The Canucks are 3-0, but...

[JR Ewing]

As per the title, the Canucks are 3-0 to start the season, but they have as yet to actually lead a single second in any of those games. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a start like that.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

I didn't show up to this thread with a bunch of numbers, formulas, or anything else to "back me up", but personally, I think the Canucks are a bit of a mess as far as being able to be competitive throughout the course of a season.

 

They have been in decline for some time now, still relying on aging stars to carry them through, they aren't particularly tough in any facet of their games the last few seasons, the goaltending can range anywhere from questionable to ok on any given night, and don't seem to have any young players that jump out at you (Bo Horvat maybe...or not??) and make you go, "Hey, the Canucks can start building around this guy right now!"

 

Yet there they sit at 3-0.....and I think its a mirage.

I still think they are going to have trouble scoring goals consistently all year (their top 4 scorers figure to be the Sedins, Burrows, and Ericsson...five if Horvat has a career type year), but after that, where do the goals come from?

 

And what about defense? I can't come up with a top 4 for them right now off the top of my  head....but I will say Gudbranson, and maybe Tanev and Edler as their best 3 guys? Not exactly awe inspiring right now.....

 

Goaltending? Miller and Marskstrom. Nuff said.

 

The first week or two in the NHL typically sees some wacky stuff regarding how teams are performing, and this Canucks undefeated start I think is one of them.

When all is said and done, I am sure not too many will be surprised if Vancouver can be found near the bottom of their division and/or the Western standings overall.

 

In order for the Canucks to make the post season, they have to be in a guaranteed top 3 slot in their division competing with the likes of the California teams or in the mix for a Wild card slot competing with whomever doesn't cut the top three in the Central (maybe a Minnesota, Winnipeg, or Dallas) as well as competing with teams like the Oilers, Flames, and Coyotes within their own division...and I believe those last three teams to have much more upside and potential to "surprise" than the Canucks do.

 

Vancouver, IMO, simply needs to do a proper rebuild.

But as long as they hang on to players like the Sedins, Burrows, and Miller (and thinking they can still win with those players), they just are not going to get better.

Those aging vets may still have some value and the Canucks should try to get the most they can for them while they still can.

 

If I am a team like Calgary, Edmonton and Arizona and am looking to make a jump into the playoffs, the Vancouver Canucks, despite the 3-0 start, is not a club I am overly concerned with.

 

My 41 cents.

[JR Ewing]

Fancy stats aren't needed here; the Canucks are simply not a good hockey team. I just got a kick out of them having a bit of a flukey start to the year like nobody else ever has. It's trivia, not an indicator of excellence.

 

A big problem for their rebuild looms, which I wondered about the day that Brian Burke's drafted them:. How do you rebuild a team when your top two players are a package deal? It's one thing to take on an aging star in exchange for prospects and picks and the like, but it's another entirely to acquire two of them, and the cost it would bring.

 

This requires the work of a skilled GM, and Vancouver simply doesn't have that in Brian Benning.

 

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

1 hour ago, JR Ewing said:

Fancy stats aren't needed here; the Canucks are simply not a good hockey team. I just got a kick out of them having a bit of a flukey start to the year like nobody else ever has. It's trivia, not an indicator of excellence.

 

A big problem for their rebuild looms, which I wondered about the day that Brian Burke's drafted them:. How do you rebuild a team when your top two players are a package deal? It's one thing to take on an aging star in exchange for prospects and picks and the like, but it's another entirely to acquire two of them, and the cost it would bring.

 

This requires the work of a skilled GM, and Vancouver simply doesn't have that in Brian Benning.

 

 

 

You know, I completely forgot about this aspect of it.

When I said the Canucks needed to cash in on the value of their aging vets, I was thinking in terms of 4 individuals....but, you are correct, if a team wants one Sedin, they will have to take the second (the Sedins and their contract are in the driver's seat here), and given that, it would seem next to impossible for the Canucks to move those contracts.

