The Swans host the Kangaroos at the SCG on Sunday in a meeting of two of the AFL's form sides, with the Swans three from three this season and North producing an impressive upset over premiers Geelong last weekend.
Goodes was poised to celebrate his club record 304th game on home soil before a one-match suspension was upheld by the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night.
The Swans will still have plenty of inspiration, with the match to be played for the HeartKids Cup in support of families of children with heart disease, an initiative of McVeigh's after he lost his daughter Luella to serious heart complications in August last year.
McVeigh admitted missing Goodes was a big blow but said the Swans were a side with increasing depth and getting stronger in their second year under John Longmire.
"He's obviously one of our best players and we need him out there, but having said that we'll have someone who's ready to step up," McVeigh said.
"I think we've got a lot more depth this year. There's a lot of guys who can come in and play well for us and I think you saw that with Jesse White coming in for Lewis Roberts-Thomson (against Port Adelaide last week).
"... It would have been nice to have (Goodes' milestone) here with a packed house at the SCG, but it's not going to happen and we move on."
Goodes' suspension also rules him out of contention for a third Brownlow Medal, but McVeigh said the veteran would be more disappointed about missing an important match.
"I don't think it (the Brownlow) would concern him so much. He's already won two so it doesn't really matter," McVeigh said.
Sunday's occasion will carry special weight for both sides, with Kangaroos' great Glenn Archer another to have been affected by heart disease, with his daughter Madison battling a life-threatening condition.
McVeigh said he contacted the Kangaroos before the season to organise the initiative and continued to carry Luella's memory with him.
"It's always there in my mind and it's never going to leave me," he said.
"I'm proud of my little girl and my family has had a lot of support.
"To have a special day and to be playing for something I'm going to hold dear to me ... it's going to be a good day."
