Will we finish higher or lower in the standings?

[YEGCanuck]

I am thinking the Canucks may be a few points higher in the standings, thanks to better special teams, but still pick in the top ten.

[CrippledCanuck]

As good as our prospects look on paper and in highlights outside of nhl lvl competition, I believe we will but hope we don't slide down the standing.  I think it's a small % realistic thinking but more wishful thinking that what we have coming in offensively and defensively will both A.make up the lost Sedin points B. Gain offensive output above what we lost. C -  even out the inevitable age / injury related performance decreases defensively

[appleboy]

Let's see if there are more moves. I think there will some big learning curves. Depends a lot on goal tending.

Same or lower.

[smithers joe]

i think, all we can predict for now is, we'll be harder to play against. 

will teams check boeser closer now, taking away his shooting spots?

if elias plays, can he withstand the physical play he'll encounter.?

benning says he expects gaudette to pick up some goals this season. 

is it better for him, to start in uttica? 

if hughes doesn't make the team, where does the backend scoring come from?

i think our goaltenders will play better, with a stronger defense. 

if we can get scoring from all 4 lines, we might finish higher.

if travis can find the right line mates for each line, we could surprise some people. 

[mephnick]

I think our good run at the end of last season put us about where we'll be this year. We'll just get the points in a more steady way.

 

So yeah, I'm expecting 5-7th last.

[PhillipBlunt]

We must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.

[higgyfan]

1 minute ago, PhillipBlunt said:

We must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.

keep your head up and your feet moving, son.

[JM_]

yes. 

[DADDYROCK]

It's so hard to get better now,when you have teams with better records moving up 9 spots at the "LOTTO DRAFT" and for three consecutive years you fall at this stupid draft.

No skill all B.S. luck, at this Lotto Drafting.

If we could get a few 1OA picks or even our very first in almost fifty years it would really help.

The Canucks will probably be weak again for a while yet, until our young guys all come up and get a bit of confidence.

I will be watching this process and I hope we finally get that Stanley Cup that the Province of B.C. has not had in too many years.

[Nucker 67]

The Canucks got grittier/tougher, and they've improved the depth. A few "IFs" though.

 

If Hughes makes the team, and Hutton and Gudbranson have a bounce back year

If they get good goaltending (better than last year)

If Pettersson, and maybe Gaudette make the team.

 

I think the Canucks will have a different team, faster, tougher to play against. They should battle hard this year. It'll also hopefully be a full year for Boeser and Horvat. With Tavares gone from NYI, too bad this wasn't the year Boeser was challenging for the Calder. Oh well, I say Boeser gets more goals/points than Barzal this year. Edler will be playing for a new contract as well  so I expect a great year from him.  

 

I say they'll do better than last year, but still pick in the Top 12 in the 2019 Draft.

[DrJockitch]

I hope Benning isn't done for the summer so who knows but as things stand now, I think lower.

Sedin's offence disappearing.  Not sure a rookie and a few nice young forwards can step up the scoring enough to make a difference, added three forwards that provide no meaningful offense.  

A defence that without Hughes or OJ being great provides little meaningful offence.

I think we will see some signs of life from the young guys, be competitive at times but not be able to score consistently enough to be competitive. 

Curious to see if we get consistent goal tending, could be quite inconsistent in early season if Clark tries to make a lot of changes.

[Rob_Zepp]

1 hour ago, kloubek said:

Any way you look at it, this should be a faster, grittier team which should be more entertaining to watch.

THIS.   Per last season, this coming season should not be about points.   They are building towards something and of course want to win as many as they lose but the process of improvement means the goal is far more important than the incremental results.   This is currently looking like a team building towards consistently being competitive in a few seasons and then staying there for a long while.   The UFAs will play their role for a period but once the likes of OJ, Virtanen, EP, Hughes etc. all get to their mid 20s (even Bo who is still a kid in many ways) and Demko is firmly place, this should be a team that is both entertaining and successful on the ice.   A few more pieces and they can become beyond simply "competitive".

 

Great post @kloubek, bang on.   I think people got a sense down the stretch as the team was noticeable faster and was competitive.   Sprinkle in a few more young players who beat down the door and allow Green himself to learn from his rookie mistakes and this could be a very entertaining year and my gut feel is they surprise more people than they disappoint.   

[BCNate]

I think if we stay healthy we improve in the standings.  We should be harder to score against with this roster if it stays healthy, and we will at least have 4 lines of NHL players.  I think we end up in the 20-25 type range in the standings.  Ottawa, Detroit, NYR, Buff, MTL should all be worse than us for sure.

[Standing_Tall#37]

We’re awful... just plain awful. But that’s what transitioning is about. There’ll be a couple bright spots, but the next 2-3 seasons will be about growth before we’re on the upswing.

[Canucks-12]

I’ll be the 1st to say that we’ll be higher in the standings and pretty close to a playoff spot.

[EdgarM]

There has been  lot of good words spoken already in which I concur but some other things to look at is not only are we a little faster and a little grittier, we also have veteran presence where it should be. Not on the top line or the top PP unit. 

We should be better at rolling 4 lines and not wearing out guys playing defense because other players need to be sheltered. 

All lines should be a little quicker and grittier and should be able to play both offense and defense. More balanced.

A lot of players either had bad seasons last year or were injured. I cannot see this repeating itself. The last 2 years the team actually looked like they could compete with most teams until the injuries took over. 

We have more depth, a new goalie coach and prospects who have more potential then a Shroeder, a Gaunce or the wrong Subban. 

All of these along with what others have pointed out will spell an improvement over last year. Too many variables to say exactly where we go in the standings but definitely better then last year IMO.

[coastal.view]

4 hours ago, Father Ryan said:

I think we will be in the 80-85 point range; not playoffs, but improved. Boeser will be healthy, the new additions will make the bottom 6 solid. With a deeper and improved forward group, the D will not be quite as stressed and will play a little better. The forward youth (Pettersson, Dahlen, Gaudette, Lind, et al) will not have the pressure on them to come in and be immediately depended on for scoring. Sure, we may be a bit of a throw back team, but we are faster now, and bigger, and more abrasive; ie not as easy to play against.

in other words

more like vegas last year then ?

[Rush17]

My prediction after our end of last season was and still is we will e etter.  sorry my dutton is droken atm lol

[Pears]

I truly believe if Benning goes out and gets a 2C for Pettersson, we could push for a playoff spot this year. Call me crazy or whatever, but for the first time in a while we have depth at every position. That’ll be huge going forward. 

[Shift-4]

6th from bottom last year?

I say we finish 5th from bottom in the coming year