2024/2024 Season. Shaping Up to Be A Struggle At The Start.

[theguardianII]

As the season gets closer to the start the team starts to take shape.
On the negative side.

Capped out.
Not as much depth
Weaker defence on paper than in the playoffs
Starting without Demko
Maybe starting without Brock Boeser
Will EP still have tendonitis? Long term abuse can result in chronic issues.
Team is a year older and slower

BB has blood clots? Could be nothing of concern but also could be and in his contract year. Think they will trade and add like a first, AAA prospect and B prospect for another rental? Or give him his 8+ mil long term clause contract?

And the backend, they weakened the defence and Demko may never recover from his last "procedure". As I posted last year, it is his hip. Now mainstream media is finally going off of "knee, knee, knee". Any idiot could see he was never favouring a knee injury when he left the ice, but a hip, ya. With a quick cleaning, which has about a 8 week recovery and can be helped with a cortisone shot he would have been available near the start of round 3. It would have required more intervention in summer, like he has had previously. Now he may/will not be ready at the start of the season. See Corey Schneider, same procedures.

On the positive side
Playoff experience
Sprong could be a wild card, he can score.
Debrusk to fit with EP or JTM
Joshua to repeat or improve on his break out season
Desharnais will take the next step with Canuck coaching
The 3rd and 4th lines should be stellar.

Click to read more...

 

[RobertKron]

Oh no not the mainstream media!

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Start the Tank Thread!

 

[SeawaterOnIce]

Voted for 2016 again. It will be a development year for sure.

Excited to see how Sven Baertschi, Jake Virtanen and Bo Horvat keep developing. We could have a major top line if all of these guys live up to their potential. Jim Benning has done a good job at identifying talent like Goldobin, Boucher, Gudbranson and Granlund. Good character guys.

We are so fortunate to have a guy like Willie Desjardins coaching as well. I feel like he could learn from his 2015 playoff mistakes. If he falters. We got a future Jack Adams winner in Travis Green who has done a tremendous job in Utica.

 

[RobertKron]

I like to call them the lamestream media

 

[Vector]

Oh no not the mainstream media!

I like to call them the lamestream media

Damn it! I had that joke written out but had to step away from my desk.

 

[Tables of Stats]

So our 3rd and 4th lines are stellar and we've got AHL players knocking on the door to earn NHL minutes this season but we've lost depth.
Our defence might be weaker even with you predicting Desharnais taking a step forward.
We have no proof that Demko or Boeser won't start the season or that Pettersson is still injured.
And we're older and slower, just like most other teams in the league who aren't rebuilding.

It's like you're focused on every negative thing that might happen just for the sake of....? Honestly, I don't get what you're getting from the Chicken Little act.

 

[just22]

I read the title and I instantly knew theguardian made the thread.

 

[RobertKron]

I don’t know if you folks really appreciate how blessed we are to have infowars’ top hockey correspondent posting all the scoops on here for free.

 

[God]

Generally I find The Guardian to have some pretty good long read articles.

 

[VanJack]

As the season gets closer to the start the team starts to take shape.
On the negative side.

Capped out.
Not as much depth
Weaker defence on paper than in the playoffs
Starting without Demko
Maybe starting without Brock Boeser
Will EP still have tendonitis? Long term abuse can result in chronic issues.
Team is a year older and slower

BB has blood clots? Could be nothing of concern but also could be and in his contract year. Think they will trade and add like a first, AAA prospect and B prospect for another rental? Or give him his 8+ mil long term clause contract?

And the backend, they weakened the defence and Demko may never recover from his last "procedure". As I posted last year, it is his hip. Now mainstream media is finally going off of "knee, knee, knee". Any idiot could see he was never favouring a knee injury when he left the ice, but a hip, ya. With a quick cleaning, which has about a 8 week recovery and can be helped with a cortisone shot he would have been available near the start of round 3. It would have required more intervention in summer, like he has had previously. Now he may/will not be ready at the start of the season. See Corey Schneider, same procedures.

On the positive side
Playoff experience
Sprong could be a wild card, he can score.
Debrusk to fit with EP or JTM
Joshua to repeat or improve on his break out season
Desharnais will take the next step with Canuck coaching
The 3rd and 4th lines should be stellar.

Not sure I'm understanding all the pessimism. Sure they lost Zadorov and Lilndholm, as well as a few depth players. But Lindholm and Zadorov didn't arrive until there was only a couple of months left in the season.

