ForsbergTheGreat Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 This season is full of a lot of question marks. Not just for the canucks but for the majority of the teams involved. The only team that is a lock is the Ducks. The only team that really is a bottom feeder is the coyotes. Every other team (12 teams) in the middle, are teams that could make or miss the post season based on unexpected variables. There is no real clear cut better worse teams in this pack. NSH Predators are a strong team, they don’t rely on pure skill, they are a team built from the back end out. A year more mature for Forsberg, more grit with Jackman on their back end and they are set to make the post season. MIN Which Dubnyk do the wild get this year? He was the entire reason they made the post season last year. Before he arrived, Wild were sitting outside of the playoffs looking like they would be firing their head coach. If Dubnyk’s play goes back to average I see them on the outside, if he can remain a top goalie, then they are in. CHI No more Sharp or Saad, Hossa is turning 37, and the Kane situation this summer. Hawks top 6 has taken a beating. They've played a lot of hockey over the last 3 years and could feel the fatigue similarly to how LA felt it last season. DAL Sharp, Odyua, Niemi. Star have went out and filled there holes. Last year if Seguin would have stayed healthy they would have been in the post season. This year if he and Benn can stay healthy, along with their new reinforcements, especially with more confidence in net, Starts will be a top team. EDM The oilers won’t be a dead last team, but they are not quite a playoff team. I still think that have some holes in their roster to fill out before they make the jump to be in the playoffs. McDavid will definitely help make this team more competitive. STL Goodbye Oshi, Goodbye Jackman. There is some changing going on in STL, The still have strong enough D to be a good team, but if Tarasenko has an off year, they could be vulnerable. In my mind they took a step back. LA Sutter is a good coach, but his type of style does have a shelf life. It’s only so long until the players tune him out. I haven’t been impressed with the Kings moves over the last 6 months. A 2016 first and McKeown, for a rental D. Then they gave up their 2015 first (13th) for a upcoming UFA Lucic. If Kings don’t sign Lucic and miss the post season this year, they just gave up two first round picks in the top 15 and have nothing to show for it. Kings are still weak on D and there is only so much Quick can do. I expect them to be to be in the fight. SJ They brought in Ward, which is a good plus but they missed out on really improving their D, and they definitely didn’t improve on their goaltending. Thornton seems to focused on living the beach life (he’s still a great player). I don’t see sharks fairing out so well this year. Too bad they just gave up their 2016 first round pick because it could be a top 10. COL 2 years ago they road hot goaltending and a break out rookie campaign to lead their division. They don’t play that structured and attempt to out skill teams in talent to win games. The lose O’Reilly, so in the short term they are get worse. I expect a dip in their play again this year but look for them to break out the following season. WPG The Jets are in the toughest division. The majority of their games are against strong competition, and because of this they lose out on points. The don’t get to feast on weaker teams and every game almost becomes 4 point nights. Without some youth breaking out, they could be in tough. CGY A break out year last year, but can we really expect players like Hudler and Wideman to improve on their career years. Will players like Gaudreau have as much time next year, now that teams will start to strategize around him. Will the comeback kids be able to maintain that adrenaline ride that they road all year last year. Last year, making the playoffs was a bonus. This year, it’s to be expected, the enjoyment of being the underdogs is now replaced with the pressure of expectations. I’m not completely sold on Hamilton (Boston sure wasn’t) and Frolik was an overpayment. Could these two moves be the Bouwmeester + Jokinen 2.0? VAN Canucks are in a transition year. We are imputing a ton of risk into our line up, we are moving away from the reliable vets and sliding into the unknown youth. And because of this, our season could go either way. If Baertschi, Vey, Frankie, Clendening and possible Kenins and Virtanen make impacts this year canucks will be fine. If they don’t, we will hurt. I really look forward to this year. Too many times in the past if our skill gets shut down, we become an easy team to play against. Now teams are going to have to earn and pay the price to come out with a victory against us. The one thing you can see from the moves Benning has made this year, is he wants guys who are going to play hard and compete every night. Good bye Kassian, insert Prust. We are not going to be an easy team to play against. Even if we don’t match up skill for skill, we will still put up a strong fight. We will be that hard working, lunch bucket, team that you can’t take lightly. And that’s not to say that we don’t have skill, we still have some top end skill that will burn you if you don’t focus on it. I strongly believe we are going to compete for the playoffs this year but that’s not to say we won’t have our hiccups. As of right now I would put us in the 6-9 spots, But we are an injury or scoring slump or away from derailing that. Predictions