June marked seven years since the Vancouver Canucks lost in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins. In the years since, the Canucks have been back to the playoffs three times, with three first-round exits, but mostly have seen their stock dip lower and lower.
There's a general arc most NHL teams go through. You have to be bad to get good, and for the league's best, it's difficult to remain at the top for a very long time.
Vancouver had its run, but has seen many of the players that were featured on that President's Trophy-winning, West champion 2011 team, move on. Its two leading scorers, faces of the franchise Daniel and Henrik Sedin, retired. Ryan Kesler was traded to the Anaheim Ducks. Mikael Sammuelsson was traded to the Florida Panthers. And so on, and so forth.
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New players came in, and yes, while they made it back to the postseason a few times, they never came nearly as close to running the gauntlet, and more recently have become bottom-dwellers of the league, finishing 26th, 29th, and and 28th the past three seasons, respectively.
Yet it was perhaps maybe only after the conclusion of this season that it felt like the Canucks were truly embracing a rebuild (if they actually continue down that path). In many ways, the Sedins retirement felt like a symbolic passing of the guard to the next generation of Canucks, though it also opens the door for more opportunities for those young players, increased cap space, and the ability to really write a new chapter in the franchise's history.
Canucks' offseason to-do list
1. Draft the best player available with the No. 7 pick
The majority of Vancouver's young, exciting players are forwards. To list a few: Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen, Adam Gaudette, and Bo Horvat, to name a few. With that being said, drafting for need so early in the first round is a recipe for disaster. There is a chance that a really good defenseman will be available with Vancouver's pick but, general manager Jim Benning should only select that player if Vancouver thinks he is the best available at that time.
These are the moments Vancouver needs to capitalize on. You need to reap the rewards of being bad, as strange as that soudns. One of Vancouver's biggest failings last season was that it waited too long to get bad, and then didn't sell at the trade deadline. It takes conviction and commitment to a rebuild, and the Canucks have wavered on that in recent years. There absolutely should be a great player available in the No. 7 slot, and Vancouver need not overthink that selection.
2018 UFA RANKINGS: Forwards | Defensemen | Goalies
2. Totally commit to the younger players
Travis Green did an excellent job in his rookie season as head coach of giving out minutes based on merit. He had no problem playing Brock Boeser in high-pressure situations and with big minutes because he was scoring and a threat every time he jumped over the boards. Boeser obviously excelled in that role, and also gained meaningful experience in his rookie season. At times he made mistakes, but was backed by the coaching staff to go right back out there and improve upon those moments. It's exactly the type of identity a young organization needs.
So how does that fit into the offseason? Benning would be doing himself a disservice by going out and signing overpriced or over-the-hill veteran simply to eat up available cap space and maybe earn 5-10 more standings points. The Canucks are not a playoff team, even in arguably the weakest division in the league, but have building blocks that can make them one again in the future.
3. Make a decision on Jake Virtanen
To have accrued 140 games played through your age-21 season and have the jury be out on what you are on a player is totally fair. To say that is the case with Jake Virtanen -- at least in the eyes of the Canucks organization -- seems pretty accurate. After appearing in 55 NHL games in his rookie season, Virtanen spent 65 in AHL Utica in 2016-17. This past season, Virtanen was with the big club for the entire season, 75 games played, but averaged fewer than 12 minutes per-game in more of a depth role. Virtanen gets criticized for many things, some of them fair, some of them unfair; that generally comes with the territory of being a high draft pick (Virtanen was selected No. 6 in the 2014 Draft) and being a hometown kid (Virtanen is a BC-native).
Watching Virtanen skate and seeing some of the puck skills he has, it's easy to see some of the potential in the player. He's a restricted free agent, not arbitration eligible and certainly with much to prove. A two-year bridge deal makes a lot of sense, but that also requires a commitment from Vancouver to putting him in the best position to succeed. You look at Virtanen's most common teammates with at 5-on-5 this past season, and you have to go down to seventh to find a forward (both goaltenders and four defenseman topped that list). Give him some consistent running mates, try to define a role, and see what Virtanen can do.
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Canucks 2018 draft preview
Draft picks: 7th, 37th, 68th, 130th, 161st, 192nd
There are plenty of recent draft picks that figure to jump into Vancouver's lineup next season, beginning with Elias Pettersson, Adam Gaudette, and Olli Juolevi.
Pettersson just had the best age-19 season in SHL history, and put up scoring numbers on par with guys like Petr Forsberg and the Sedin twins. Gaudette, who could turn into a major coup after Vancouver selected him 149th overall in 2015, joined the roster late last season. And then there's Juolevi, whom Vancouver took fifth overall in 2016, and has yet to make his NHL debut. That is certainly something that one would expect and needs to happen in the coming year.
They'll get another good player in this draft with the seventh pick. It really is anyone's guess who will be available there because, other than the top-two selections, it feels very up-in-the-air. The latest Sporting News mock draft has Vancouver selecting Finnish center Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Right in that range it's expected Oliver Wahlstrom, Brady Tkachuk, and Noah Dosbon will be selected. The good news Vancouver? All of those players would be excellent additions to the organization.
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Canucks free agent/trade targets
Troy Brouwer
With two years left on his current contract paying him $4.5 million per, the Flames would absolutely love to rid themselves of this contract. With plenty of breathing room below the cap ceiling, Vancouver could absorb this contract with Calgary sweetening the deal by throwing in a pick or prospect. It's the type of move Benning can make that obviously has a mind for the future, whil putting the present on hold.
Mark Stone
Ok so I know I just said that Benning shouldn't spend a ton of money this offseason, but that really doesn't feel like it jives with his modus operandi. So if he's going to go out and spend, why not do it in a very loud Jim Benning type way? It's clear the Ottawa Senators aren't that interested in shelling out a ton of dollars, so take advantage of the damn offer sheet and see if you can't snag a really great two-way forward in the process.