Preview/Lines #34: Studnicka Not Sorry – He’s Not a Swiftie

Jack Studnicka doesn’t consider himself a Swiftie.

In training camp, Vancouver Canucks social media asked the players who they’d rather meet, singer Taylor Swift or her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

To the mock horror of some of his teammates, Studnicka chose the pop sensation.

@canucks

Jack Studnicka is a true Swiftie #Canucks #HockeyTok #Swifties #NFL

♬ original sound – Canucks

“She’s everything. She’s a rock star, a pop star,” Studnicka said, “we’d get in a getaway car and that’s about it.”

That’s a reference to a deeper Swift cut, “Getaway Car” that went over teammate Phillip Di Giuseppe’s head.

“You don’t know Taylor Swift like that?” Studnicka joked. “Come on now, do your research.”

Studnicka, however, just claimed by the San Jose Sharks off waivers last week, wouldn’t claim Swift super-fan status.

“There was a TikTok, kind of taken out of context,” he told San Jose Hockey Now. “I like her. She’s good. I saw her this summer, but I’m not like a die-hard.”

Explain?

Studnicka said it’s his girlfriend Delaney who’s the Swiftie, and in preparation for seeing Swift in Michigan over the summer, he got a crash course in the superstar’s catalog.

Meanwhile, Studnicka and the San Jose Sharks are also getting to know each other. Through three games in teal, Studnicka doesn’t have any points. But head coach David Quinn thinks he’s getting better and better.

Studnicka will be in the line-up tonight, his first game against the team that cut him.

“Anytime a new player gets to a new team, they want to impress and want to do a lot. I think he’s just got to relax a little bit. The last [couple] games, a lot more pop in his skating and doing the things that you can see why he was a highly-touted prospect. I’m feeling good about the direction of his game,” Quinn said.

“Offense has always been one of the highlights of his game. I think he gets to this level, and you try to force a little bit of offense because you want to do it so badly. But if you just relax and let the play happen, you’re going to be more productive offensively.”

San Jose Sharks (9-21-3)

Mackenzie Blackwood starts again, going away from Quinn’s recent alternating of Blackwood and Kaapo Kahkonen starts.

Alexander Barabanov will not play once again.

Givani Smith, who left the last game with a lower-body injury, won’t play either. He’s day-to-day.

Calen Addison traveled, so he’s an option.

Best guess, they shift Jacob MacDonald to forward once again, and Addison or Marc-Edouard Vlasic dress.

Here’s SJHN’s best guess at lines for tonight:

Eklund-Hertl-Zadina
Duclair-Granlund-Zetterlund
Hoffman-Kunin-Labanc
MacDonald-Studnicka-Bailey

Ferraro-Burroughs
Okhotiuk-Rutta
Thrun-Addison/Vlasic

Vancouver Canucks (22-9-3)

Thatcher Demko is expected to start.

Morning skate #Canucks lines

Mikheyev. Pettersson. Kuzmenko.
Höglander. Miller. Boeser.
Joshua. Blueger. Garland.
Åman. Suter. Lafferty.

Hughes. Hronek.
Zadorov. Myers.
Cole. Juulsen.

7pm tonight vs. San Jose on @Sportsnet650 pic.twitter.com/dlCgIRiwfz

— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) December 23, 2023

Where to Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks is 7 PM PT at Rogers Arena. Watch it live on NBC Sports California. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.