Pool Outlook for Vancouver

The Vancouver Canucks were a mixed bag of expectations heading into the 2015 season, especially since there was a lot of new faces in a lot of key positions, anywhere from upper management, down to the starting goalie on the ice.

There was, of course, a lot of familiar faces, which should have helped the transition along and by all accounts, they certainly did.  All of those new faces, mixed with the familiar ones, put the Canucks back in the playoffs after a one year absence, but after that, it looked like it was the brand new team that no one was quite sure about at the beginning of the year.

A first round exit to their division rivals from Calgary was a hasty finish to their season, but it's still hard not to look at the season without noticing their smaller successes.  They certainly were not a lock to make the playoffs and there was some growth in a few of their young players, giving glimpses at the team's future and making some believe that it isn't that bad.

There are certainly some spots where the Canucks can improve and they can certainly address some of those spots immediately in the off-season, but some may come with patience.

The Canucks used to be a popular team to pick from, but they were not nearly as popular as they were before at last year's draft, as only nine players were picked from Vancouver then and the season finished with eight on active pool rosters, give or take a few players picked and dropped in the Waiver Draft as well.  It's a downward trend that may still need another year or two to recover from.

A return to form may be a bit of a stretch for Daniel Sedin, but he did return to the top of the heap for the Canucks, leading the team in points, scoring 20 goals and 76 points this season, good enough for 19th overall in pool scoring.  As a former Art Ross Trophy winner, there may be a few more expectations put upon you to continue to score, but Daniel and his brother have been checked rather mightily, thanks to a lack of depth below them.  Still, 19th overall is still 1st round selection worthy, so that's got to count for something.

Henrik Sedin wasn't too far behind his brother in 2015, picking up 73 points in 82 games, ranking 25th overall, a high 2nd round pick by comparison.  One of the team's newest additions, Radim Vrbata, did well in his first year, scoring 31 goals and 63 points in 79 games, getting rave reviews around the league.  Nick Bonino, Christopher Higgins, Alex Burrrows and Jannik Hansen were all considered to be pool worthy in the year, but were horribly inconsistent to really help one team or another in the year.

The Canucks also didn't really get a great deal of offense out of their blueline, even though they had three defenders in the top 92 and one that was 93rd overall in defense scoring.  Alex Edler topped them all with only 31 points, while Dan Hamhuis, Yannick Weber and Chris Tanev rounded out those who were worth mentioning here.  Injuries were quite troublesome, but the team lacked a true quarterbacking defender and they will continue to be hard to come by.

The only real problem with the Canucks goaltending in 2015 was that Ryan Miller, their number one, was hurt for the back third of the season, which desperately hurt some of their numbers and displaced him as the starter heading into the playoffs.  Miller finished the year earning 1.6 points per 60 minutes, one of the best scoring rates for a goalie in the NHL, but the third segment of the season was almost completely lost to him.  Eddie Lack tried to fill in and did so admirably, picking up 18 wins and 40 points, but fell short of being a direct replacement of the true number one.

2016 Pool Outlook

At face value, the Canucks, heading into this off-season, have some options, but for the most part, their hands may be tied a little by what the salary cap ceiling may or may not do.  From the goal mouth out, Vancouver remains strong in net, their blueline will rely on their own health, while their forward group doesn't necessarily impress, based on last year's numbers, but they have some youth that may get a good look this coming year.  I could still see a downward trend in Vancouver selections at the draft next season and it will be up to this management team to rectify that situation.

The Canucks have some former 1st round picks waiting in the wings and with some possible salary cap constraints, they may get to show their stuff out of necessity, more than anything.  Nicklas Jensen, by my count, barely scratches into the rookie consideration, having played 24 games in total already, while Brandon Gaunce, Hunter Shinkaruk, Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann will all get long looks in camp as well.  After the solid campaign that Bo Horvat put up, maybe their scouting is finally doing something right.

Free Agency and the Salary Cap

There are lots of pieces to this year's roster heading towards free agency, but only one of the pool-worthy players that were listed is heading that way, as Yannick Weber is need of a new deal as a restricted free agent.  Unrestricted free agency has plenty of the team's bottom six talent, some of which may be looked towards again, but it wouldn't be surprising if some of them were allowed to test the waters in July.

The Vancouver Canucks may be relying heavily on some of the kids that they have coming up through the system in 2016, as their cap projections do not look all that promising.  Including some retained salary in the Roberto Luongo deal, I currently have a total cap hit for 33 players signed on at $81.5 million.  Sure, we'll take away 10 players from that projection, but that still won't leave much room for any new faces in the lineup.

Needs at the 2015 Entry Draft

With all the rookies coming out the pipe above, none of them are defensemen, so there could be a strong need for a top end defenseman taken in the opening round of the Entry Draft.  An all-round defenseman would be the best course of action, since offensive-minded defensemen are great, but they could struggle making the jump, especially if their play in their own zone struggles.  I would tap Thomas Chabot, as the way to go for the Canucks with the 23rd overall pick.  Chabot has some decent size and some good numbers, something the Canucks could really use from the backend.

What I Said Last Year, At This Time...

My prediction for the team is somewhat pessimistic, as re-tooling, which is what we'll call this, is not going to be easy and for any new coach coming in at this point, will have a tough time. The team is running with more questions than answers, like where will Kesler play in 2015 and will the goaltending they have step up and be NHL-worthy before too long. The Canucks should be aiming for a Wild Card playoff spot in the 2015 season, but I would be far from surprised if they finished outside of the playoffs, only slightly improving on their poor 2014 season. Things could improve for the team before the puck drops in September, but based on the situation of where they are today, I stand by my prediction about right now.

I stood on a very pessimistic stump and professed that my expectations for (admittedly) my favourite team were going to be very low.  The new coaching kept an even keel through the year, remarkably through some rough patches, but with an okay return in the Ryan Kesler deal to Anaheim and a free agent coup with Radim Vrbata and Ryan Miller, the Canucks were able to answer the bell when some stronger NHL clubs in California dropped off the map.  A playoff berth with the 2nd spot in the Pacific was much more than expected and in this case, I was happy to be wrong.

The new Hockey Ops team for the Canucks has shown some moxie in the off-season and the regular season, trying to slide through some deals that may seem unassuming at the time, come back to pay some dividends.  Without another Summer like that, I think the Canucks can certainly regress, especially with the Flames catching fire with their revamped system and the Oilers winning the draft lottery, while the Kings rest up a little longer for a new push.  With the group that they have on today, the Canucks can make the playoffs in 2016, assuming the unexpected doesn't give us drastic situations.  The framework is still there, they could use a few tweaks, including some quality leadership.