The 106th season of the National Hockey League kicks off Tuesday October 10th with a triple header of action on ESPN. With this in mind, we will be doing a rundown of every team heading into what will be another season of joy, heartbreak and unnecessary anger from a plethora of fan bases across North America.
Vancouver Canucks
2022-23 Record: 38-37-7 (6th in Pacific)
Playoffs: Did Not Qualify
To partially quote a notable cult classic comedy:
Vancouver, what would you say you do here?
Hockey purgatory is a horrible place. Not good enough to compete for a Stanley Cup, not bad enough to win the draft lottery. You just are. You exist, and that is all anyone can say about you. Vancouver falls squarely into this category.
A team that traded their captain, took a coach they were going to fire on the weirdest goodbye tour known to man, had three players (Four if you include said traded captain) post 30+ goals, all amounted to a team that was just…meh.
And that meh is the ceiling for the foreseeable future.
Forwards
Despite having an elite player like Elias Pettersson, an efficient offensive producer (and defensive liability) like JT Miller and an underrated commodity like Andrei Kuzmenko, the rest of the forward group is simply ok. Injuries derailed Ilya Mikheyev’s debut season in Vancouver (And may derail the start of his second season), Connor Garland and Brock Boeser were simply ok, and now the Canucks face a full season having to find a replacement for Bo Horvat’s production. Offense has never this team’s biggest issue, so chalk this portion of the team up to “They’ll be fine”.
Defense
Now HERE is where the problem lies. The defense in Vancouver is sure to put up points thanks to new captain Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, but outside of that what is there? Tyler Myers in the final year of his massive contract? Carson Soucy will definitely add defensive instincts and abilities to this group but will it be enough considering the offensive juggernauts they are dealing with in their division?
Goaltending
If, and that is a big IF, Thatcher Demko can have a solid rebound from his .901 SV% season, then him and Casey Desmith will be a solid duo for the Canucks. Desmith especially will benefit from a new location and system. Once again, it is an if, but betting on Demko hasn’t gone wrong for fans or the team quite yet.
Individual To Watch: Jim Rutherford
After the Brendan Shanahan/Kyle Dubas debacle in Toronto, it is evident certain teams have a President on top of everything in their organization more than others. Jim Rutherford is absolutely one of these men. If there is another season without playoff hockey in Vancouver, more questions will be raised about his abilities as President. The corps is not getting any younger. Will Rutherford make a huge swing to bring the Canucks back to the playoffs? Or will he make a huge swing that leads to more years of futility for a long suffering fanbase and organization?
Standings Prediction: 6th in Pacific
Twitter: @hunt37595
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