NHL
Summer is great but hockey season is better. It’s time for a Vancouver Canucks Season Preview. As many of you know, the Canucks are my favorite team. I live in Vancouver and was born here. I became a Canucks fan in 2009, right when the Canucks were becoming contenders for the Stanley Cup. The 2011 Playoff run skyrocketed my love for hockey and the Canucks and I became a die-hard fan. Now the team has fallen into hard times.
In the offseason, the Canucks signed forwards Jay Beagle and Antoine Rousell to identical four-year contracts. They also signed forward Tim Schaller for two years. GM Jim Benning wanted to add more grit. They also resigned forwards Jake Virtanen and Sven Baertschi as well as defenceman Troy Stecher.
In this Vancouver Canucks Season Preview, I will be discussing the storylines, players to watch, rookies to watch and potential lineups.
First, here are the storylines.
End of the Sedin Era and The Beginning of a New One
Henrik and Daniel Sedin have been the heart and soul of the Canucks for seventeen seasons but they have retired. It’s going to feel weird seeing the Canucks without them. Now that they are gone, it is time for a new era. The Canucks have a lot of great young players into the system and fans are excited for them. That brings us into the next storyline.
Youth Movement
With the Sedins gone, the Canucks have a lot of youth in their lineup. First, we start with future captain Bo Horvat. He seems to get better every season and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. We can’t forget the sniping Brock Boeser. Despite injuries, he finished second in Calder voting last season and was the Canucks leading scorer. He’s been lighting it up in the Da Beauty League and next season we should expect him to score tons. The Canucks also have Adam Gaudette, Elias Pettersson, Jake Virtanen, Troy Stecher and Olli Juolevi. I’ll get into them later in the article.
Lose For Hughes?
The Canucks drafted Quinn Hughes in last June’s NHL Entry Draft. What if they drafted his brother Jack with the first overall pick in next June’s draft? The draft is in Vancouver as well. (I’m going to get my tickets the first chance I get.) It would be fitting to have another set of brothers in Vancouver. This team is going to be pretty bad next season and will be competing for that number 1 pick. Fans are divided on #TeamTank and #TeamCompete. I’m in the middle. I wouldn’t mind the Canucks losing every night and playing competitive exciting hockey next season. If it means the Canucks get a high pick, I’m all for it. However, knowing the Canucks luck in the lottery, it’s going to be tough.
I already talked about Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser so here are some players to watch next season.
Jake Virtanen
The Canucks resigned Virtanen to a two-year 2.5 million dollar contract. Virtanen has been training with Youtuber Pavel Barber in the offseason. He has tremendous skating skills as well as a deadly wrist shot. He uses his size well as he can throw the body around. If he drives to the net he can create a lot of scoring chances. I expect Virtanen to improve next season and maybe he can finally break out.
Nikolay Goldobin
Goldobin is good with the puck. He can score goals and create offense and scoring chances. However, he needs to work on his game away from the puck. his defensive game needs work. Goldobin has some consistency issues but he can work them out. Like Virtanen, it’s possible he can break out as well next season.
Brendan Leipsic
Here is a player you shouldn’t sleep on. I was stoked when the Canucks traded defenceman Philip Holm to Vegas for Brendan Leipsic. Leipsic is a player who gets into the skin of his opponents and has an excellent two-way ability. He knows how to score goals too. He was good down the stretch for the Canucks and he looks like he is getting better.
Jay Beagle
The term is too much. Three million is fine but four years is way too much. Putting that aside, Jay Beagle is actually a very good fourth liner. He plays well defensively and is great in the face-off circle. Beagle can play the boards well and can help on the penalty kill. It will be interesting to see how well he does in his first year with the Canucks after winning the cup with Washington last year.
Troy Stecher
The Richmond B.C. native was resigned to a two-year two million dollar contract. Stecher has the potential to be a very reliable top for the defenceman. He plays well with the puck and has good stride getting up the ice. He was the best Canucks defenceman last season and hopefully can be next season as well.
The Canucks are going to have some rookies in the lineup. Here is a look at potential rookies for next season.
Elias Pettersson
A rookie that has so much hype here in Vancouver. An excellent two-way forward who can help make plays. He has amazing hands and shows off some jaw-dropping moves. He had a record-breaking season in the SHL and has won many honors. Canucks fans will have plenty of fun watching him next season and he is a possible contender for the Calder Trophy. The only question now is will his transition to the NHL go smoothly?
Adam Gaudette
The 2018 Hobey Baker Winner played a few games with the Canucks just as last season was ending. He played all right. He made some good passes and tried to help set up plays. We haven’t seen much of him so he has an opportunity to shine next season.
Olli Juolevi
When Olli Juolevi was drafted in 2016, some Canucks fans were mad at Jim Benning for passing on Matthew Tkachuk. However, we shouldn’t be so quick to call Olli Juolevi a bust. Defenceman usually takes a bit longer to develop. Juolevi has the potential to be a decent top two defenceman. He skates well, is good with the puck and can play all three zones on the ice. He can help shut down opponents and create scoring chances as well as help on the special teams. If he has a good camp and plays well during the preseason, we could see him on Travis Green’s opening line up.
Thatcher Demko
The Canucks goalie of the future, some scouts have compared him to Pekka Rinne. He is a very athletic goalie who is always prepared for each shot. He has put up decent numbers with the Utica Comets and could be the back up to Jacob Markstrom nest season.
Potential Line up
My biggest issue with the Canucks free agent signing is that they now have too many forwards. I know they are trying to make the kids compete for a roster spot but know it is hard to predict who is in and who is out of the lineup. So here is my best prediction for the Canucks opening night line up that will likely be wrong. The question mark means I’m not sure whether they go where I put them or even make the lineup
Forwards
Baertschi- Horvat- Boeser
Granlund- Pettersson- Virtanen
Roussel-Sutter- Eriksson
Leipsic?-Beagle- Goldobin?
Extras: Schaller,Gaudette?, Gagner?, Gaunce
Defenceman
Edler-Stecher
Juolevi?-Tanev
Gudbranson- Pouliot
Extras: Hutton, Del Zotto, Biega
Goalies
Markstrom
Demko?
Extras: Nilsson
Follow Joshua on Twitter: @JoshDoesStuff91
TSJ 101 Sports is now selling shirts, hoodies, baseball t-shirts, phone cases, mugs and a lot more! –> Buy Your TSJ 101 Sports Merch Today!
