Training Camp / Opening day roster:
The signing of Beagle and Rousell and the lack of changes on D indicate that the Canucks are not prepared to lose with youth but are not good enough to win with experience or youth. They are prepared to have Pettersson make the team and are hopeful that Juolevi will as well, but have pretty much setup a competition between Goldobin / Leipsic on the wing and Gagner / Granlund as utility forwards. It is very clear that they plan to play Pettersson with Sutter and Eriksson. Dahlen and Gaudette will have to be mind blowingly good to force their way into the lineup and then it will be at the expense of Goldobin and leipsic. The D will be mostly unchanged from last year. They have been trying to move Ben Hutton, but so far there have been no takers. There will be an open competition for the backup goalie position between Demko and Nilsson - too hard to call at this point.
I think Gaudette, Dahen and Juolevi have the best chance of having impactful enough pre-seasons to force roster moves. I don't think Gadjovich or Lind are quite ready to challenge for a roster spot yet. Juolevi has the best opportunity - but since he is waiver exempt, even if he could start in Utica while they try to trade Hutton or Del Zotto to make space for him.
No sense posting a lineup - everyone knows what it will look like.
Season performance:
Offensively, the Canucks scored only 218 goals last year. This is not surprising since Horvat, Boeser and Baertschi missed 18, 20 and 29 games respectively, Vanek was moved at the TDL, Henrik's production dropped off the charts and Eriksson's bounce back season landed with a thud. We also got only 21 goals from our entire D.
This season, Horvat and Boeser are going to be expected to carry the offense without the Sedins, but with no other offensive support (Eriksson, Sutter and Pettersson - 2nd line) they are going to face intense checking every night. I know Benning and Green are hoping that Pettersson can reignite some kind of offensive rennaissance in Eriksson, but I think Eriksson is done as an offensive player and at any rate, with Sutter at C, it is unlikely. If Horvat, Boeser and Baertschi are healthy for the full season, they should make up for some of the loss of Daniel and Vanek, but realistically, to improve on last seasons 218 goals, Pettersson is going to have to have a Calder season and guys like Eriksson, Goldobin, Gagner, Granlund and Virtanen are going to have to pick it up a lot. We will also need better than 21 goals from our D.
The D was bad last year and is virtually unchanged. They gave up 259 goals (26th ranked) but were decimated by injuries (only Pouliot and Del Zotto played more than 70 games). This could improve if Tanev and Edler are healthy and Stecher and Hutton rebound from poor seasons. One of the keys will be moving Edler off of the first unit PP - while he lead the D in points with 34 (and 6 goals) I think if we are going with Newell Brown's perferred 4 forward set, Stecher would be a better option on the point. Tanev is not going to contribute much offensively, but if healthy he could make a big dent in the goals and shots against. I think Stecher is capable of far more. By the end of the season, either through injuries or merrit, Juolevi will be playing full time.
In 2017-18, the goal tending was mediocre and inconsistent last year. The plan appearred to be to let Markstom and Nilsson compete in a 1/1A situation, but Markstom struggled early with bad goals from impossible angles. Nilsson was hot early on, but got very little offensive support when he started and Markstrom still got the majority of the starts. From the new year on however Nilsson was horrible and Markstrom steadily improved. Nilsson showed real poise at the World Championships but will have to compete with Demko for the backup position.
Trade Deadline
Gagner and Hutton are almost certain to be moved at the TDL, however once again, Benning will get very little value for them. But they will make space for Gaudette and Quinn Hughes (if his season ends in time) as late season roster additions.
Standings:
I think only Detroit and Arizona will finish below us in the standing. We will lose the draft lottery and end up picking 5th.
The signing of Beagle and Rousell and the lack of changes on D indicate that the Canucks are not prepared to lose with youth but are not good enough to win with experience or youth. They are prepared to have Pettersson make the team and are hopeful that Juolevi will as well, but have pretty much setup a competition between Goldobin / Leipsic on the wing and Gagner / Granlund as utility forwards. It is very clear that they plan to play Pettersson with Sutter and Eriksson. Dahlen and Gaudette will have to be mind blowingly good to force their way into the lineup and then it will be at the expense of Goldobin and leipsic. The D will be mostly unchanged from last year. They have been trying to move Ben Hutton, but so far there have been no takers. There will be an open competition for the backup goalie position between Demko and Nilsson - too hard to call at this point.
I think Gaudette, Dahen and Juolevi have the best chance of having impactful enough pre-seasons to force roster moves. I don't think Gadjovich or Lind are quite ready to challenge for a roster spot yet. Juolevi has the best opportunity - but since he is waiver exempt, even if he could start in Utica while they try to trade Hutton or Del Zotto to make space for him.
No sense posting a lineup - everyone knows what it will look like.
Season performance:
Offensively, the Canucks scored only 218 goals last year. This is not surprising since Horvat, Boeser and Baertschi missed 18, 20 and 29 games respectively, Vanek was moved at the TDL, Henrik's production dropped off the charts and Eriksson's bounce back season landed with a thud. We also got only 21 goals from our entire D.
This season, Horvat and Boeser are going to be expected to carry the offense without the Sedins, but with no other offensive support (Eriksson, Sutter and Pettersson - 2nd line) they are going to face intense checking every night. I know Benning and Green are hoping that Pettersson can reignite some kind of offensive rennaissance in Eriksson, but I think Eriksson is done as an offensive player and at any rate, with Sutter at C, it is unlikely. If Horvat, Boeser and Baertschi are healthy for the full season, they should make up for some of the loss of Daniel and Vanek, but realistically, to improve on last seasons 218 goals, Pettersson is going to have to have a Calder season and guys like Eriksson, Goldobin, Gagner, Granlund and Virtanen are going to have to pick it up a lot. We will also need better than 21 goals from our D.
The D was bad last year and is virtually unchanged. They gave up 259 goals (26th ranked) but were decimated by injuries (only Pouliot and Del Zotto played more than 70 games). This could improve if Tanev and Edler are healthy and Stecher and Hutton rebound from poor seasons. One of the keys will be moving Edler off of the first unit PP - while he lead the D in points with 34 (and 6 goals) I think if we are going with Newell Brown's perferred 4 forward set, Stecher would be a better option on the point. Tanev is not going to contribute much offensively, but if healthy he could make a big dent in the goals and shots against. I think Stecher is capable of far more. By the end of the season, either through injuries or merrit, Juolevi will be playing full time.
In 2017-18, the goal tending was mediocre and inconsistent last year. The plan appearred to be to let Markstom and Nilsson compete in a 1/1A situation, but Markstom struggled early with bad goals from impossible angles. Nilsson was hot early on, but got very little offensive support when he started and Markstrom still got the majority of the starts. From the new year on however Nilsson was horrible and Markstrom steadily improved. Nilsson showed real poise at the World Championships but will have to compete with Demko for the backup position.
Trade Deadline
Gagner and Hutton are almost certain to be moved at the TDL, however once again, Benning will get very little value for them. But they will make space for Gaudette and Quinn Hughes (if his season ends in time) as late season roster additions.
Standings:
I think only Detroit and Arizona will finish below us in the standing. We will lose the draft lottery and end up picking 5th.
