Miss the playoffs, somewhere around 12th pick...
This season, the core had something to prove (that the previous year was an anomaly). They squeaked in. Once in, there really is no excuse why they lost. They should have won, and they beat themselves, IMO. If they were going to prove a capable playoff team, that this core still had it, it would have been this year. I'm betting that the team now knows it too. It's getting old... It's getting stale. Just making the playoffs seemed good enough for everyone involved... And yet, the new being brought in to bring life isn't going to keep the engine going, nevermind move things to bigger and better from the present. This Canucks team has been outstanding... but can't just plug and play new players in. To keep this heart of a Canuck running would take the skillful hands of a surgeon... Not the simple hands of a butcher.
Next season, this motivation has lost some of it's "pull". The Sedins rumbling about ice time (and a few other players) to me implies frustration in the room. For everything we hear, there's a lot more that we don't. I'm also betting that the team is going to run with Miller and Markstrom. Miller either regresses a bit, or is injured a lot, and Markstrom doesn't do as great a Lack impression in the absence. More responsibility for Sbisa, more playing of the non-waiver eligible group, and questionable roster deployment decisions... I think adds up to around 12th place overall. If Hamhuis is traded, and Sbisa is counted on to be his replacement, could get into the top 10.
If I'm a Benning advisor, my advice is to keep all of his 2016 picks. With multiple members of the core hitting UFA next year, it does seem like the right time to officially announce the closing of the old book... through trading those impending UFA's for picks at the deadline. Fully appreciate what this team has done... It's been a lot of fun. But, time can be both great, and cruel... and this time, it's time to get the shovels and rope.