Speculation: Where do YOU think your Vancouver Canucks will finish in the standings this season?

[GPNuck]

It is funny to always see the same teams as last year put close to where they finished last year. The Canucks were ranked highly heading into last season, how did that pan out? I don't see Anaheim being as good as last year or san jose. Anh is relying on very young goalies and lost a lot of players. Say what you will about their age but that will hurt them and they still have lots of growing to do on D. San Jose is just a mess and I think this will be their year that the Canucks just had. I think Colorado likely won't repeat their performance from last year either but LA and Chicago are likely even harder to beat this year.

Did you forget Anaheim traded for Kesler? I am a betting man and Me thinks Anaheim will have no problem finishing top 3 in the west

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Did you forget Anaheim traded for Kesler? I am a betting man and Me thinks Anaheim will have no problem finishing top 3 in the west

I think Anaheim's depth will help them a lot this season but fade during the post-season. This'll be a learning year for a lot of young Ducks to see if they can fly or not. Don't expect a lot of them will. I can't see Anaheim taking it home this year without 2011 efforts from RK17. I don't think he has very many of those cards to play anymore. But in 2 years they'll be a Cup Contender for sure. They got lucky last season with goaltending.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

The big 3:

1) LA
2) Chicago
3) Anaheim

The darkhorse:

4) St. Louis

The mid 4

5) Colorado
6) San Jose
7) Dallas
8) Vancouver

The 'oh so close'

9) Minnesota
10) Phoenix

The no chance

11) Nashville
12) Calgary
13) Winnipeg
14) Edmonton

-----

So on paper, I think the Canucks need to play better than Minnesota, Phoenix and possibly Nashville. There's also a strong chance Dallas and San Jose drop, so I see playoffs for the Canucks.

Get past the first round against LA and it may be another Cinderella cup run.

LA never finishes high during the season. They seem to epitomize being a playoff team, though I suppose Gaborik does add the missing link they've lacked in prior years. Still, I feel St. Louis is the big threat coming out of the west as far as the season is concerned. They were decimated by injuries and still kept pace in the President Trophy race. If I were to gamble our first round opponent, it's them. We could face Anaheim if we finish 6-7th though. That would be fun.

 

[y2kcanucks]

LA never finishes high during the season. They seem to epitomize being a playoff team, though I suppose Gaborik does add the missing link they've lacked in prior years. Still, I feel St. Louis is the big threat coming out of the west as far as the season is concerned. They were decimated by injuries and still kept pace in the President Trophy race. If I were to gamble our first round opponent, it's them. We could face Anaheim if we finish 6-7th though. That would be fun.

How is this team going to finish 6-7th? Let alone top 10 in the West?

 

[Serac]

How is this team going to finish 6-7th? Let alone top 10 in the West?

I agree getting to 6th would be quite the feat
But let alone top 10 ?

Calgary and Winnipeg I think won't be very good
Edmonton *could* be better, but are probably still a year or two away
Pho...Arizona, likely won't amount to too much as well

That gives us 10 spot right there

Nashville has huge question marks up the middle and could easily falter

I personally think everyone is over rating San Jose, given their whole indecisiveness, with their vets as well as their goalie...a losing streak, which happens to everyone, could easily make them fall apart

And by that same token, I think people overrate Colorado, though they'll still likely be quite good

If things fall in place (and even then, we don't Need absolutely Everything to fall in place) we're battling for #7-8

 

[y2kcanucks]

I agree getting to 6th would be quite the feat
But let alone top 10 ?

Calgary and Winnipeg I think won't be very good
Edmonton *could* be better, but are probably still a year or two away
Pho...Arizona, likely won't amount to too much as well

That gives us 10 spot right there

Nashville has huge question marks up the middle and could easily falter

I personally think everyone is over rating San Jose, given their whole indecisiveness, with their vets as well as their goalie...a losing streak, which happens to everyone, could easily make them fall apart

And by that same token, I think people overrate Colorado, though they'll still likely be quite good

If things fall in place (and even then, we don't Need absolutely Everything to fall in place) we're battling for #7-8

Our roster reminds me a lot of Calgary, except we don't have the young guns they have.

How is this team better than San Jose or Colorado? Please explain.

Arizona is a team that, in theory should be garbage, but somehow they are always in the hunt. Not good enough to make the playoffs though, but they'll be a 9-11 spot team.

