Demko will lead the Canucks for his fifth career NHL season. He is coming off a career year in 2021-22 where he finished with a career-best 33 wins, .915 SV% and 2.72 GAA.
Kravtsov left Tuesday's game in the first period and did not return. He will not make the trip to Minnesota or Winnipeg but could be back for next week's game vs. Anaheim. Alexis Lafreniere moved up to the second line after Kravtsov left the game.
Boeser underwent hand surgery in late September and is expected to be back one week earlier than originally expected. Boeser skated on the top line with J.T. Miller and Tanner Pearson and on the second power-play unit in Tuesday's practice.
Hughes missed several practices with a non-COVID illness but was back on the ice for Tuesday's session. While he's expected to play in the season opener, monitor Hughes' status during the morning skate.
Blueger continues to battle an undisclosed injury that he suffered on September 28th. Blueger was not on the ice of Monday's practice, so look for Ryan Poehling to centre the fourth line if he's unavailable for the season opener on Thursday.
The Canucks' injury woes continued as General Manager Patrik Allvin spoke with the media Friday night and confirmed forward Phil Di Giuseppe will miss 2-4 weeks with a lower-body injury. It is a tough blow for the 28-year-old winger who was trying to crack the Canucks roster after having not played in the NHL since the 2020-21 season where he put up eight points in 31 games as a member of the New York Rangers. He enjoyed a strong 2021-22 campaign with the Canucks AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, collecting 12 goals and 36 points in 42 games.
Kevin Lankinen will get the start between the pipes Saturday in Prague. He will get his first start as a Predator after posting a .901 SV% in 69 Career games played with the Chicago Blackhawks across two seasons. He will look to continue the Predators' winning ways after they won the inaugural game of the season 4-1 on Friday.
Myers was not on the ice for Thursday's practice, and the Canucks announced on Thursday that he would miss at least two weeks. Based on the timeline, expect Myers to miss anywhere from five-to-11 games. Kyle Burroughs or Christian Wolanin are expected to take Myers' spot in the lineup for the season opener.
Boeser suffered a hand injury in Saturday's training camp session and underwent surgery on Monday. Boeser is expected to miss the first 1-to-2 weeks of the regular season. Boeser's injury will open the door for someone like Conor Garland or Nils Hoglander to move up into the Canucks' top-6 for a short period of time.
Sherwood has had stints with the Ducks and Avalanche since turning pro in 2018, appearing in a combined 87 career NHL games, posting 18 points (7G / 11A). With the Predators he'll likely remain a fringe roster player that will excel during his time in the AHL--he was third in the league in goals (36) and sixth in points (75) in 2022.
Wolanin appeared in 30 NHL games with the Senators back in 2019 but has only played in a combined 30 games in the three years since, posting one goal and four assists with the Senators, Kings and Sabres. He spent most of last season in the AHL, where he had 18 points (1G / 17A) in 37 games with Ontario.
Lankinen spent his first two NHL seasons in Chicago, where he was solid in 2021 but struggled in 2022. Last season he was 8-15-6 with a 3.50 GAA and .891 SV% in 32 games. Heading to Nashville, he'll battle with Connor Ingram for the backup role behind Juuse Saros.
Di Giuseppe has been in and out of the NHL since 2014, appearing in a total of 201 NHL games and 269 AHL games over that span. In 2022, the 28-year-old spent the whole season in the AHL, posting 36 points (12G / 24A) in 42 games with Abbotsford (AHL).
Boeser was set to become an RFA after his three-year, $17.625M deal expired. His new-deal carries a $6.65M AAV cap-hit and carries him through the 2025 season. Boeser is coming off of his fourth 20-plus goal season and has at least 45 points in five straight seasons. His biggest issue has been health, missing 15 percent of the games since 2018.
Juulsen was traded to the Canucks in October 2021 and spent most of the season in the AHL. He scored three goals with 13 assists (16 points) in 50 games with Abbotsford (AHL). He had two assists in eight games with the Canucks, giving him 10 points (2G / 8A) in 56 career NHL games.