With how even the conference is, I think 92 points is all it’s going to take to make the post season. No team is going to run away in standings in the west. Central DAL NSH MIN Pacific ANA LA* VAN* Wildcard STL* CHI* CGY* WPG* EDM SJ COL ARZ * Teams that might flip spots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuporbust Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 If I had to guess right now , I'd say 15-16 place or so. It will depend allot on how much our vets have left in the tank and how well our young guys respond to the opertunities they get. With a team full of vets and rookies it's a crap shoot. It's easier to predict when u have a team with those middle of the road players in , or close to their prime. I really don't know what to expect as far as trade deadline day goes , and im assuming that depends on the performance we get from the guys and position we are in. Probably one of the hardest years to predict in recent memory for me. As we have all seen from management , anything can happen and nobody is really sure what the specific plan is with the players we have left from 2011. If I was forced to make a prediction id say we finish middle of the pack , maybe wild card slotted. If we are not fairly close to a spot , VRBATTS might be moved. Id say HIGGINS probably too but those are the obvious moves. Who knows. I'd see SVEN getting in and around 15 goals, maybe 20 at the top end , hot and cold all year kinda like bonino( performance wise ,I know he's not a centre). Not expecting much more then that. I think he will be a useful 20 or less goal guy with maybe a couple better years, Similar to mason Raymond ( keep in mind Raymond had a good 25 goal year). I don't see zach parise or max pacioretty type numbers from him but Ya never know I guess. HORVAT I think will have a much better offensive year. I'd see him a little over 20 or so. I also see vey having a much better year. SEDINS probably a little less then last year. SBISA will really come into his own. I think he will be a beast. Even so , cdc will pick apart any little mistake he makes much like San Jose fans did to ehrhoff right before he broke out. Sbisa won't be as offensive as an ehrhoff , but he will have a great year. Nobody will see the advantage that PRUST will bring to the locker room , But his contributions will help the young guys and he will shape the locker room for years to come. Not sure he's still tough enough to become a massive fan favourite like Gino or ripper, and will not re sign with us next year. Still, he will be fun to watch IMO. I'm guna be optimistic and say MARKY MARK will be shaky to start , Making saves but being too nervous to controle his rebounds , Then have some massive games for us. I think he will be a stud by the end of the year. That's about all I got right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.I.A.H.N Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 1. Canucks miss the playoffs 2. Edmonton finishes better than Vancouver in standings but also misses the playoffs. 3. Benning fails to move Vrbata and Hamhuis at the deadline. 4. Vrbata walks 5. Hamhuis is resigned 6. We pick from 9-12 7.everyone gets a year older 8. Bear cheese and markstrom disappoint 9.Sbisa and miller impress 10. Horvat claims 2c duties before seasons end. Pretty darn close to what I think 1. Canuck will miss the playoffs 2. Edmonton and will Vancouver will have near the same points (84 pts) (yes they will both miss the playoffs) 3. Vrbata is moved at the deadline for a 2nd 4. Hamhuis re-signs 5. We pick 6 to 8 6. Everyone gets a year older (we win this bet!) 7. Baertschi is inconsistent, and Markstrom struggles early but gets better as his nerves settle (average rookie goalie season) 8. Sbisa remain inconsistent and Miller goes down with another long injury, causing Edmonton to slip past us 9. Horvat strengthens and show higher upside, but not elite...........will show to be one of the top 2 way centers in the league 10. Dallas, Colorado and LA all end up above us in the standings, possibly Phili and most definitely Columbus, and all the regulars off course. 11. Benning and Linden state this is a learning season and with all the call ups due to injury, they are very proud of the team and their prospects. 12. Vey disappoints 13. Kassian gets 34 points in Montreal (18 goals and 16 assists) 14. KB is a plus player in Anaheim 15. Prust walks..quickly! lol at the end of the season. out the door, to the airport and gets a flight back east! 16. Virtanen scores (revised from I have said earlier) 58 goals and 37 assists. Virtanen plays 2nd line for team Canada 17. McCann scores 100 + points in OHL .... a leader on Team Canada 18. Demko a Hobby Baker finalist........starting Goalie for Team USA 19. Casssels struggles first year in AHL 20. Fox in AHL, struggles first half, but shows improvement in 2nd half 21. last but not least...........Jensen scores 26 goals in AHL......CDC calls him savior again! NOT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua59 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 1. Present - Beginning of regular season , one of Burrows, Higgens or Hansen are traded before the regular season making room for a young up and comer. 