Kevin Bieksa is back skating, but unlikely to play Saturday against the L.A. Kings.

Tom Sestito is a different story. He has to play.

The bruising forward the Canucks claimed off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers will replace Aaron Volpatti in the lineup. Bizarrely, the Canucks lost Volpatti when they put him on waivers just hours before they found out Ryan Kesler had a broken foot and would miss the next four to six weeks.

If they had the Kesler CT scan earlier, one he was given for peace of mind about his sore foot, they likely would have kept Volpatti.

Instead, Volpatti was picked up off waivers by the Washington Capitals, meaning the Canucks lost a fourth-liner, who was also their best hitter. They also lost their best defensive centre with the Kesler injury.

To replace Kesler down the middle, the Canucks have undergone a significant lineup shakeup up.

They decided to send Andrew Ebbett back to their AHL affiliate. It’s expected Mason Raymond, a natural winger, will centre the teams’ second line between Jannik Hansen and Chris Higgins.

“I have played it from time to time, but not a ton,” Raymond said. “I’ve spent the majority of my career on the wing.

“I talked with Manny and a few guys about (face-offs). But when you have your wingers coming in and helping out, it’s key.”

It should make things interesting against the L.A. Kings, especially if Raymond is on the ice much against their star centre Anze Kopitar.

Cory Schneider will start in net for the Canucks a game after he expressed some frustration. Six of his 10 games this season he’s allowed at least three goals.

“They’re the defending champs, they got off to a slow start but they are starting to look like the team that won it all last year,” Schneider said. “We have a tough game ahead of us. We have to work for every inch of the ice out there.”

Schneider, of course, was the losing goalie in the deciding game when the Kings and the Canucks met in the 2012 playoffs.

“It’s always exciting to play the defending champs,” Schneider said. “These are the kind of games where you measure yourself against some of the best in the league.

“We feel we are in the upper echelon of this league, but we have to do it against teams like this.”

The Canucks are just 4-5-3 against teams outside of their division. Schneider said whatever frustration he felt after losing to the Coyotes Tuesday at home is gone.

“You have to have a short-term memory, I’m not going to sit and dwell about it,” Schneider said. “I’m not going to let it fester, not even the good things. You can’t sit on it too long because you have to go out and do it again.

“It was a bad night. I was a little upset but the next day I was fine.”

Bieksa skated at practice on a pairing with Cam Barker, leaving the strong impression he’s not yet recovered from a groin injury which has been bothering him for three weeks. Because of it, he’s missed the past two games and is expected to miss Saturday’s game against the Kings.

“The first time skating obviously there is going to be some feeling there,” Bieksa said. “But it felt good. I was happy with the way I felt today. We’ll have to see how I feel when I wake up in the morning. We have a lot of games coming up in a short period here so I don’t want to come back and have to leave again and leave my team shorthanded.

“So I’d like to make sure that I’m ready if I come back and be able to play the back-to-back.”

jbotchford@theprovince.com