VANCOUVER — There are lots of things the Vancouver Canucks like about newly acquired forward Shawn Matthias, not the least of which are his size, speed and shot.

They also appreciate his versatility, which was on full display in Vancouver’s 4-2 win Sunday night over the Buffalo Sabres.

The 6-foot-4, 216-pound Mathias is listed as a centre, but the 26-year-old is also comfortable playing either wing.

Against the Sabres, Matthias played left wing and formed a highly effective partnership with Brad Richardson and Zack Kassian.

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Kassian got all the attention, and deservedly so, after earning the first assist on all four Vancouver goals.

“He had a heck of a night,” Matthias said of Kassian.

Almost lost, however, was the fact that Matthias also had a pretty good night. His goal and two assists matched a career high for Matthias, who was acquired in the deal earlier this month that sent goalie Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers.

“I have played some wing so it wasn’t something that was brand new to me,” said Matthias, who played almost as much wing as centre for the Panthers in recent times. “It was nice to play with those two guys, especially with Kass, as hot as he was.”

Matthias’s versatility could be valuable for the Canucks. There’s a chance he could in fact be a better fit on the wing than at centre for Vancouver.

The hope is that Bo Horvat, selected ninth overall last summer by the Canucks, might be ready to play third-line centre for Vancouver next season. And with Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Richardson all under contract next season, it’s difficult to see where Matthias fits down the middle.

Even if Kesler happens to get traded this summer, it is likely the Canucks would want a No. 2 centre coming this way in return.

Matthias actually began Sunday night’s game skating on the fourth line, but coach John Tortorella quickly moved him up to the third line with Richardson and Kassian.

“I just don’t want to get Shawn locked in (on the fourth line) because as we continue re-tooling this team I think he is going to be a big part of it and I don’t want to be getting him in the five- six-minute (range) right now as far as ice time,” Tortorella said. “I want to keep playing him and see what he is. Plus we need to see what he looks like on wing just because of the utility and we want to see what he can bring.

“He can play right wing, he can play all three positions. That is very important for me is the utility part of it … he’s a big body and he is going to have to be able to do a lot of those things in different positions.”

Matthias, who has five points in nine games as a Canuck, is trying to not think about what position he might end up playing next season.