Nashville is a bit of a wildcard. A full year with a healthy Rinne should get them back in the hunt, and they have improved their offense. Considering the upgrades Nashville has going into this season I don't understand how you think they've gotten worse than us. How are we any better?

 

[Fat Tony]

Calgary and Winnipeg I think won't be very good
Edmonton *could* be better, but are probably still a year or two away
Pho...Arizona, likely won't amount to too much as well

That gives us 10 spot right there

The assumption here is that "not very good"="worse than the Canucks".

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

How is this team going to finish 6-7th? Let alone top 10 in the West?

If.

While I think we will be in a dogfight regardless, it is not impossible. Just depends on the Sedins and Bonino. If you think they will all have subpar to awful seasons, then we're out.

 

[Numbers]

Our roster reminds me a lot of Calgary, except we don't have the young guns they have.

How is this team better than San Jose or Colorado? Please explain.

Arizona is a team that, in theory should be garbage, but somehow they are always in the hunt. Not good enough to make the playoffs though, but they'll be a 9-11 spot team.

Nashville is a bit of a wildcard. A full year with a healthy Rinne should get them back in the hunt, and they have improved their offense. Considering the upgrades Nashville has going into this season I don't understand how you think they've gotten worse than us. How are we any better?

Best of Division

Forwards
1. L.A.
2. ANA
3. SJS
4. VAN

Defence
1. L.A.
2. VAN
3. ANA
4. SJS

Goalies
1. L.A. (Quick, Jones)
2. VAN (Miller, Lack)
3. SJS (Niemi, Stallock)
4. ANA (Gibson, Anderson)

All rankings are debatable but I feel pretty comfortable with the forwards and goaltending. I don't see how Niemi or Anaheims young goalies are better then Miller and Lack, especially over an entire season. Defence is a lot closer, though I see (Hamhuis, Bieksa, Edler, Tanev) > (Fowler, Beauchemin, Lindholm, Vatanen) or (Vlasic, Burns, Demers, Braun). Anaheims defence is younger and I could see being better in the future, but for contending now Ill take Vancouvers.

All in all if Canucks are top 2 at defence and goaltending I don't see why a finishing 3rd isn't feasible.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Best of Division

Forwards
1. L.A.
2. ANA
3. SJS
4. VAN

Defence
1. L.A.
2. VAN
3. ANA
4. SJS

Goalies
1. L.A. (Quick, Jones)
2. VAN (Miller, Lack)
3. SJS (Niemi, Stallock)
4. ANA (Gibson, Anderson)

All rankings are debatable but I feel pretty comfortable with the forwards and goaltending. I don't see how Niemi or Anaheims young goalies are better then Miller and Lack, especially over an entire season. Defence is a lot closer, though I see (Hamhuis, Bieksa, Edler, Tanev) > (Fowler, Beauchemin, Lindholm, Vatanen) or (Vlasic, Burns, Demers, Braun). Anaheims defence is younger and I could see being better in the future, but for contending now Ill take Vancouvers.

All in all if Canucks are top 2 at defence and goaltending I don't see why a finishing 3rd isn't feasible.

I would take Edmonton's forwards over ours at this point. I think our defense is greatly overrated too. Edler has taken a huge step back in recent years and has become one of the most overrated players on our team. Our forwards are terrible. Rivals Calgary, except Calgary has some young talent on their way up.

Goaltending is meh. It's about average.

 

[canucksfan]

I would take Edmonton's forwards over ours at this point. I think our defense is greatly overrated too. Edler has taken a huge step back in recent years and has become one of the most overrated players on our team. Our forwards are terrible. Rivals Calgary, except Calgary has some young talent on their way up.

Goaltending is meh. It's about average.

Nucks depth on D isn't very good either. Hamhius, Bieska or Tanev miss some time then it severely weakens the D.

 

[Numbers]

I would take Edmonton's forwards over ours at this point. I think our defense is greatly overrated too. Edler has taken a huge step back in recent years and has become one of the most overrated players on our team. Our forwards are terrible. Rivals Calgary, except Calgary has some young talent on their way up.

Goaltending is meh. It's about average.

Why would you take Edmontons forwards? Their second line has even more question marks then ours and their bottoms 6 is not close to as deep.

Goaltending is average. So does that mean Anaheims and San Jose is below average? Need a relative point of comparison.

What forwards on Calgary do you like other then Monahan? Bennett hasn't played yet, and might go back to juniors.

Why is our defence overrated? Again relative comparison.

