The Vancouver Canucks kick off the regular season on home ice Wednesday night against their old Pacific Division rival, the Calgary Flames.
Fans have been eagerly anticipating the return of Canucks hockey ever since last season's thrilling playoff run and the same goaltender that was in net for the Canucks at the end of that run will be in net for the home opener: Arturs Silovs.
The 23-year-old netminder has still only played nine regular season games in the NHL but that number is expected to increase dramatically this season, especially with Thatcher Demko taking his time getting back to full health. He'll be battling for starts with veteran backup Kevin Lankinen, while also looking to prove he belongs in the NHL even when Demko returns to the lineup.
There are dozens of intriguing storylines heading into this season, from Elias Pettersson's two new linemates to Aatu Räty making the Canucks out of training camp, but let's take a moment to acknowledge Danton Heinen.
When Heinen was growing up in Langley, B.C., he dreamed of one day playing for the Canucks. He even once stepped on the Rogers Arena ice for a Canucks game as a 12-year-old, joining the team for the national anthem back in 2008.
On Wednesday night — with his season-ticket-holding parents in the crowd, along with many more family and friends — he'll live out that dream. And he won't just be in the lineup; like his idols, Markus Näslund and the Sedins, he'll be on the top line.
Heinen might not score like Näslund and the Sedins — he'll play more of an Alex Burrows role alongside J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser — but he should still be a valuable part of the Canucks lineup this season with his two-way play, speed on the forecheck, and ability to kill penalties. But maybe he'll be able to light the lamp in front of family and friends on Wednesday night to kick off the season.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
For anyone who watched the Canucks in training camp and the preseason, there won't be any surprises in the Canucks' lineup on Wednesday night. The forward lines and defence pairings that developed over the course of the preseason will still be in place with only minor adjustments.
Pius Suter will be a game-time decision, with Aatu Räty likely to centre the third line in his stead, playing between Nils Höglander and Conor Garland, like he did throughout training camp and the preseason.
Here are the projected lines:
That's a deep forward group with a top-six that looks ready to do some damage. The J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson lines are 1a and 1b but you could argue that the bottom-six are 3a and 3b.
The big question mark that remains for me is the Canucks' defence corps after the top line. Carson Soucy and Tyler Myers were a decent duo last season but it's troubling to still see Myers in the team's top-four. Meanwhile, Derek Forbort and Vincent Desharnais did not look great in the preseason but nothing is real until the regular season begins.
Head coach Rick Tocchet has confirmed that Arturs Silovs will be the starting goaltender ahead of Kevin Lankinen.
Calgary Flames projected lines
No one is expecting much out of the Calgary Flames this season but they shouldn't be written off entirely. They've got enough talent to be competitive in every game.
The worst thing that could happen for the Flames is that they end up in the mushy middle, like the Canucks were for years: not good enough to make the playoffs but not bad enough to get good odds in the draft lottery. MoneyPuck gives them a 22% chance to make the playoffs and a 4.6% chance at the first-overall pick.
Here are the Flames projected lines for Wednesday night, courtesy of Flames broadcaster Derek Wills:
Samuel Honzek - Nazem Kadri - Andrei Kuzmenko
Connor Zary - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman
Jonathan Huberdeau - Martin Pospisil - Anthony Mantha
Ryan Lomberg - Kevin Rooney - Adam Klapka
MacKenzie Weegar - Daniil Miromanov
Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson
Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal
Dan Vladar
Dustin Wolf
