This was a disheartening season for Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Canucks fans, but I hope it hasn’t turned you off the sport entirely, because the 2017 Playoffs have been outstanding. And surprising.
Firstly, Alex Burrows is still playing hockey. I think we can all agree that’s awesome. (What’s that? You don’t think it’s awesome? I think I misheard you… it’s hard to hear over the deafening roar of your wrongness.)
And secondly, some unexpected teams are in the final four, and that’s fun. Namely, the 98-point Ottawa Senators and the 94-point Nashville Predators.
Conspicuously absent are most of the behemoth scorers of the regular season: teams like Washington, Chicago, and Minnesota. Indeed, the Conference Finals are populated by teams with potent defensive cores, and also the Pittsburgh Penguins.
So I ask: with how these playoffs have shaken out, is there a new glimmer of hope for Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»fans?
The Canucks are far-removed from their heady, League-leading days. The Sedin twins are producing points at half the rate they once did, and the complementary scorers that made up the backbone of that squad are long gone.
The only other real offensive engine comes in the form of Bo Horvat. While his ceiling is higher than anyone expected, he's no Henrik circa-2010.
And sadly, the cavalry isn’t coming. There is little future scoring coming down the pipeline. Apart from Brock Boeser, I can’t tag a single bonafide, top-six forward on the way. Nikolay Goldobin and Jonathan Dahlen look promising, but they are too early to call.
That says to me that Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»is likely to become a low-scoring, tight-checking, scoring-by-committee group. And that's OK, because that strategy works... provided you have a strong defence.
Nashville is a blueline factory. Even when big names depart, like Shea Weber, Ryan Suter or Seth Jones, new heroes emerge from the ether. Right now they carry P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm. Gross. They don't need a superstar centre with those pairings. (Ìýfor drafting defenders.)
Ottawa is another team that relies on a balanced forward group for its attack. They may not be as deep defensively as the Predators, but they sport a generational talent in Erik Karlsson, and they've surrounded him by a competent and experienced group.
Anaheim is stacked up front, but they also have a young, mobile and dynamic group of defencemen that (with help from Ryan Kesler’s checking line) was able to contain phenom Connor McDavid.
Hey, I see a pattern! Balanced scoring and a puck-moving defensive corps has done the trick for three out of four teams.
It remains to be seen if one of them has enough talent to win a Stanley Cup. Still, their collective success suggests that a focus on building from the blueline out could benefit Vancouver. And if the Canucks has any sort of strength, I’d say it’s at defence.
In Olli Juolevi the Canucks have a solid prospect; a top-pairing fixture, they hope. Troy Stecher and Ben Hutton both show promise and untapped potential. And there are persistent rumours that Timothy Liljegren sits atop Jim Benning’s draft list. The Canucks would look even better , but that is still a decent group to build upon.
. No question. But I'm not in charge (for some reason), and while I’d disagree with taking Liljegren at five, at least that strategy makes some sense to me. A team with balanced scoring and a strong defensive core can get the job done.
So flip on that television, and watch Roman Josi and and Erik Karlsson play some beautiful playoff hockey. It might even lift your spirits.
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