There’s a reason why pencils have erasers.

As much as we like to construct line combinations for the Vancouver Canucks , pre-season performances — both good and bad — have a way of messing up the process. And so do injuries.

The Canucks are without left winger Nils Hoglander , who’s out three to four weeks with an ankle injury suffered against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday in Abbotsford. On Sunday in Edmonton, veteran right winger Conor Garland didn’t take the warm-up skate and sat out with what the team has been calling a ‘minor issue’.

If Sunday was the season opener, Garland likely would have played.

What the absences have done is sharpen the focus on who’s under the microscope for roster positioning. Hoglander was likely a third-liner but now Drew O’Connor, who was destin

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