It appears the Vancouver Canucks will make winger Daniel Sprong a healthy scratch for the second straight game tonight vs. the Florida Panthers. The Canucks didn’t hold a morning skate today, but during Rick Tocchet’s pregame media availability, Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy relayed some lineup notes:
With Nils Aman coming in for the recently sent down Aatu Räty, that would seem to mean that Daniel Sprong will be the odd man out for the second game in a row. After appearing in the Canucks’ first two games of the season, Sprong sat out for the Canucks’ 4-1 loss in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night, and now appears poised to sit tonight vs. Florida.
Sprong scored a goal in the Canucks’ opening game of the season vs. Calgary, but saw his ice time limited against both Calgary and Philadelphia down the stretch of each game. Despite his impressive goal-scoring abilities, Sprong has earned himself a reputation as a player who struggles to earn the trust of his coaches thanks to shoddy defensive play, and both sides were well aware of that when Sprong signed in Vancouver. Head coach Rick Tocchet has talked about working with Sprong to improve on his play away from the puck, and Sprong sounded motivated to hold up his end of the bargain so that he can make Vancouver his first long-term NHL home.
The Canucks signed Sprong, 27, to a one-year contract worth $975,000 at the end of July this past offseason. Sprong has played for seven NHL teams already, and has scored at impressive rates the past two seasons, scoring 39 goals through 142 games with the Red Wings and Kraken.
Vincent Desharnais returns to the Canucks’ lineup tonight after two healthy scratches of his own, and with Derek Forbort leaving the team earlier today due to personal reasons, its expected that Erik Brannstrom will make his Canucks debut this evening.
Puck drop is at 4 PM, and you can read more about tonight’s game by clicking here.