2. Different people behind the scenes will provide new life in the dressing room. Mike Bernstein's replacement may reduce the number of injuries making the club's overall injury and recovery lists shorter in length and time. People were shocked at Mikes Bernstein's firing. People need to remember that Trevor Linden is heavily into the fitness business and the cutting edge of the fitness industry. I believe this move was a prudent one in the long run. Linden and Co didn't think Bernstein wasn't any good, they just knew they could do better. Vancouver's approach to their over all fitness and recovery from injury will improve because of training personnel change. 3. Front office change- Mr, Lywicky, (sp?), Gillis' Capologist , is a large participant in getting Vancouver into the Cap crunch that it's in now. He's also the guy that drew up these NTC's that are not in Vancouver's favor. Benning will anger people with his so called low return trades for players the fans have overvalued in the first place and undervalued return to other NHL teams because of there contracts. Linden and JB were smart in seeing what these guys were doing for a year before cutting them loose. Bottom line Benning will keep cutting away at his crappy contracts without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The Canadian dollar will pose a problem for all Canadian teams this upcoming season. 4. Lorne Henning- I wonder what this guy really did? He was dead in the water , little or no effect in the new direction of the club since management changes were made. As is the Canucks front office is set for the season no more changes. 5. Training camp will have a record number of rookies in the line up making a Vancouver team for the regular season. 6. Veteran placed on waivers. 7. Vancouver will post a .500 record the first 20 games but will player stronger the rest of the season. Especially in their own division. 8. The other teams in the division are not as improved as the optics provided, only Edmonton improves dramatically, the rest struggle to get any consistent traction in a tough division. 9. Good team chemistry from youth to veterans buying in to the coaching philosophy will get Vancouver into the playoffs. 10. 2nd round exit during the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Tank Nation whiners remain irrelevent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hidden Panda Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Canucks pull a 2014-2015 LA and just miss out on a playoff spot. Horvat hits the 30 point mark with a 55% FO average I'll think of more stuff later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Fivehole0 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Henrik and Daniel get points Miller stops the puck 91.9% of the time Markstrom stops the puck 92.4% of the time Baertschi scores goals Horvat wins faceoffs Bonino shuts down opposing teams Canucks make the playoffs Canucks get knocked out in the 2nd round Jim Benning has breakfast quite often Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathancanuck Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Miller will be a huge disappointment with horrible stats (.875 sv%) and will get injured at the end of the season and retires. Canucks sign Lack as UFA. More to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canucks_fo_life Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 105 points, finishes 2nd in division again, wins round 1 vs Calgary and then loses to Anaheim in round 2, Sedins finish with 75-80 points, Horvat ends up with 50-60 points, Virtanen makes the team, Sbisa and Miller have a stellar season, Markstrom proves he's NHL worthy, Prust becomes fan favorite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuktravella Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 1. Canucks miss the playoffs 2. Edmonton finishes better than Vancouver in standings but also misses the playoffs. 3. Benning fails to move Vrbata and Hamhuis at the deadline. 4. Vrbata walks 5. Hamhuis is resigned 6. We pick from 9-12 7.everyone gets a year older 8. Bear cheese and markstrom disappoint 9.Sbisa and miller impress 10. Horvat claims 2c duties before seasons end. 1. canucks miss playoffs draft 8-12th overall 2. oilers make playoffs barely out first round mcdavid will get 60 points will win calder 3. vrbata hamhuis higgins will be dealt at deadline miller as well if we are out of contention and maybe injuries make a contender overpay for ryan 1st if we retain 2 mill in cap 4. baertschi does really well, shinkaruk and gaunce and cassels play well in utica get call ups if injuries mount 5. horvat and kenins drive momentum for canucks all yr 6. virtanen gets 9 game audition does well plays for team canada gets another gold medal then traded to rockets wins memmmorial cup 7. cap space freed up for a few good ufa dmen next yr plus picks added Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiggs50 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Horvat scores over 45 points. Vrbata gets traded Hank and Danny both score 70+ points Markstrom takes over number 1 before season's end Sutter hits 50 points Higgins gets traded Canucks make the playoffs Virtanen pots 20 Hutton gets over 30 points Pens and Ducks make the finals Ducks win the cup Kessel scores over 45 goals Crosby wins Hart and Art Ross Bobrovsky wins Vezina Bruins and Columbus make the playoffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 -Sedins prove that they are still capable ppg players -Sbisa takes the jump to being a steady top 4 D; allowing us to trade Hamhuis at the deadline - Vrbata is traded for a 2nd and a B-grade D prospect - Baertschi and Horvat exceed expectations, making us very competitive despite what everyone is saying - Miller proves he is still a solid starting goalie - Markstrom has a solid season playing 25-30 games - Despite being a competitive