Kerby Rychel’s line brings ‘heavy game’ in Team Canada’s exhibition vs. CIS players

Everything is a test at Team Canada's evaluation camp, so it's hard to tell if one shift might have more weight.

Yet, at least in Saturday's 3-0 exhibition-game win over the CIS Toronto Selects, one big takeaway was the opening shift of the third period from the Frédérik Gauthier-Kerby Rychel-Josh Anderson line, when it scored the second goal. Each member of that trio needed to have a strong afternoon to stay in the mix for spots on Brent Sutter's final 22-man roster. Rychel gave a strong indication that he might be able to go from goal scoring to grinding, getting the primary assists on each of the first two goals.

That came as little surprise to people who have watched the Columbus Blue Jackets first-rounder across his four seasons in the OHL, where Rychel has posted two 40-goal seasons while playing with some of the edge his father, Windsor Spitfires GM Warren Rychel, had over his long career.

On that second goal, Rychel chipped and chased to set up a cycle in the CIS Selects' zone. A well-considered pinch by Aaron Ekblad sustained the pressure. That led to a Blue Jacket pick-to-Blue Jacket pick, with Rychel teeing up Anderson for a top-shelf shot by Troy Passingham (who earned a Memorial Cup ring on the Warren Rychel-assembled 2010 Spitfires).

That was the residue of the group's effort throughout the game.

"With my line, it was just keeping it simple and getting in on the forecheck and banging bodies," said the 19-year-old Rychel, whose father recently moved him from the Spitfires to the Guelph Storm for a plethora of draft picks. "Most of the time, that's going to lead to offence.

"That was a good play but I thought we were playing well the whole game."

It is important not to extrapolate too much from one exhibition game against a team drawn from the ranks of Ryerson Rams, U of T Varsity Blues and York Lions, which are currently third, fourth and sixth in the 10-team western half of Ontario University Athletics. Then again, last year Team Canada struggled in the exhibitions against squads drawn from nationally ranked vs. Alberta university teams, which now seems like a harbinger for how it went in Ufa.

For one afternoon at least, Sutter had the trappings of two good depth lines.

"Rychs, Andy and Gauts, they're all big guys who can skate and they play a heavy game and they get on the forecheck hard," Sutter said. "They're smart players. It's nice to have that kind of size on your team."

All four lines generated chances. Keep in mind that its two most prolific forwards, Jonathan Drouin and Nic Petan, were both scratched. Vancouver Canucks first-rounder Bo Horvat also didn't play, which might indicate his spot is safe. Overall, there was some semblance of cohesion, a quality that would forever remain in absentia with the ill-fated 2013 team.

"When you think about it, we've had one practice for a hour long," Sutter said. "I thought they picked it up really well. We do need to be careful in our zone, make sure we're not soft on pucks."

The rub is that it won't be any slight on either of the two forwards that are lopped off the final roster after Team Canada jets to Europe for its three pre-competition games. A very good player will have a long flight home. Rychel certainly vertified predictions that he could slide right into doing some glue-guy work.

"Defensively, I don't think we gave up too much," he said.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.