, and they say the Canucks are going to be pretty much just as bad this season as they were last season. That seems pretty pessimistic: there are plenty of reasons to believe the Canucks will be a lot better in the 2017-18 season than they were in 2016-17.
Here are five of them:
1. Young core stepping up into bigger roles
Bo Horvat led the Canucks in scoring last season. Sven Baertschi led the team in 5-on-5 scoring rate. The two young forwards seem poised to become 2/3rds of the Canucks鈥� new-look first line. Markus Granlund will rotate through the lineup, playing whatever role he needs to, while Jake Virtanen made the team out of camp and will look to solidify his spot in the lineup as the season progresses.
In addition, there鈥檚 another year of experience under the belts of Ben Hutton and Troy Stecher on the blue line. The two young defencemen are two of the Canucks鈥� best puck-movers and will potentially play together on a unit, as well as battle for power play time.
The Canucks will need to lean more on their youth this season instead of their declining veterans, and that鈥檚 a good thing.
2. Brock Boeser!
To go with the more experienced youth in the lineup, the Canucks are adding a potential star in Brock Boeser. The 20-year-old winger dominated the NCAA over the past two seasons, even while playing through injury, and is now poised to step into a top-six role with the Canucks.
There may be some growing pains, but Boeser has the goalscoring touch the Canucks have been missing and has the potential to . That may be a lot of pressure to put on him, but the guy鈥檚 pretty much unflappable: he could be the most exciting player in a Canucks jersey, even if he .
3. Added proven goalscorers
It鈥檚 not all up to the youth to bring back goals to the Canucks: the new free agent signings should help as well. Sam Gagner, Thomas Vanek, and Michael Del Zotto have all put up goals and points in the past and should help the Canucks play a more exciting brand of hockey this season.
Meanwhile, the Sedins should still be good for at least 50 points from the second line, providing support as the young canucks find their feet.
4. An improved power play
The Canucks鈥� power play was an unmitigated disaster last season. It was too predictable, too static, and committed that most cardinal sin: they couldn鈥檛 score.
. The free agents Jim Benning signing in the summer will help 鈥� Gagner, Vanek, Del Zotto, and even Alexander Burmistrov 鈥� as will a more experience Horvat, Baertschi, Hutton, and Stecher. What might make the biggest difference is the addition of Boeser, a right-shooting sniper who could fill the net from the left faceoff circle. While he may not start the season on the power play, don鈥檛 expect him to be kept off of the man advantage for very long.
5. New head coach
Willie Desjardins certainly wasn鈥檛 solely to blame for the Canucks鈥� struggles over the past two seasons, but he certainly didn鈥檛 help. His deployment decisions were baffling, whether it was elevating AHL players to the Sedins鈥� wing or keeping Brandon Sutter on a woeful power play because of 鈥渃hemistry.鈥�
There鈥檚 no guarantee, of course, that Travis Green is a better coach than Desjardins 鈥� after all, Desjardins was immensely successful at the AHL level before he came to the Canucks 鈥� but he doesn鈥檛 seem to have the same blind spots when it comes to grinders and checkers. Some smarter deployment, a willingness to match lines with opponents, and a clear eye for what is and isn鈥檛 working could make a world of difference for the Canucks this season.
Combine all these factors and the Canucks could be competing with the Flames and Sharks for a playoff spot in the Pacific Division.
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