Vancouver Canucks - Improve or Regress?

[Help]

Regress

 

[Lawzy]

Better forward group. Better PK personnel. Worse defence. Likely less efficient shooting.

I'd expect a slight regression but still good for 2nd or 3rd in the Pacific. I could also see them taking the Pacific or even the West if they remain healthy again but it's certainly not my expectation.

 

[credulous]

I still dont get why our D is terrible and awful?? Is Soucy terrible? Myers improved last year and can be trusted as a 4th Dman. Deharnais and Forbort are great PKers and suitable bottom pair. Plus Hughes and Hronek can play 25 minutes plus since they are young and mobile. People also forget about Walinder, Pettersson, Brisbois, Kuds who can make the team soon. Juulsen will improve more and he is another 6'5 behmoth that adds depth. So saying the D is terrible is not correct. I would say average with potential to become above average to great D depending on improvements and development in D prospect

soucy is an okay 4th/5th guy. he's not a clear cut top 4 guy by any means. myers sucks. forbort and desharnais are very limited. there isn't a worse second pairing in the league than soucy/myers and forbort/desharnais has to be close to the worst third pairing

none of the other guys you listed are anywhere close to the nhl

 

[Three On Zero]

soucy is an okay 4th/5th guy. he's not a clear cut top 4 guy by any means. myers sucks. forbort and desharnais are very limited. there isn't a worse second pairing in the league than soucy/myers and forbort/desharnais has to be close to the worst third pairing

none of the other guys you listed are anywhere close to the nhl

Soucy is a perfect 2nd pairing guy, much better than a “4th/5th”. He was a big part in Vancouver’s regular season success last season

 

[JKG33]

They'll go as far as Miller and Demko take them, those are the real alphas on the team. EP40 and to a lesser extent Hughes have shown they ain't carrying a team for shit when the going gets tough

 

[Go Wings]

I expect them to regress and potentially do what NJ did and miss the playoffs. A lot of their players had career years and it's very unlikely they will all have better years or similar to last season.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Regress a bit in the regular season, same level of results in the post season.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Well they overachieved last season especially in the first half they were riding a crazy heater offensively but they are still a good team and will easily make the playoffs

 

[crowi]

It's funny how fans of the team are mad by neutral comments and write walls of texts to explain some crap. If you want an echo chamber, stick this topic in your own board.

I think Canucks will be in the playoffs for sure, how far they go, who really knows. Team has not changed much.

 

[Breakers]

They'll go as far as Miller and Demko take them, those are the real alphas on the team. EP40 and to a lesser extent Hughes have shown they ain't carrying a team for shit when the going gets tough

Ahh yes the current Norris winner aparently isn’t carrying a team.

 

[AlainVigneaultsGum]

If EP/Demko are healthy again and good to go, they'll be fighting for the top spot in the division with Edmonton again. Come playoff time who knows lol.

 

[canuckslover10]

well they are better than they were at the start of last season, once the season rolls around and teams have to make decisions on their players, the Canucks will probably pounce on one of them and bolster their defensive core.

 

[Fatass]

Depends on how we define regression. Van had 109 (?) points. Is 105 this coming season regression? Boston had a huge season (record setting) followed by another very good year, but quite a few less points. Yes, they regressed but they were still fantastic. And actually did better in the playoffs by ousting the Leafs.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Better forward group. Better PK personnel. Worse defence. Likely less efficient shooting.

I'd expect a slight regression but still good for 2nd or 3rd in the Pacific. I could also see them taking the Pacific or even the West if they remain healthy again but it's certainly not my expectation.

They replaced Mik and Laff for better finishers. I do agree with the rest though.

 

[PuckG]

Regress.

They overachieved last year and their roster got worse for the upcoming season. Still a playoff team, but not likely to do much damage in the playoffs.

 

[Oleksiak]

soucy is an okay 4th/5th guy. he's not a clear cut top 4 guy by any means. myers sucks. forbort and desharnais are very limited. there isn't a worse second pairing in the league than soucy/myers and forbort/desharnais has to be close to the worst third pairing

none of the other guys you listed are anywhere close to the nhl

Edmonton's easily worse given the fact the only legit NHLer they have is Ekholm.

 

[JKG33]

Ahh yes the current Norris winner aparently isn’t carrying a team.

That's kinda my point, he's phenomenal in the regular season but he's not a dominant force in the playoffs.

Kinda like how Matthews can win all the rockets he wants, it's meaningless if that dominance doesn't carry over to the playoffs

 

[Lawzy]

They replaced Mik and Laff for better finishers. I do agree with the rest though.

Sure, I just don't expect them to lead the league in shooting percentage again. Also Lafferty was a fairly efficient shooter last year. I get your point though.

