With the NHL season now just a month away, it’s time to look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come. Today, we focus on the Vancouver Canucks.
Last Season: 31-40-11 record (73 points), seventh in the Pacific Division
Remaining Cap Space: $9.27MM per CapFriendly
Key Additions: F Jay Beagle (free agent, Washington), F Antoine Roussel (free agent, Dallas), F Tim Schaller (free agent, Boston)
Key Departures: F Nic Dowd (free agent, Washington), F Jussi Jokinen (free agent, unsigned), F Daniel Sedin (retirement), F Henrik Sedin (retirement)
[Related: Canucks Depth Chart From Roster Resource]
Player To Watch: F Elias Pettersson – Vancouver’s top pick in 2017 did about everything there was to do in the SHL last season. Not only did Pettersson lead the league in scoring, he also took home Rookie of the Year honors as well as regular season and playoff MVP while winning medals at the World Juniors (silver) and World Championships (gold). Suffice it to say, he showed that he’s ready to try his hand at the NHL in 2018-19.
The 19-year-old is viewed as Vancouver’s long-term center of the future but it has been suggested in the past that the team may opt to start him on the wing to allow him to ease into his defensive responsibilities. That’s an approach that several teams have taken in the past and it seems to work well.
Although they’re two different types of players, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some compare Pettersson to Brock Boeser. Boeser came into last season viewed as a top prospect and made a huge impact and they’re hopeful that the Swede can make a similar mark.
With the Sedins leaving and not really being replaced (their offseason additions are better suited as bottom-six forwards), Pettersson should have a chance to jump into a top-six role quite quickly. If he progresses as quickly as he did in Sweden, he could wind up being a contender for the Calder Trophy while showing that the Canucks have a high-end one-two punch up front to build around.
Key Storyline: The sudden departure of Trevor Linden from the front office caught many by surprise. While both sides have stayed quiet, numerous reports have stated that the reason for his departure stemmed from a desire from ownership to get back into playoff contention sooner than later while Linden’s philosophy was to be more patient.
With Linden now gone and Jim Benning holding more control now, there has been speculation that the team could be looking to make a big splash on the trade front. Given that they’ve lost two top-six forwards without really replacing them (instead of hoping for internal candidates to push through), that would presumably be the area they’d look to target.
Is that the right approach for them to take, however? It’s not as if Vancouver narrowly missed out on the postseason last year; they were 22 points behind Colorado for the final playoff spot. The current state of their roster says they should continue the path they’re on but ownership appears to want to go the other direction. Which approach will ultimately win out?
Overall Outlook: With Boeser and Pettersson up front plus goalie Thatcher Demko and defenseman Quinn Hughes in the pipeline, the future looks bright for the Canucks. However, this is the present and their roster as currently constructed does not appear to be anywhere near good enough to contend for a postseason spot. Unless they make a big splash (or two), another year outside of the postseason appears to be the likely outcome in Vancouver.
Linden was nothing more than a hometown hero hire to make locals happy. He has no GM prowess and he will not be missed.
The Canucks were hot last year until their whole top six got injured. That being said, they’re still a year or two from contention