This is the contemporary in THN.com’s ongoing sequence of breakdowns of every NHL team's off-season. Today, we're searching for the Vancouver Canucks…
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2021-22 Record: 40-30-12
Finish In The Pacific Division: 5th Salary Cap Space Available (As Per CapFriendly.com): $0 ($2,751,667 over cap ceiling)
What Vancouver Has:
A well-coached, strong team of younger players, such as Elias Pettersson, Thatcher Demko, Quinn Hughes, Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, Nils Hoglander and Vasily Podkolzin; veteran abilities in forwards J.T. Miller and Tanner Pearson, and defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Tyler Myers; new additions up the front in former Maple Leafs winger Ilya Mikheyev and former Bruins core Curtis Lazar.
What Vancouver Needs:
Breathing room on the income cap front; enchancment on the fourth line of forwards and 1/3 pairing of D-men; a longer-term sport design for sustained success; higher good fortune health-wise amongst their backside six forwards.
What’s Realistic For Vancouver Next Season:
After blowing up the actual precise out of the gate final season, the Canucks rebounded underneath new coaching or management, and made a serious push for a playoff spot earlier than sooner or later jogging out of time and falling short. That made it two playoff misses in a row, and no post-season hockey in Vancouver for six of the previous seven years. You can understand, then, why Canucks followers are testy at satisfactory these days, and count on tangible advantageous consequences quicker than later.
New (ish) GM Patrik Alvin and head teach Bruce Boudreau are going to push their lineup to proceed the way it performed late remaining year, and to assist them out, they introduced a treasured new piece at ahead in Mikheyev, and a decent-enough depth piece in Lazar. Otherwise, they are in reality the equal team they have been ultimate season, and any regression lower back to their early-season shape closing yr is certain to flip into some fundamental strikes by means of Alvin.
One of these strikes ought to be the buying and selling of superstar ahead J.T. Miller, who is in the ultimate season of his $5.25-million-per-season contract earlier than he turns into an unrestricted free agent subsequent summer. The Canucks presently have greater than $60.8 million in cap area tied up amongst thirteen players, so there can also technically be room for Miller to stay, however it will take Miller accepting much less than he may want to land on the open UFA market, and there will be no scarcity of suitors inclined to go above and past what Vancouver can afford. The Canucks may want to use greater younger gamers and draft preferences as they fill up their brain base over the lengthy haul, and any trading of Miller truely would assist them in that regard.
The Canucks are lucky they play in the pretty susceptible Pacific Division, and as soon as once more need to be in the combine to impenetrable a decrease playoff berth this coming season. As for the Stanley Cup? Well, that’s nearly assuredly a bridge to a long way for Vancouver at this point, toddler steps will have to be taken, and there might also be some lateral strikes overall, however there’s too lots of younger talent in this lineup, and too many skilled veterans to name for a full teardown and start-over.
Is there a lot to like for the Canucks? There is. Are they even in the equal room as a Colorado Avalanche or a Tampa Bay Lightning? Not at all. The exact information is it seems Vancouver possession has the proper administration shape in place, however even the first-class series of NHL minds want time and staying power for their championship imaginative and prescient to develop. That’s the place the Canucks are now, and that’s no longer in all likelihood to alternate in the large photograph this season.
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