(my) Canucks Season Preview

[Senior]

Vegas odds to win the Cup 14-1

2007 VANCOUVER W49 L26 T7 P105

last year the Canucks were definite over achievers that played very well under rookie coach Alain Vigneault (Jack Adams winner 2007) and rode the success of all World goalie Roberto Loungo. this year if the team wants to move forward, which means nothing less than making it to the conference finals, they need to find more offense. in particular they need more offensive depth as in the playoffs last year they just couldn't seem to score when the Sedins were shut down. there were no major additions in the off season so this will need to come from within.

this time of year optimism does reign supreme however there is some cause for hope. young offensive players on the radar include Mason Raymond (51st, in 2005), Jannik Hansen (287th, 2004), Michael Grabner (14th, in 2006) and Ryan Shannon. it's almost certain that Michael Grabner will not be NHL ready for at least another year but of the lot he might have the most upside. Hansen showed great poise on a call up last year in the playoffs but if he wants to make the team he'll need to show more ability to finish. Mason Raymond while in his first Vancouver camp might have the best chance of making the team. he's mature as he came through the US college route and so far has had an excellent camp and preseason. Ryan Shannon is best summed up as Brandon Redux and has essentially made the team as he's signed to a pro contract. he's very small at 5'9" but the hope is that his skill will be enough to make him effective in the new NHL. look for him to get time on the 3 or 4th line this season and occasional power play time.

on the back end the Canucks are looking better than ever with one of the top defensive cores in the league. with the addition of Aaron Miller in the off season they have one more potential spot on the roster available that could go to Alex Edler or maybe Luc Bourdon. after playing so well though on his call ups last year Edler has effectively passed Bourdon on the Canucks depth chart and appears to many NHL ready. the other possibility is that the Canucks will play with 6 d men to allow Bourdon and Edler more ice time in Manitoba for development.

in goal Danny Sabourin (Pittsburgh) is out and Curtis Sanford (St Louis) is in. hopefully though Roberto Luongo will repeat his heroics of last year and carry the team into the playoffs making Sanford very bored.

the Canucks are also counting on some players on the team to play better. Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison are both coming off two sub par seasons and the teams success would be greatly helped if they could both rebound. also more will be expected of Ryan Kesler after he signed a 3 year deal ($1.75 mil) in the off season.

of notable mention is Rick Rypen who is a long shot to make the team but if he does it will be through sheer hard work and determination. last year he missed nearly the entire season due to injury (broken leg) after making the team out of training camp. he has little offensive upside but his feisty style of play makes him great to watch and a sure fan favorite.

prediction W53 L24 T5 losing the conference final to Anaheim.

[Joe Dirt]

This seasons success is based on Naslunds performance. We are so stellar from the blue line back no one can fuck with us. Just get into the playoffs and anything can happen.....you're preety spot on with the assesment of our young talent. I think Mayson Raymond would look nice along side Ryan Kesler. I also think Matt cooke is replacable with some real talent.

[Sykonee]

I dunno. There's seems to be a bunch of early minor injuries already plaguing the team. I'd hate to think this is the year of The Crippled Canucks.:wondering:

[omega_image]

naslund and morrison will have better years. not great, better.

naslund has the potential to get back on 70-80 point pace.... that's if vign. decided to put shannon and kesler with him.

shannon and kesler are going to be dark horses this year. anywhere from 30-50 pts a piece.

main concern is going to be blue line this year. salo + ohlund will be the same. bieksa's numbers will drop, and mitchell will be a great d-man, but won't produce.

overall, we'll finish in the top two northwest spots. colorado will be the team to beat and minnesota will surprise many.

look for us to make some deadline moves (or a move) that will get us to the 3rd round or better.

vancouver is going to be a much better 2nd half team this year.

[Senior]

Originally Posted by omega_image

shannon and kesler are going to be dark horses this year. anywhere from 30-50 pts a piece.

main concern is going to be blue line this year. salo + ohlund will be the same. bieksa's numbers will drop, and mitchell will be a great d-man, but won't produce.

for his skill set and the fact this is his 4th year in the league Kesler should be expected to reach 50 points. anything less would be a disappointment in my eyes. Shannon is a big question mark to me. realistically he'll get around 30 points but I think he has the possibility to surprise a lot of people and do much better than that.

on defense though I don't have any real concern. Salo, Ohlund, Mitchell, Bieksa, Krajeck, Miller, and Edler are all solid enough. beyond that it won't be hard to find a journeyman that could fit in to Vigneault's system if need be. there were points last year where they had guys like Patrick Coulombe and Prestin Ryan in the line up and they were still fine. like I said this team is Roberto Luongo. I'd say Miller is a pretty good upgrade on Fitzpatrick.