Pretty easy to shoot down your points. Need more substance. I have read a lot of your posts and most are pretty similar. Yes you are negative about the team, but it's not like other teams don't have problems.

 

[Numbers]

Nucks depth on D isn't very good either. Hamhius, Bieska or Tanev miss some time then it severely weakens the D.

Sbisa, Stanton, Corrado, Weber are the depth. You can stack that up against any other team in the division. Your comment is true for every team that loses a top 4 dman lol.

 

[Numbers]

Not surprised that most people around here don't do much analysis when thinking about their comments. It's easy to say something is good or bad. What's more difficult is comparing the assets to the market to determine what is good. Also if you you don't look at every player on a teams roster and analyze the specific role they play then you don't understand the team. Have to take a team as a whole, not just individual goals and assists. Same goes for Corsi or advanced stats. Run a team through scenarios.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Why would you take Edmontons forwards? Their second line has even more question marks then ours and their bottoms 6 is not close to as deep.

Goaltending is average. So does that mean Anaheims and San Jose is below average? Need a relative point of comparison.

What forwards on Calgary do you like other then Monahan? Bennett hasn't played yet, and might go back to juniors.

Why is our defence overrated? Again relative comparison.

Pretty easy to shoot down your points. Need more substance. I have read a lot of your posts and most are pretty similar. Yes you are negative about the team, but it's not like other teams don't have problems.

People are too positive and optimistic about this team. There's a slew of third liners on this team, and a couple second liners. I don't see legitimate first liners on this team who can be our go-to guys and take over a game. I see a bunch of players pigeonholed in roles that they aren't suited for. The only way this team could possibly win is if we have someone like Ken Hitchcock or Dave Tippett coaching and we go into an all-out defensive trap mode. Definitely not something anyone wants to see, especially since it's not even guaranteed to take us far.

Hamhuis and Tanev are solid. Bieksa is erratic, but I love his leadership and his heart. Edler looks like hot steamy garbage. Stanton was decent, but does he have a role anymore? Sbisa is an expensive number 7 dman.

Ryan Miller is one of the most overrated goalies in the NHL IMO. He had one great season, and a bunch of average seasons. How does he give us an advantage over others in the league or in our division?

 

[Numbers]

People are too positive and optimistic about this team. There's a slew of third liners on this team, and a couple second liners. I don't see legitimate first liners on this team who can be our go-to guys and take over a game. I see a bunch of players pigeonholed in roles that they aren't suited for. The only way this team could possibly win is if we have someone like Ken Hitchcock or Dave Tippett coaching and we go into an all-out defensive trap mode. Definitely not something anyone wants to see, especially since it's not even guaranteed to take us far.

Hamhuis and Tanev are solid. Bieksa is erratic, but I love his leadership and his heart. Edler looks like hot steamy garbage. Stanton was decent, but does he have a role anymore? Sbisa is an expensive number 7 dman.

Ryan Miller is one of the most overrated goalies in the NHL IMO. He had one great season, and a bunch of average seasons. How does he give us an advantage over others in the league or in our division?

So we have a slew of third liners. Compared to what? Take Anaheim as an example: behind Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler one could argue they have a slew of third liners. Your argument is similar to what people consider a number 1 defenceman. How many are there? Well based on logic there should be 30, one for each team. We know this isn't the case. I think that most people consider there are 10-15. I don't think you truly know what a top 6 forward is.

Edler is garbage. Hmmm well that is descriptive. Why is this the case? Bad plus/minus? Compare him to other dmen in the division. If what you say is true you should easily come up with 30+ Dmen who are better in our division. Good luck with that, although I know you would never put the effort in based on past history.

Why is miller overrated? How do evaluate goalies? He had a bunch of average seasons based on what? Pretty sure this could be argued for every goalie except for the elite top 5 in the league and more specifically Quick in our division. Don't see anyone else in the division that is better and if that is the case we are in a pretty nice spot. Miller has much more experience then any other goalie in division other then maybe Quick.

 

[Wilch]

Edler's general incompetence and failure has been discussed to death for a while now.

I wouldn't say Miller's overrated. He's just overpaid and his contract is structured in a way that may make retaining Lack an issue down the road.

 

[Numbers]

Edler's general incompetence and failure has been discussed to death for a while now.

I wouldn't say Miller's overrated. He's just overpaid and his contract is structured in a way that may make retaining Lack an issue down the road.

Why will retaining Lack be an issue. Miller contract runs 1 years after Lacks.

