LATEST | Rick Tocchet singles out the one guy he wants to see more from

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Felip Gosselin
February 5, 2024 (8:33 PM)

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The Canucks will be hitting the ice against the Hurricanes and will be getting the opportunity to witness the team's newest acquisition for the first time. For the occasion, Elias Lindholm, Elias Pettersson and Ilya Mikheyev are bound to complete the Canucks' top six behind J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser and Pius Suter.

TOCCHET POINTS OUT THE PLAYER HE WANTS MORE FROM

One player who's been affected by the Andrei Kuzmenko's trade, his fellow Russian friend, Ilya Mikheyev. Also having a tough start to the season, Rick Tocchet didn't hesitate to place him with the two Elias in hopes that he could get back to the forward he was before getting injured last year.

The team's head coach singled him out in a recent interview, hoping that his resurgence could be the answer to the team's top six.

«I'm playing (Mikheyev) with these two guys, and I've got to see some forechecking from him. I've got to see him winning some battles and, I think, coming up with loose pucks. I want him to drive the play, especially as a top forechecker for us. He's got guys that have the puck a lot that can hold on to pucks and make plays. So, you know, this is a test for Mik. I mean, I've got to see some good stuff out of him here on this line.»

With 23 points in 45 outings, Mikheyev's apport to the team goes far beyond his point production. Shutdown winger, PK specialist, hard forechecker, he's an extremely versatile forward. However, with a $4.75M cap hit he needs to put some points on the board and help the Elias' getting it done.