 

Only way would be for the Sedins to waive their no trades, and agree to go to separate teams if that's what it takes for Vancouver to move them.

But then, why would they want to do that? They have expressed in the past their desire to play and end their careers as a pair.

 

Would even the prospect of being able to hoist a Cup without the other on another team be enough to sway either brother to part ways with not only the Canucks but with each other as linemates? I don't know. Probably not.

So it seems Vancouver is stuck with them unless there IS a GM out there willing to take the pair.

And what GM would do that unless the pair was practically given away?

 

A very unique situation to say the least regarding the twins.

[yave1964]

Smoke and mirrors, nothing else. Their start does not pass the smell test, it will soon be as forgotten as the Hawks starting 0-2 was. This is an awful team from top to bottom and everything in between whose two stars are much closer to the nineteenth hole than the first.

 

  My favorite quote from Benning last year was a few days before the deadline, he announced to the world, and I seriously am not making this up, that the Canucks were indeed "open for business." and he was willing to listen to offers for such luminaries as Bartkowski, Cracknell, Weber and Higgins. When the other GM's stopped laughing themselves silly they must have taken his number out of their phones and blocked his incoming calls. Then he whiffed on getting a return of his one marketable asset at the deadline and instead lost Hamhuis to free agency with no return.

3-0. Benning must think it is time to start the parade.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Well, guys, here we are.

 

That 3-0-0 start is now a 4-4-1 record, they are on a current 5 game losing streak, and have just 17 goals on the season good for last in the Western Conference and tied for last in the entire league with Buffalo.

 

I've watched some of their games, and you know, in all fairness, the team DOES play hard and even their goaltending situation (last game against Washington aside) has been, well, NOT terrible. Some nights, Ryan Miller has even looked damned good!

 

But oh those goals for. Or should I say lack thereof.

I think many, myself included suspected offense was going to be a problem, and it certainly is showing to be the case.

The Sedins, Burrows, Ericsson, and Horvat needed to be a big part of that, but the Sedins have been average at best, Burrows is injured I believe, and Horvat is still stuck on the 3rd line...and playing like a third liner as opposed to the top six guy he should be.

 

The Pacific Division is just not the place for a team that has trouble scoring goals. Too many other good offenses there to keep up with.

Even with good goaltending and overall team defense, 82 games is a long way to go without the ability to put the puck in the net when you have the kinds of teams in the Pacific the Canucks have to deal with on a regular basis.

 

The Canucks travel schedule, obviously due to where they play out of, is traditionally tough as well.

Hard traveling followed by every single night having to limit the opposition to 2 goals or less because you can't score consistently is just too much to ask from this eclectic mix of young players and aging players.

 

Note to Benning:

Start your rebuild NOW.

Find takers for the twins, for Burrows, for Edler, for Dorsett, and admit that signing Ericsson was a mistake and try to rid yourself of that contract as well.

Maybe Miller as well. Heck, his value should be pretty high right now the way he has been playing

 

Those are all tall tasks given the money involved and probably pesky NTC clauses, but what the Canucks have now is clearly not working, and is not GOING to work moving forward.

This team just seriously needs to blow things up.

 

Flames are looking to be on the rise again, Coyotes, stumbling, bumbling as they are, are on their way to rebuilding something...Sharks, Ducks, Kings, they are what they are, and will usually come around when they need to, and the Oilers, well, those Oil Men I think will surprise many this season and look to have finally turned the corner....they might even grab a top three spot in the division if they keep going the way they are.

 

That leaves the poor Canucks all by themselves as THE stagnant team in the Pacific.

They just don't have the group right now to do much better than what they are.

 

3-0-0 indeed.

Just another wacky "beginning of the season" situation for sure.

[WordsOfWisdom]

On 10/19/2016 at 9:03 AM, JR Ewing said:

A big problem for their rebuild looms, which I wondered about the day that Brian Burke's drafted them:. How do you rebuild a team when your top two players are a package deal?

 

What are they, a human centipede?  I get the whole brotherly thing but this is abnormal.