team for much of the season, we eventually miss the playoffs, finishing with a top 8 pick - Horvat takes over 2C duties after the trade deadline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70seven Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Individuals: Henrik scores 58 points (injury strikes half way into the season, and he misses 12 games). Baertschi adds the dynamic top 6er thats been missing from this team for years. Though inconsistent he's able to break 50 points and eventually develops offensive chemistry with Linden Vey. Horvat has consistent season. Finishes with 15+ goals and 35+ points. Fans salivate over his work ethic and ability to show up for every single shift. Though offensive production isnt huge, it always seems to come at the right moment. Kids a beauty. Markstrom has an inconsistent year, but showcases elite potential for small stretches. Franchise netminder potential again realized by media outlets. Sbisas play has the haters giving him some props as he fills in admirably for injured players. Becomes solid stay at home D. Linden Vey turns heads and gets back on the radar as a potential solid part of this teams future. His creativity earns him top 6 ice and allows for management to consider other deadline deals. Virtanen gets in his 9 games over the coarse of the first 6 weeks, as hes in and out of the lineup and is able to absorb the life of a pro. The team eventually decides to keep him up after finding a trading partner for Hansen, but he has injury trouble not long after that. Good thing Grenier makes a suitable replacement and also gets a shot playing with the Sedins... Which produces the next Carter/Burrows. Team: Team runs into injuries on the back end early into the season and struggle out of the gate. They then lose Henrik for 5 weeks and continue to plummet in the standings. They finally get healthy around December and begin to turn it around. The have a very strong 2nd half but are sellers at the deadline as there is just too much ground to make up for the horrid start. Hamhuis, Bonino, and Vrbata are dealt at the deadline to contenders. The team is mediocre to finish the year, but play the role of spoiler by losing to SJ and beating Calgary, which has them miss the playoffs by 1 point. LOL. Canucks MISS playoffs by 12 points, but future looking brighter with large steps taken by team youth, while also adding multiple top 60 picks for the upcoming draft. Draft position: 6th overall Projected standings: Pacific: Anaheim *-- 2016 Stanley Cup Champions LA * SJ * Calgary Edmonton Vancouver Phoenix Central: StLouis * Chicago * -- Western Finals appearance Dallas * Nashville - WC Colorado - WC Minnesota Winnipeg Atlantic Tampa Bay * -- Eastern Finals appearance Montreal * Detroit * Florida - WC Ottawa Boston Buffalo Toronto Metro Washington *-- Eastern Conference Champions NYR * Pittsburgh * CBJ - WC NYI Philly NJ Carolina Awards: Rocket Richard - Ovechkin Art Ross - Seguin Selke - Toews Norris - Hedman Calder - McJesus Vezina - Luongo Conn Smythe - Kesler (6 goals in 6 games during Finals inc. 3 GWG) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dral Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 CANUCKS WIN THE CUP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFrame14 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Canucks have a decent start but begin to fade after x mas. Benning trades hamhuis and vrabata for picks and prospects at the deadline and the canucks finish 3rd last in the conference. We get a top 7 pick from the 2016 draft and rebuild quick in 1 year. Also as for points totals Sedins get 65-70pts each and are solid once again. Horvat steps into 2nd line c spot during the season and finishes with 45 pts. I expect bartchi to get around that total as well. This season will be a losing one, but a necessary step if the canucks are to become contenders in a few years. I'm looking forward to it and hopefully benning can have a solid team for the twins last few seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HC20.0 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Accidentally made two of these. I'm going with the second post because it's more how I felt predicting the year then this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrago Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akillys Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Both Vrbata and Hamhuis are traded at the deadline for reasonable returns. Canucks narrowly miss the playoffs. Vrbata trade gives room for Virtanen to get some playing time on the 3rd line, who doesnt totally light it up but plays well enough to be given a roster spot in 2016-17. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mzator21 Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 1. Canucks make the playoffs 2. Bo Horvat establishes himself as a number 2 center alongside Virtanen or Baertschi and finishes the year with 60+ points and high face off percentage 3. Baertschi scores 25 goals 4. Sedins have 80 point seasons 5. Vrbata scores another 30 goals 6. Markstrom has a good season and overtakes Miller by the end of the season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Karlsson Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 We finsh 8th-10th in the West Horvat becomes our best forward behind the twins. Baertschi puts up 40+ points Markstrom disappoints Vey proves the haters wrong Oh and Kassian has a break out season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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