Wild vs. Canucks morning skate report: New face in lineup, COVID-19 hits staff, first line reunited

VANCOUVER – Three weeks after getting claimed off waivers from Nashville, Rem Pitlick will make his Wild debut.

The forward will be in the lineup on Tuesday night when the Wild kicks off a three-game road trip at Vancouver in the Canucks' home opener at Rogers Arena.

"He's ready," coach Dean Evason said. "We've talked to him on a daily basis on staying ready. Obviously, we do the same thing with everybody that is out of the lineup. We want them to work their butts off and stay ready. He has that opportunity. We expect him to show well here tonight."

Pitlick will start on the fourth line with winger Brandon Duhaime and center Nico Sturm.

Nick Bjugstad will line up with winger Kevin Fiala and center Frederick Gaudreau. Center Victor Rask is the extra forward.

On defense, the Wild is expected to roll out the same pairings. Cam Talbot will be back in net after backing up Kaapo Kahkonen in the 5-2 loss to the Predators on Sunday.

"I'm really excited," Pitlick said. "I've been watching a few from the press box and get the chills every time I watch the home games. Obviously, I wish I could have gotten in the last game. It would have been nice to play against Nashville. But I'm super excited. I'm really thrilled to be here."

All players were on the ice Tuesday morning in Vancouver, but the Wild has three coaches in the NHL's COVID protocols: assistant coach Darby Hendrickson, goaltending coach Frederic Chabot and video coach T.J. Jindra.

"They're all still involved," Evason said. "We zoom every day. As everybody has in this world, you zoom and we zoom every day. They get every game. They're still breaking down their responsibilities, their clips, that they do. They get them to us. We just hand them to the group. We're still a tight coaching team.

"Obviously, we're trying to be as safe as we possibly can as far as not being around people and being distanced."

Projected lineup:

Kirill Kaprizov-Joel Eriksson Ek-Mats Zuccarello

Jordan Greenway-Ryan Hartman-Marcus Foligno

Kevin Fiala-Frederick Gaudreau-Nick Bjugstad

Brandon Duhaime-Nico Sturm-Rem Pitlick

Alex Goligoski-Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba

Jon Merrill-Dmitry Kulikov

Cam Talbot

Key numbers:

99: Career points for center Joel Eriksson Ek.

999: Blocked shots by defenseman Jonas Brodin in his career.

4: Wins in four games for Talbot.

8-3: Record for the Wild over its last 11 trips to Vancouver.

2: Assists for Pitlick in 11 career games.

About the Canucks:

Vancouver returns home for its first game at Rogers Arena after starting 3-2-1 on the road. The Canucks are coming off back-to-back wins, edging Chicago 4-1 and most recently Seattle 4-2. Forward Conor Garland has eight points in six games. Same with center J.T. Miller. Thatcher Demko, who will get the start for Vancouver in net, has yet to face the Wild in his career.