In moments like these it’s impossible not to think back to the end of Willie Desjardins’s time behind the Vancouver Canucks bench or even the early years under Travis Green when the organization struggled to ice 18 truly NHL-calibre skaters on a regular basis.
Warm bodies? Sure. Legitimate NHL’ers? Go back and look at some of those line-ups. But don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Soon though – possibly as early as Monday night – Rick Tocchet is going to be tasked with making very difficult decisions about his optimal line-up. Only this time, it’s an incredible problem for an NHL coach to have.
Not only is Dakota Joshua nearing his emotional return to play after a shocking late summer testicular cancer diagnosis, but the emergence of Erik Brännström as a puck transporter and stabilizing force on the back end has led to some challenging decisions for Tocchet in the early going with his hockey club on a roll.
Joshua is unlikely to get the green light to return just yet although watching him in practice on Friday at UBC, it’s clear he isn’t far off now. But for the sake of this argument, if Joshua was available on Monday against Carolina – who would come out of the line-up to make space for him? Arshdeep Bains after his first NHL goal on Saturday night? Daniel Sprong who set up the Bains goal, looked dangerous with the puck all night and had his best game so far in Canuck colours? Veteran Pius Suter who has had a quiet start to the season, but brings versatility to the line-up and led all Canucks forwards in short-handed ice time against Pittsburgh? And this doesn’t even address the way the Canucks will activate Joshua and get him on the team’s NHL roster – likely needing to expose Nils Aman to waivers.
And with Brännstrom, all the Canucks have done is win. The team is 4-0 since he was recalled from Abbotsford and injected into the line-up in Florida. He’s not single-handedly responsible for it, but he’s certainly played a role in it – performing better with each outing and bringing a much-needed puck moving element to the team’s bottom four.
But now veteran Derek Forbort is back from his personal leave creating a log jam on the back end. Tocchet may give Forbort a few days to practice before thrusting him back into the line-up after a two-week absence. But at some point in the near future, the veteran Forbort will get his spot back on defence and decisions will have to be made about whether a Forbort-Brännström third pair is the preferred path forward. It certainly feels like something that has to be explored in order to keep the newcomer in the line-up. If that’s the case, that’s tough news for right-siders Vincent Desharnais and Noah Juulsen.
Tocchet’s not in the business of worrying about hurt feelings. His job is to ice the best possible line-up given the players at his disposal. With Joshua knocking on the door and Brännström having already walked through that door, the Canucks coach is in an enviable position.
His team has won four straight, reinforcements are on the way and it’s going to be up to Tocchet now to effectively manage the deepest Canucks roster in a decade.
It’s a strong indication of just how far the Canucks have come in a relatively short period of time. These are tough decisions, for sure, but the kind every coach at this level should be fortunate enough to have to deal with.