Regress.

They overachieved last year and their roster got worse for the upcoming season. Still a playoff team, but not likely to do much damage in the playoffs.

Did it though?

You have to remember the Canucks did not have Zadorov and especially Lindholm for much of the year. Sure this roster looks worse than the playoff team they iced but that's not really the comparison.

 

[WiLBoY]

Unlikely to have a better regular season but I do like their depth up front if Pettersson can go back to a superstar player. It really depends on him. I do like the annoying forward depth we have.

Defensemen is a bit worse.

One reason we should improve in some aspects is now we have playoff experience and players will train harder knowing the weakness they had in the playoffs

soucy is an okay 4th/5th guy. he's not a clear cut top 4 guy by any means. myers sucks. forbort and desharnais are very limited. there isn't a worse second pairing in the league than soucy/myers and forbort/desharnais has to be close to the worst third pairing

none of the other guys you listed are anywhere close to the nhl

Soucy is amazing in the top 4. The Canucks are a mess without him. I'm glad we still have him.

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

I don’t understand you people.

They lost Elias Lindholm who was Kuzmenko for most of the regular season and replaced them with Jake DeBrusk. The rest of their forward additions were players no one wanted. And somehow, they’re “better” up front?

I don’t understand HF logic.

They got worse on defense. They got worse on forwards. Demko is always injured. Just tell the truth.

They added 40+ goals by replacing Mikheyev, Lafferty and PDG with Debrusk, Sherwood and Heinen and who's to say who Sprong replaces but it will most likely be an offensive upgrade. They improved their struggling PP and by far have improved their 17th place PK.

Looking at the defense over 82 games and not 13, Forbort does everything Zadorov did and Vinny replaces Cole, not exactly a downgrade.

Demko was healthy most of the year and there is already a plan to hopefully get him to ease off his insane practice regimen and Silovs likely gets more games than CDS did.

I mean last year everyone said our defense sucked yet we were 5th overall and from February on we were near the top, I trust the staff knowing what guys they targeted over random posters.

At the end of the day we have stars in the most important positions, a ton of depth and a team that plays the system the coaches want.

If this ages poorly I'll own it but I think they challenge for 1st in the west and a bunch of haters will be losing their shit just like last season and I can't wait.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

They added 40+ goals by replacing Mikheyev, Lafferty and PDG with Debrusk, Sherwood and Heinen and who's to say who Sprong replaces but it will most likely be an offensive upgrade. They improved their struggling PP and by far have improved their 17th place PK.

Looking at the defense over 82 games and not 13, Forbort does everything Zadorov did and Vinny replaces Cole, not exactly a downgrade.

Demko was healthy most of the year and there is already a plan to hopefully get him to ease off his insane practice regimen and Silovs likely gets more games than CDS did.

I mean last year everyone said our defense sucked yet we were 5th overall and from February on we were near the top, I trust the staff knowing what guys they targeted over random posters.

At the end of the day we have stars in the most important positions, a ton of depth and a team that plays the system the coaches want.

If this ages poorly I'll own it but I think they challenge for 1st in the west and a bunch of haters will be losing their shit just like last season and I can't wait.

What I really like is the canucks team is structured in a way where even if they do miss the playoffs they have the assets to sell to do a quick re-tool and still have pettersson for his prime.

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

That's kinda my point, he's phenomenal in the regular season but he's not a dominant force in the playoffs.

Kinda like how Matthews can win all the rockets he wants, it's meaningless if that dominance doesn't carry over to the playoffs

He was a ppg in the bubble and had 10 in 13 and was on the ice for 5 goals, carrying a clearly injured Hronek. Please tell me how any of that can be construed as not effective?
And BTW to make such a bold assumption after his first real taste of playoff hockey is just silly. I fully expect based on 35+ years of watching hockey, that the true stars usually improve the more playoff hockey they play.

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

What I really like is the canucks team is structured in a way where even if they do miss the playoffs they have the assets to sell to do a quick re-tool and still have pettersson for his prime.

They are positioned well going forward contract wise that's true.
I highly doubt they will be doing any major re-tool tho, they are one of the younger teams that made the playoffs with a few very good kids still coming and a core not all in it's prime. Adding key pieces to continue getting better but unless they are hit with a ton of injuries, I don't see them missing the playoffs.

They have the roster that can win low event hockey, even if the stars get hurt and have 12 forwards capable of 20 goals. Not many teams can say that.

 

[beachcomber]

Regress.

They overachieved last year and their roster got worse for the upcoming season. Still a playoff team, but not likely to do much damage in the playoffs.

What made them worse?

 

[Face Of Bear]

back to being a bubble team