I think you can make the case that with the UFA's signed this of-season, the Canucks are actually stronger than they were at the start of last season. 'Out' are Mikheyev, Kuzmenko, Lafferty and Podkolzin. 'In' are DeBrusk, Heinen, Sprong, Sherwood and now Blais. And on the back-end, they've added Forbort, and Desharnais. Everybody else on the blueline is back, with new deals or Hronek and Myers.

Obviously the status of Demko is a big caveat to start the season. But the actual roster in front of him actually looks stronger to me than it did a year ago.

 

[Diablo2020]

From the day Green was fired and Demmer got Bruce a shutout his first game, there is only 9 players remaining.

Miller
Hoglander
Pettersson
Boeser
Garland
Hughes
Myers
Poolman
Demko

In that time we've replaced or upgraded;

Horvat --> Debrusk
Pearson --> Joshua
Motte --> Heinen
Lammikko --> Blueger
Dickinson --> Suter
Chiasson --> Sherwood
Podkolzin --> Sprong
Dowling --> Aman

Ekman-Larsson --> Soucy
Hunt --> Forbort
Schenn --> Hronek
Hamonic --> Desharnais
Burroughs --> Juulsen

Halak --> Silovs

Plus made it to the 2nd round.

Plus added two bluechip prospects.

Im excited to see what this org can do now that theyve turned over every single stone.

Demko worries me, Petey worries me.

But neither is this teams pick so a part of me believes if necessary, both can be dealt with if the worst happens.

That also kind of excites me because it means the potential for even more stones to be turned in the future.

 

[strattonius]

The poll options are hilariously redundant.

 

[Flik]

 

[RandV]

I'm not going to vote "easy playoff spot" because really there's no such thing, but any pessimism here is really only relevant for the playoffs - and can be corrected with in season acquisitions. And a lot of the 'cons' are also things the competition is going to be struggling with as well.

Looking at the Pacific division objectively, there will always be shakeups once the season starts but on paper and based on last season results we're pretty firmly in the #2 spot behind Edmonton and ahead of Vegas/LA.

 

[hellstick]

Grab a goalie off waivers in the preseason, congrats new starter Silovs

 

[drax0s]

Yup, so many things problematic - I swear we all need to band together and take control of things to steer the Canucks away from catastrophe in 2025. Sort of like a Shadow Management Group, if you will.

 

[theguardianII]

So our 3rd and 4th lines are stellar and we've got AHL players knocking on the door to earn NHL minutes this season but we've lost depth.
Our defence might be weaker even with you predicting Desharnais taking a step forward.
We have no proof that Demko or Boeser won't start the season or that Pettersson is still injured.
And we're older and slower, just like most other teams in the league who aren't rebuilding.

It's like you're focused on every negative thing that might happen just for the sake of....? Honestly, I don't get what you're getting from the Chicken Little act.

Reality, last season the team was a surprise for everyone even management, they stated that a few times.

So opinion be came truth after all, Demko is out for the start.
Heard about Boeser skating at all? The Beauty tourney that he has played in summer every year?

I read the title and I instantly knew theguardian made the thread.

Ya, I just post what I think, not what the marketers want me to think. I actually look at what is happening in the big picture.

Don't you find it interesting that last year was almost the opposite of the previous two in points earned?
The previous two season they were well out of playoff spot and got most their points at the end of the season last year they were coasting in the second half or it resmbled the previous two season first half.

Not sure I'm understanding all the pessimism. Sure they lost Zadorov and Lilndholm, as well as a few depth players. But Lindholm and Zadorov didn't arrive until there was only a couple of months left in the season.

Zadorov was half the season when the defence went from 14th to 5th in the league with Demko hurt too. Lindholm was Toffoli all over again only more expensive. He did play great in the playoffs though, many media guys were commenting they had never seen him hit so much in his career, the Tocchet effect I am sure.

I am a fan of the team for more decades than most posters here. Coached more games, played more game, scouted more games been at the highest level of hockey in this country to minor hockey associations.

