It was a line that had the look of preseason filler.



Three players, most likely on the outside looking in at this juncture, filling out space in the lineup for the first of back-to-back Vancouver Canucks home games to close the preseason.



The veteran on the line, Sven Baertschi, has played well for the Canucks in spurts in the preseason, though he’s yet to earn high praise publicly from head coach Travis Green. Finally healthy and with the skill to be a meaningful contributor, Baertschi is difficult to pencil into a projected Canucks opening-night lineup – particularly with the top six looking awfully crowded.



Zack MacEwen has emerged as the star pupil for Canucks player development, a reflection of the impressive strides he’s made since signing as an undrafted free agent two years ago. Still, MacEwen has a lot of traffic to navigate ahead of him on the depth chart, a challenge made even more difficult by the likelihood that he’s an...