Manny Malhotra scratched Luke Schenn and Brendan Gallagher on Thursday, replacing Schenn with Victor Mancini and dressing Aatu Raty in Gallagher’s place.
The Story
The Vancouver Canucks made changes early in the Manny Malhotra era as the season continued, with Thursday marking the first time Malhotra pulled Luke Schenn from the lineup.
Schenn had been playing alongside Elias Junior Pettersson through the Canucks’ first four games, a stretch in which the pair posted the best shot-attempts percentage on the team, seeing more than half of the time with puck control fired toward the opposition net.
Still, Malhotra’s decision on Thursday gave still-young defenceman Victor Mancini his first game of the season in Schenn’s stead.
In Malhotra’s other lineup move, Aatu Raty was dressed instead of Brendan Gallagher, who is in his mid-30s and had been reduced to playing on the fourth line.
Through the first four games of the season, Gallagher had played less than 10 minutes per night and recorded four shots, with only one coming on a scoring chance that he converted into a chance that instead resulted in him hitting the goalie in the chest.
While Gallagher’s ice time had dropped, Liam Ohgren’s has increased; his role has grown again this year after being a more regular presence last season, with his ice time up about 2.5 minutes so far this season.
The early signs also extend to the Canucks’ defensive prospects, with Malhotra using Zeev Buium and Tom Willander more than they were last year.
Buium is up 1:20 and Willander is almost four minutes compared to their ice time from last season, after both struggled in a chaotic defensive scheme run by Adam Foote.
Across the first stretch of the season, the moves described by the team’s lineup decisions point to Malhotra giving younger players more opportunities to play, with more reps intended to help them apply what they practise in games.
← More stories