Speculation: Are The Canucks For Real This Time?

[Petey But Really Jim]

Heeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyy-ight thirty on a Friday. Sweet, sweet Friday.

 

[Hammer79]

Just a general comment. It would be nice if the NHL rewarded teams for doing well after the trade deadline. Use some sort of formula where once the trade line passed, the teams that tanked lost draft position and the one that did well got rewarded. It certainly would make the last 20 games more interesting, and have teams like Chi get their asses kicked for having a roster like the one the Canucks played against.

All of the sudden, the Coyotes and Blackhawks of the league ADD at the NHL deadline because they want to do the best after the deadline, driving up rental prices. It would be hilarious to see a tank team load up for the last 20 games.

 

[alternate]

Yes.

We'd be a playoff team this year if we had had even league average goaltending all season.

EP and QH are both better players today than they were in October. All the complaining about the amount of minutes those 2 have been getting ignores the fact that our franchise center and franchise dman need those minutes because they are also still developing. As good as they have been in past years, they needed to be used like the franchise cornerstones they are to prove to themselves that they could handle the minutes.

How many teams have a better 1G-1D-1C combo than us, the was all 3 are playing right now? And of the teams that have a comparable or better battery, how many are not legit contenders? Just having EP40 and QH43 take another step makes this group "real."

They're also a group that will start attracting role playing UFAs at a discount. There's UFAs that want top dollar, bit there's also UFAs that will take less to fill a role on a competitive team. Think this roster and this FO will start being attractive to those guys as soon as this July.

Still some work to do, sure. But turn Boeser and Myers into a top4 dman and a 3C, and imo we are in the mix with anyone in the conference. I'm excited to see how this offseason goes, and expect it will be the last season without playoff games for a while.

 

[Paradise Circus]

 

[M2Beezy]

Is this the new tank thread?

Not sure about you Mathy but Im starting to get the feeling we may lose out on the Bedard sweepstakes

 

[sandwichbird2023]

Is the Yotes for real? Because in the same stretch they had as good a record as we do, while playing against tougher teams.

I don't doubt the Nucks should be in the wild card race next season, but that can be said for all but the Ducks/Sharks/Hawks for next season. And if one of them wins the Bedard race, you can eliminate them from the list as well.

So sure, the Nucks might be "for real" this time, along with 13-14 teams in the West...if the bar is set at wild card race. I don't think they are "for real" as in being cup contender though.

 

[racerjoe]

Is the Yotes for real? Because in the same stretch they had as good a record as we do, while playing against tougher teams.

I don't doubt the Nucks should be in the wild card race next season, but that can be said for all but the Ducks/Sharks/Hawks for next season. And if one of them wins the Bedard race, you can eliminate them from the list as well.

So sure, the Nucks might be "for real" this time, along with 13-14 teams in the West...if the bar is set at wild card race. I don't think they are "for real" as in being cup contender though.

I agree with the over all general statement you made here, but I don't see any of the teams you mentioned as teams that should be in the wild card race next year. Not without off seasons that would be much tougher to pull off than ours.

 

[Raistlin]

in October this year, most of Vancouver think they can challenge for the WC, and continue with being good enough to be eliminated by the top seeds if the team is lucky. then Demko started to play hurt,

annnd the season is shot.

Next year, we make our band-aid moves. get all jacked for the new season, and god forbid one of EP, Hughes or Demko goes down. and the season is lost again in December. This draft is supposed to expand the core of the paper thin team. well... no luck now. A team like Boston can survive the season without Marchand/Bergeron AND McAvoy, Colorado minus all their core members for stretches, Landeskog for the full year, Vegas minus Stone and their goalies. Upcoming teams like NJ and Kings will be much the same. Canucks are building a Oilers type team minus a McDavid, ......Canucks are ......more like a Nashville type team that cannot afford to lose Josi or Saros or they miss the playoffs.

Until they have depth, they are not "For Real".

they need to wait out the bad contracts and regain flexibility, every bandaid move weakens the team in 3 years and shortens their window of contention at EP and QH's prime. I dont forsee the team being for real in the next 3 years unless they find a Mikey Anderson, Maccelli or Batherson level gem from the depths of the draft, or! have lighting strike twice and grab another Kuzmenko from Europe on defense. Their for real window if everything goes right is in year 4. and maybe last a bit longer than Winnipeg's. Jets, have a bad rep about their city, Canucks a bad rep about their management.

 

[mathonwy]

Not sure about you Mathy but Im starting to get the feeling we may lose out on the Bedard sweepstakes

Don’t stop believing.

 

[sandwichbird2023]

I agree with the over all general statement you made here, but I don't see any of the teams you mentioned as teams that should be in the wild card race next year. Not without off seasons that would be much tougher to pull off than ours.

Maybe I wasn't clear in my post, but I listed the Sharks, Ducks and Hawks as the only teams that are clearly bottom feeders next season with no shot at even a wild card spot. So that means of the 16 teams in the west, 13 is clearly at least battling for a playoff spot. Therefore, the "for real" part is a pretty low bar to set.