It’s good to keep a spare Justin around. You know, just in case.

Aside from the cringe-worthy jokes, one of the Vancouver Canucks’ 2021 offseason goals was to improve their depth up front, so when injuries hit they were able to hold up better. to the storm. That depth took a hit when Jonah Gadjovich and Zack MacEwen were claimed on waivers, but they still have quality players available at Abbotsford.

So when Justin Dowling was placed in the Injury Reserve (IR) on Tuesday, the Canucks were able to immediately call in another Justin to replace him: Justin Bailey.

When Dowling missed practice Monday, head coach Travis Green called it a “maintenance day,” which is the same thing he said about Quinn Hughes before missing a game. Players placed on IR are not eligible to play for seven days. Dowling was placed in IR retroactively to October 23, so he won’t be available for the Canucks’ next three games.

Canucks shake up lineups ahead of home opener

In Tuesday morning practice, Bailey was in the fourth line with Juho Lammikko and Alex Chiasson, Jason Dickinson missing. Dickinson left Monday’s practice for undisclosed reasons and may not be available for Tuesday’s home opener.

The morning skate had other lines mixed up. Bo Horvat’s line with Tanner Pearson and Conor Garland has remained intact – they’ve been the Canucks’ most consistent line this season – but Vasily Podkolzin was on a line with Brock Boeser and JT Miller at center, while Elias Petterssson was with Matthew Highmore and Nils Höglander.

Pettersson got off to a slow start this season, while Höglander was used by Green as a spark plug to help start a line.

“Pigs, he can kind of create stuff on his own,” Green said after a game. “I would like to keep Hog between 14-18 minutes and mix him up in a way because I think he can throw a lot of lines.”

Perhaps that is Pettersson’s plan: to play him with a high energy player in Höglander to launch his attack.

Bailey was Abbotsford’s best player

As for Bailey, he was fantastic for the Abbotsford Canucks early in the season and well deserves the call-up. Bailey is Abbotsford’s leading scorer with 3 goals and 6 points in 5 games, including the first home goal in Abbotsford Canucks history.

According to Cody Severtson, who covers the Abbotsford Canucks for his AHL Nucks Harvest site, Bailey has “done everything” for the Canucks, including both sides of the special teams, and improved his game.

Bailey’s blazing speed is a separator at NHL level: at AHL level, it’s almost comical. It is unusual to see a 6’4 ” hockey player moving at this type of speed and it makes him a force on the front failure.

To go with that size and speed, Bailey has excellent hands, excellent shooting, and the vision and ability to play to create opportunities for his teammates. This combination made him a top player in the AHL, but it didn’t always translate to the next level.

Last season, however, Bailey looked like a different player during his all-too-brief stint in Vancouver. He seems to have found a role with the Canucks through his size, speed and pace of work, earning a spot on the taxi team. He played three games with the Canucks and had some superb underlying numbers in those games: The Caanucks outscored their opponents 26-12 and beat them 13-4 with Bailey on the ice 5-5.

Unfortunately, Bailey’s season was interrupted by a hit from behind from Milan Lucic who was not penalized. Bailey had to undergo shoulder surgery, while Lucic faced no additional discipline.

“Of all the guys, this is probably the last one I want to get hit from behind,” said Bailey sadly upon arriving in Vancouver this season.

Bailey was once again hoping to earn a spot in training camp this season, but he faced other unexpected challenges: a positive COVID-19 test that forced him to quarantine himself in the United States before be able to enter Canada.

“I was in rehab, trained in Connecticut all summer and went back to Buffalo for, like, three days just to see my family and skate,” Bailey said. “[They] texted me, told me to take a test and I ran and got one and obviously it came back positive. I didn’t believe it. I went and got a second one and it was positive again.

Bailey’s late departure meant he missed all of training camp and only played one preseason game. It wasn’t enough for him to prove he belonged to the NHL. Now he will have another chance.

“I want to do the things that make me successful,” Bailey said. “I play with a lot of speed, obviously I’m a lot of height, and I want to make sure I’m hard on the front failure, hard on the backcheck, and I make my shift in and shift presence known outside. “