Tyler Myers set to return from injury — what should the Canucks do on D?
The Vancouver Canucks looked a little taller at Tuesday’s practice, as Tyler Myers returned to the ice for the first time since suffering an injury at the end of February.
Myers left the Canucks’ game against the Los Angeles Kings midway through the third period. It was unclear what caused the injury and it was reported as a lower-body injury by the Canucks.
At practice, Myers seemed entirely unbothered by whatever ailed him and he took full contact while skating on an extra pairing with Mark Friedman.
The Canucks’ next game is on Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche, after which they have just one game in the next five days. Head coach Rick Tocchet was noncommittal about when Myers might return to the lineup.
“I like to get certain guys practice time,” said Tocchet on bringing players back from injury. “And actually, Mysie had a good practice day. Whether he plays tomorrow or the next game he's getting close.”
"You want to put your best players out there."
Myers' potential return raises the question of how the Canucks will handle their blue line with everyone back healthy.
Since Myers left the lineup, the Canucks’ defence has been superb on the team’s four-game winning streak. They’ve allowed under 30 shots on goal in all four games and a total of just three goals against in that stretch, while facing tough opponents like the Kings, Vegas Golden Knights, and Winnipeg Jets.
With the team playing such great defence, it might be tempting to leave Myers out of the lineup even when he’s healthy and wait until the team falters defensively or a player gives Tocchet a reason to scratch him for a game. After all, why mess with a winning lineup?
But that’s not a philosophy to which Tocchet subscribes.
“Just because we're playing well, I still think you want to put your best players out there,” said Tocchet.
"We look like a different team."
As for Myers, seeing the team play so well without him hasn’t been frustrating in any way; it’s simply been gratifying.
“It's great to see the guys get our game back,” said Myers. “We have a certain look to us when we're at the top of our game and we have a certain speed. It was great to see the guys get back up to that speed and I'm looking forward to getting back with them.”
From his elevated position — in the press box, not his 6’8” stature — Myers identified the team’s defensive improvements as originating away from the blue line.
“I'm going to single out our forwards here,” said Myers. “When you look at our forwards, the way they've been tracking back from the O-zone, that's been a big difference the last week to 10 days. When we're working like that, it might require shorter shifts, but we look like a different team.”
The Canucks’ back pressure has made a noticeable improvement in recent games, with the defence’s focus on cutting plays off at the blue line and the forward’s incessant backchecking catching opposing teams in a pincer. This has forced a lot of turnovers and quick counter-attacks that have given their opposition very little puck possession in the Canucks’ zone.
Who comes out of the lineup for Myers?
Tocchet said that having all his defencemen healthy gives him and his coaching staff “hard decisions.” The team has seven defencemen who can make a case to be in the team’s top-six, every day defence corps, with Mark Friedman as a capable eighth defenceman.
Myers’ return likely means taking Noah Juulsen out of the lineup, leading to the following defence pairings:
Quinn Hughes - Filip Hronek
Ian Cole - Carson Soucy
Nikita Zadorov - Tyler Myers
Tocchet has been effusive with his praise for Juulsen’s physical game, however, and he’s one of the team’s best penalty killers. Otherwise, one of Ian Cole or Nikita Zadorov would need to sit, but the Canucks love Cole’s steadiness and Zadorov has played some of his best hockey of the season in recent games.
That means it's likely that the Canucks will end up rotating defencemen in and out of the lineup as long as everyone remains healthy. In the NBA, they call it load management — resting healthy players to ensure that they stay healthy and at peak performance, especially as the team heads down the stretch into the playoffs.
“I know guys don't want to hear it,” said Tocchet. “You've got to make sure, as coaches, that you explain to certain guys — some guys might not like it if they're out — but we're at the point of our season, where if we've got healthy D, you're going to have some good defencemen that are going to sit out.”
That could mean more rest for Ian Cole, who is the oldest player in the Canucks lineup at 35. It could mean giving Zadorov or Soucy a game here or there to keep them fresh. Because, once the playoffs hit, the Canucks will likely need all the healthy defencemen they can get.
Frankly, at this time of the season, having enough healthy bodies to rest some players is a luxury.
“ I've been there — we've all been there before — and everybody wants to play,” said Tocchet. “We're lucky we've got a healthy lineup.”
