Brad Gushue will take a new Alberta-influenced lineup out for a test drive later next week in Victoria.

And if he likes what he sees from two new players — Grande Prairie’s Geoff Walker and Prince Edward Island’s Adam Casey — you can expect Gushue and third Ryan Fry to make that lineup official for the run-up to the 2013 Olympic Trials and the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Walker, 25, and Casey, 21, spent last weekend in St. John’s, Nfld., training with Gushue and Fry in preparation for the Victoria Curling Classic, which kicks off next Thursday, and that’s where Gushue and Fry will make the final determination on whether the newcomers will make the grade in a bid to replace longtime third Mark Nichols, who announced last month that he’s taking a break from competitive curling, and plug a revolving-door hole at lead.

“We have the luxury of being able to test it out before the (2011-12) season goes,” said Gushue, the 2006 Olympic gold-medallist, on Wednesday. “But I would think that barring something not working out, this will probably be the direction we’ll end up going.”

Both have extensive junior national experience, with Walker having won two world junior titles with Calgary’s Charley Thomas (the latter as the alternate), and Casey winning a world junior silver medal in 2009 with Brett Gallant.