In their 2014-15 NHL campaign, the Vancouver Canucks played well above expectations and piled up an impressive 101 points in the standings and promptly went nowhere n the postseason. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise surprisingly upbeat season for a team with little anticipation for the postseason.
The Sedins will have help again but will it be enough? FIle photo by Lewis Bleiman
For the 2015-16 season, what you saw is what you will get. The Canucks stood pat on their lineup for the most part and they will try another run at the regular season and hope for the playoffs with a group that is a year older in all the wrong ways.
Some youth is available to further support the efforts of Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. After a dreadful year under previous head coach John Tortorella, the twins were unbridled and new head coach Willie Desjardins rolled four lines all year. Younger forwards including Jake Virtanen, Jared McCann and Brendan Gaunce should continue to help.
The addition of Brandon Sutter in a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins should also help.
Lost since last season were Shawn Matthias, Brad Richardson, Nick Bonino, Adam Clendening, Zack Kassian, Kevin Bieksa, and Eddie Lack.
Replacing those losses were Brandon Sutter, Brandon Prust and Matt Bartkowski.
Not the kind of numbers Canucks fans were hoping to see. The problem is that while Vancouver was betting on capturing last season’s success in a bottle and opening it up in seven days the rest of the Pacific Division improved their rosters and made changes.
The roster will be the same and all of the usual suspects in the off-ice drama will be there as well. And specifically we are talking goaltending. Ryan Miller is tabbed as the number one netminder but Jacob Markstrom is primed to step in again but this time in the regular season. Miller’s play has been adequate but not nearly of the same value as the hype he generates every time he moves teams. And Markstrom is ready now to skate into the crease.
With the Sedins at 35-years of age, Alexander Burrows and Radim Vrbata at 34 and Miller at 35, Chris Higgins at 32 and Dan Hamhuis about to turn 33 in the middle of the season, the Canucks need to find a way to use all that veteran experience as trade bait this season to get younger next season.
We have not completely written off the Vancouver Canucks for the 2015-16 season but they are old, in a division that has improved. Standing pat, with an older roster while everyone around got younger and better, is not a strong strategy for success.
At least three teams will be ahead of the Canucks in the final days of the campaign heading into the postseason; the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings are picked ahead of the Canucks by Pro Hockey News and the San Jose Sharks are better than last year with a new coach in Peter DeBoer. We have the Canucks finishing out of the playoff hunt in the fifth slot in the Pacific Division.
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