There is nothing new, it all happens over and over again.
Up until Bettman it was a win/lose game, now the easy season is like the new sports days in school, everyone gets a participation ribbon. Excellence is leaving the game changing to a night's entertainment. Standings are kept quiet, bad news filtered, points made a confusing as possible to newbie's or naive, forums and media are flooded with paid messages of joy, joy rainbows and lollipops diverting fans from results to "the shiny new penny" this team celbrated the Sedins for years after their retirement, how many more "Sedin nights" will there be? Don't look at the standings look at the young prospect players, both of them. Horvat for 6 years, Boeser for 7 years, EP 6 years, QH 5 years and soon to be 29 yr old Demko. For years it was watch them and ignore the fact the team was out of the playoffs by January.

Now they have what was a surprise season that even management was surprised and my opinion is horse crud.
The last time this happened was with Wee Willy, a surprise 100+ point season.
Last year Vegas, Oilers and Flames had horrible starts combined with SJ's total tank the Canucks had 30 pts in 16 games, not likely this year.

These teams will all be much more difficult to play against and now Vancouver will be a marketable targeted team to play against. marketable because they did so well against Edmonton and got by the Preds.

The team needs to have EP playing star level, Demko Vezina worthy, Miller to repeat his performance, Debrusk to get more points than Mikheyev and Kuzmenko, Joshua to be even better and Hughes get more points and play more.

But like the title says it is shaping up to be a struggle at the start and any news coming out is not for the better.

Demko out is huge, now waiting on Boese's problem.

 

[VanJack]

The team is still insisting that Demko will be ready for the league opener, which is still a month and a half away. I suppose if there is anything Demko has been good at over the years--it's coming back quickly to peek performance after being out with an injury.

So I guess all you can hope for is that he can do again. But if this is the way it comes down, then it wouldn't make sense for the Canucks to blow precious cap space in bringing in a veteran goaltender.

 

[Hammer79]

We need a puck mover for the 2nd pair, unless the plan is to split up Hughes and Hronik, but why do that when they have chemistry together?

We'll be tougher to play against, but struggle in transition when Hughes-Hronik are off the ice. I hope Silovs is working on tracking the puck in traffic, .898 isn't going to get us to the division crown. I'm not counting on Demko being back in any reasonable time frame now, so we need a good #3.

I'm expecting EP to eclipse 100 points and JT to be above 90. I think BB will be back, sounds like it was something that would heal over the summer.

Hard to say whether they finish ahead of Edmonton, but they should be ahead of Vegas and most certainly the Kings.

 

[Coffees]

Grab a goalie off waivers in the preseason, congrats new starter Silovs

Will he make it out ?

 

[innitfam]

Grab a goalie off waivers in the preseason, congrats new starter Silovs

Seems like one of Rittich/Copley will shake loose from LAK, but who knows if he would make it to the Canucks position on the waiver wire.

edit: also Kahkonen/Comrie in Winnipeg

 

[VanJack]

We need a puck mover for the 2nd pair, unless the plan is to split up Hughes and Hronik, but why do that when they have chemistry together?

We'll be tougher to play against, but struggle in transition when Hughes-Hronik are off the ice. I hope Silovs is working on tracking the puck in traffic, .898 isn't going to get us to the division crown. I'm not counting on Demko being back in any reasonable time frame now, so we need a good #3.

I'm expecting EP to eclipse 100 points and JT to be above 90. I think BB will be back, sounds like it was something that would heal over the summer.

Hard to say whether they finish ahead of Edmonton, but they should be ahead of Vegas and most certainly the Kings.

I wouldn't be too sure about Edmonton. They've lost a lot of size and speed up front. Skinner and Henrique are creative players, but they're small and now well north of 30. And this off-season, their blueline has taken a bigger beating in terms of defections and trades, than even the Canucks.

Agreed the Canucks need a puck mover for the second pair.....but there's precious few of those guys available on the trade market. And if you want one, you're going to have to buck up in terms of assets and overpayment.

Best case scenario for the Canucks is that someone like Cole McWard steps up big-time in training camp. or in March they sign Tom Wilander and he comes and in blows their socks off. Granted it's unlikely.......but that may be the only 'affordable' option.

 

[Killer Orcas]

It's better to go into season under dog and get better as season goes on then opposite. They are definitely going through some adversity right now. However I really believe they will come out of it with a more confident bunch going into playoffs.

 

[Vancouver_2010]

yes, we will struggle from 2024-2024, and in 2025 we will play like a president trophy winning team, barely made the playoffs and defeat Boston Bruins in game 7 fourth overtime.