NEW YORK -- New York Rangers center Derick Brassard is expected to miss his first game of the season Tuesday because he is sick. Brassard arrived at Madison Square Garden in the morning but was sent home and likely won't play against the Vancouver Canucks (7 p.m. ET; SNP, MSG).

Kevin Hayes is expected to move into a top-six role as a center between Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello. Oscar Lindberg, who was playing left wing, will slide over to center the third line between Jesper Fast and Viktor Stalberg.

Brassard is tied for second on the Rangers with 31 points on 15 goals and 16 assists in 45 games.

"At this point I would say no," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said when asked if Brassard could play against Vancouver. "We've got a lot of our players right now that are fighting a flu bug and I guess his case is a little bit more severe so they sent him home this morning."

The Canucks are also missing a top center with Henrik Sedin unable to play because of an upper-body injury that is expected to keep him out until early February. Rookie center Jared McCann will take Sedin's spot on the Canucks' top line between Daniel Sedin and Jannik Hansen.

McCann played with Daniel Sedin and Hansen for two games last month when Henrik Sedin was out with a lower-body injury. He had a goal and an assist in those two games against the Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers, and said that experience is big for his confidence now.

"Going into the game you know you're wingers, they're two skilled guys and they make my job a heck of a lot easier," said McCann, who has 12 points, including seven goals, in 41 games. "We've had some pretty good success together, so I'm excited. I feel we have chemistry together."

McCann said the biggest adjustment he has to make when playing with Daniel Sedin is to try to be more of a playmaker and less of a shooter. He said he has a shoot-first mentality, but his approach has to be different with Daniel Sedin, whose next goal will be his 347th, making him the Canucks' all-time leading goal scorer.

"I shoot the puck a lot, I feel that's one of my best assets, my shot, but he can shoot the puck too," McCann said. "I feel like I can dish the puck too. I have that ability and that's the adjustment. I'm going to try to replicate Hank as much as I can."

Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said he's trying to keep his expectations for McCann's game at a realistic level, understanding he's 19 years old and wasn't even on the Canucks' radar to be on the team at the start of the season.

"He's going to become a better player down the road the more he plays, so if he makes a few mistakes, you've gotta expect that could happen," Desjardins said. "Nobody wants that, but it's unfair to think he's going to come out and play like a guy who has been in the League for five years."

Desjardins, though, also wants to see how the teenager will handle his elevated role because it's part of his development.

"I don't think the Rangers care," Desjardins said. "They're going to come on him hard, there's no breaks there. It's going to be a tough game and you have to be ready to play. He's got a big role, he's with one of our top lines, so that puts a lot of pressure on him. But that's what we want to do. We want to help our guys develop and that's a situation that will help him develop.

"You can't look at the negative. It's just a great opportunity to show what you can do."

Here are the projected lineups:

CANUCKS

Daniel Sedin - Jared McCann - Jannik Hansen

Sven Baertschi - Bo Horvat - Radim Vrbata

Emerson Etem - Linden Vey - Alexandre Burrows

Brandon Prust - Adam Cracknell - Derek Dorsett

Alexander Edler - Christopher Tanev

Ben Hutton - Luca Sbisa

Matt Bartkowski - Alex Biega

Ryan Miller

Jacob Markstrom

Injured: Henrik Sedin (upper body), Brandon Sutter (sports hernia surgery), Dan Hamhuis (facial injuries)

Scratched: Yannick Weber, Jake Virtanen

RANGERS

Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - J.T. Miller

Rick Nash - Kevin Hayes - Mats Zuccarello

Jesper Fast - Oscar Lindberg - Viktor Stalberg

Tanner Glass - Dominic Moore - Jayson Megna

Ryan McDonagh - Kevin Klein

Marc Staal - Dan Boyle

Keith Yandle - Dan Girardi

Henrik Lundqvist

Antti Raanta

Injured: Derick Brassard (sick)

Scratched: Dylan McIlrath

Status report: Vigneault said Klein (right thumb) is technically a game-time decision, but after watching him in the morning skate he felt confident that he would be able to play. … Desjardins said he was still deciding between playing Prust or Virtanen, but Virtanen stayed on the ice long after the Canucks' regulars left the ice for the morning skate, an indication that he will be scratched. … Sutter skated with the Canucks for the second straight day and Desjardins said he is getting closer to returning to the lineup, but he might not be back until Vancouver returns home for a game against the Nashville Predators next Tuesday. Sutter hasn't played since Nov. 10 because of sports hernia surgery. … Etem will play his first game against the Rangers since they traded him to Vancouver on Jan. 8. He played 19 games for the Rangers this season.

Who's hot: Kreider has three goals in the past two games and Nash has five assists in the past six games. … Hutton scored his first career NHL goal Sunday in Vancouver's 2-1 shootout win against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center.

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