside Petey next season as the Canucks look to build off of last year's success.
Jake Debrusk
While not set in stone, it’s hard to imagine a world in which one of Pettersson’s wingers is not Jake Debrusk. Signed to a seven-year, $5.5 million AAV contract on July 1st, Debrusk was brought in to give Elias Pettersson the long-term running mate the Canucks are yet to find for him in his tenure in Vancouver. Debrusk has shown flashes of 30-goal potential throughout his career when partnered with an elite centre, and while he has yet to hit this mark in his seven-year NHL career, there is little reason to doubt that a healthy Debrusk could hit this tally playing alongside an elite playmaker like Pettersson.
Could Debrusk and Pettersson not work out as a duo? It’s always possible, but at this time, we have no idea how any hypothetical partnerships could work out. What we do know is that the front office brought in Debrusk because they felt that he was the best-equipped option in free agency to give Pettersson the help he needs and that this is a front office that does not often miss on the open market. For now, expect Jake Debrusk to be one of the two lucky individuals set to be given the chance to join Elias Pettersson in the Canucks top six.
Danton Heinen
One of three former Bruins signed by the Canucks on July 1st, alongside the previously mentioned Debrusk and Derek Forbort, the Langley native makes a strong case to crack the top six for his hometown team. Heinen’s forechecking and overall work rate make him a likely candidate to become a favourite of Rick Tocchet, but that’s not all he brings to the table. Posting 17 goals in his 74 appearances last season, Heinen brings a fair share of offensive upside to the table. While most teams would place a player with Heinen’s production on the third line, it seems fairly set in stone that Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland will be the wingers on the Canucks third line, forcing the Canucks to either use Heinen as a fourth liner or give him a chance to prove himself playing alongside Elias Pettersson in the top six.
While Heinen could work alongside Elias Pettersson, he may not get that opportunity, as it seems likely that he will get to audition for a role playing alongside Brock Boeser and JT Miller instead. Heinen profiles similarly to a rich man’s Phil Di Guiseppe, a player who was deeply trusted by Tocchet and found some success playing on this line at the beginning of last season. While nothing is guaranteed, it’s hard to imagine a world in which Heinen is unable to staple down a spot for himself on this line come next season. So, for now, it would be unexpected to see Danton Heinen joining Elias Pettersson and Jake Debrusk on their line.
Nils Höglander
After a breakout season last year, now may be the time to give Nils Höglander a chance to prove himself as a fixture of the Canucks top six. Posting a cool 24 even-strength goals last season, Höglander looks to further cement himself as a key component of the Canucks lineup this season and seems due for a chance to earn a spot in the top six from the get-go. Tocchet is yet to show complete faith in Höglander’s defensive game, but the young Swede has shown himself to be a feisty presence on the ice, and his hard forechecking is sure to earn him more of Tocchet’s faith in due time. Ultimately, placing two hard-forechecking wingers like Höglander and Debrusk alongside Petey may be the best way to create chance after chance for EP40, making it hard to go against the idea of at least giving Höglander a shot to prove himself as a worthy linemate in preseason action.
The one thing that could go against Höglander was his weak playoff performances, which could open Tocchet up to the idea of giving a new guy a chance in the top six while Höggy begins another season in the bottom six. Höglander seems almost certain to staple down a role as a top-six presence in the near future, but now may not be the time in the eyes of the coach. However, Höglander did not begin last season in the Canucks top six but would eventually find himself playing key minutes down the stretch, so no matter where Höglander begins the season, a return to the top six cannot be ruled out.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki
Following a breakout year in the SHL, Lekkerimäki is set to make the jump across the pond to play in North America this year. While the mostly likely scenario for the Canucks top prospect is a year spent in the AHL honing his craft, a strong showing in training camp and the preseason could earn him a chance to prove himself in the NHL. Some may prefer starting a prospect like Lekkerimäki beginning his NHL journey on a lower line playing against softer matchups, but at the end of the day, if Lekkerimäki is to become the top-six force the Canucks hope he will be, he needs to be on the ice to do one thing: put the puck in the net. And by giving the young winger a chance to play on the second line, Lekkerimäki will be able to purely focus on being the offensive presence the Canucks need him to be.
It would undeniably be amazing to see Lekkerimäki earn a spot in the Canucks top six to begin next season, but ultimately, it would be very optimistic to assume that he will be ready for full-time NHL action next season. However, should he impress in Abbotsford as he did in the SHL, you can’t rule out the potential of a midseason callup, which could give Lekkerimäki the chance to prove that he belongs in the top six. Time will tell what actually happens with Jonathan Lekkerimäki next season, but the future is bright for the Örebro HK product.
Daniel Sprong
Sprong presents a very interesting case for a spot in the top six. While he is yet to gain a permanent top-six job in the NHL, Sprong’s offensive talent is clear to see, and his shot alone should be enough to earn him some consideration for second-line minutes. However, Sprong’s poor defensive play is not likely to match well with Rick Tocchet’s coaching style, so unless Sprong is able to make some major changes to his game, Tocchet may not wish to give him the minutes he would be getting playing on the second line. Still, it’s hard to ignore the potential that putting a goalscorer as gifted as Sprong alongside someone like Pettersson would bring, so is there a way that Sprong’s defensive weaknesses could be masked well enough to make this experiment worthwhile?
Although the potential is there for Sprong’s offensive spark to be what Elias Pettersson needs to have another dominant season, until we’ve seen how his playstyle fits into Tocchet’s system, this may be more of a break glass in case of emergency option. Could Sprong and Pettersson be a duo worth pairing up in preseason play? Absolutely. The preseason is the time if any for experimentation. However, until we know more about how Sprong will fit in as a Canuck, it’s hard to rely on him to be a player to partner with Petey.
Dakota Joshua and Conor Garland
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the nuclear option. After a season driving perhaps the best third line in the NHL, could Dak and Garly have earned themselves a shot at playing in the top six? As we saw when partnered with a struggling Elias Lindholm down the stretch and during the postseason, this line found a way to get the best out of any centre they played with, so could putting them alongside Elias Pettersson be what it takes to get the best version of Petey out regularly? Partnering this duo with Pettersson would also allow Jake Debrusk a chance to play alongside JT Miller and Brock Boeser, potentially stacking the Canucks top line while still allowing for a second line full of energy capable of putting up much offence in important situations.
While this could be a worthwhile experiment, the safer option would certainly be to go a different way with the second line and perhaps to keep this option in consideration should things start to go sideways. Garland and Joshua have done an excellent job at providing the spark that the Canucks need from a third line, but at the end of the day, there are higher-end options available to take on the second-line job who may not be able to sustain what Joshua and Garland did should they be placed on the third line. For now, this is an option that should be reserved for a situation in which a major shakeup is required up front.
So, having gone through the potential options, who should play on Elias Pettersson’s wings? The obvious first choice would be Jake Debrusk, but who takes the other spot? If we assume that Danton Heinen will be playing alongside Miller and Boeser, then Nils Höglander stands out as the player who not only brings the most upside to the line but also has the most to gain himself from an opportunity to play with Petey. If Höglander can replicate last year's impressive performances, not only would he and Debrusk make ideal forechecking partners for Pettersson, but he would be given a chance to fully show what he can do in a key role playing against difficult matchups. Players like Daniel Sprong and Jonathan Lekkerimäki, or even surprise breakout candidates like Vasily Podkolzin, could make cases to be the one joining Pettersson on the second line, but for now, Nils Höglander would be the Canucks best bet to begin the season with Elias Pettersson and Jake Debrusk.