Edlers failure has been talked about to death, but again most people don't understand that performance is relative. Lol not sure why I'm kidding myself that you guys might realize this. Who is San Jose number 4 dman? What do his his stats and game tape show us?

 

[me2]

Miller has much more experience then any other goalie in division other then maybe Quick.

So what you are saying is he's old. I'm not sure if that is a good thing.

Niemi has a cup and Miller hasn't won a playoff round in 8 years. I'll give a Miller in his prime > Niemi.


Anaheim are interesting, two young goalie with big potential. They could be the best combo in the Pacific or struggle - nobody really knows so ranking them at this point seems kind of pointless.

 

[y2kcanucks]

So we have a slew of third liners. Compared to what? Take Anaheim as an example: behind Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler one could argue they have a slew of third liners. Your argument is similar to what people consider a number 1 defenceman. How many are there? Well based on logic there should be 30, one for each team. We know this isn't the case. I think that most people consider there are 10-15. I don't think you truly know what a top 6 forward is.

Edler is garbage. Hmmm well that is descriptive. Why is this the case? Bad plus/minus? Compare him to other dmen in the division. If what you say is true you should easily come up with 30+ Dmen who are better in our division. Good luck with that, although I know you would never put the effort in based on past history.

Why is miller overrated? How do evaluate goalies? He had a bunch of average seasons based on what? Pretty sure this could be argued for every goalie except for the elite top 5 in the league and more specifically Quick in our division. Don't see anyone else in the division that is better and if that is the case we are in a pretty nice spot. Miller has much more experience then any other goalie in division other then maybe Quick.

Ugh I'm not getting into this. If you don't know what an average season is for a goalie then I'm not going to bother explaining it to you. And if you think the Canucks forwards match up well with Anaheim then there's no point in furthering this debate because we're on completely different planets.

Do I get to say "I told you so" when I'm right about our season again?

 

[Numbers]

So what you are saying is he's old. I'm not sure if that is a good thing.

Niemi has a cup and Miller hasn't won a playoff round in 8 years. I'll give a Miller in his prime > Niemi.


Anaheim are interesting, two young goalie with big potential. They could be the best combo in the Pacific or struggle - nobody really knows so ranking them at this point seems kind of pointless.

What is old for a goaltender? So what you are saying is basically meaningless. If I remember correctly an older goalie beat us in the cup finals.

Does it sound like a good idea to go into a season not having established expectations at goaltending? I think Anaheim is rolling the dice on arguably the most important position on the team.

 

[Numbers]

Ugh I'm not getting into this. If you don't know what an average season is for a goalie then I'm not going to bother explaining it to you. And if you think the Canucks forwards match up well with Anaheim then there's no point in furthering this debate because we're on completely different planets.

Do I get to say "I told you so" when I'm right about our season again?

You don't want to get into it, then fair enough but open you mind to structured analysis. You don't need to explain what average goaltending is because I don't think you can describe it.

Sure tell me I told you so. What are your expectations so I can do the same? I see the team finishing 3-4 in the division.

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

Who the h-ll knows where we finish this year?Anything can happen.One of the top teams ends up with a core player out for the year,can change anything.But as for the Canucks,we will be better then last season ,thats all i can say.I still think we have not done enough with our defence,,its so over-rated,,and we are 1 injury away from a repeat of a Beiska-Edler comedy tour.
I have allways been a Ryan Miller fan and im pretty happy he is with us,,btw

 

[canucksfan]

Sbisa, Stanton, Corrado, Weber are the depth. You can stack that up against any other team in the division. Your comment is true for every team that loses a top 4 dman lol.

Sbisa stinks. Corrado could fill in. Weber is a good offensive d man but isn't good defensively.

Canucks d man have a track record of getting injured.

 

[me2]

What is old for a goaltender? So what you are saying is basically meaningless. If I remember correctly an older goalie beat us in the cup finals.

Does it sound like a good idea to go into a season not having established expectations at goaltending? I think Anaheim is rolling the dice on arguably the most important position on the team.

We should have signed Brodeur - dat experience

Niemi is experienced and has a cup.

Quick is experienced and has 2 cups.


Miller's extra experience past a certain point means jack ****, past a certain point it doesn't matter and both Niemi and Quick have reached that level. There is not advantage for Miller here, and given the lack of cups or recent successful playoff experience in years, he's likely at an experience disadvantage.

You are right about Anaheim, it could blow up in the faces or they could unleash the next top young goalie. Complete unknown - neither a good nor a bad thing yet.