2022-09-26 07:00:00
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The National Hockey League (NHL) will start the 2022/2023 season on October 7th. After the Tampa Bay Lightning’s reign was broken by the Colorado Avalanche, the Denver Avalanche is the new prey! In the annual preview series Hockey-News.info a different team in focus every day.
The Vancouver Canucks were just five points short of making the playoffs last year. In the past seven seasons, this has only happened once – at that time they lost in the conference semifinals against the Vegas Golden Knights. Bruce Boudreau took over the season in the middle of the past season and will also be behind the gang in the coming season. With 599 wins, the Canadian ranks 22nd on the all-time list, among active coaches he ranks sixth behind Lindy Ruff (782), Paul Maurice (775), Peter Laviolette (717), Darryl Sutter (699) and John Tortorella (673).
If the Canadians want to go further this year, the penalty-killing must improve, because with only 74.9% the Canucks were only 30th in a league-wide comparison. The power play, however, took ninth place. Patrick Allvin was promoted to General Manager in January this year, with Olympic and world champions Walk Garnet and Emilie Castonguay For the first time, two women act as Assistant GMs. The squad, on the other hand, has changed little: the most prominent newcomer is Russian Ilya Mikheyev, who moved to the West after three years in Toronto. The NHL Entry Draft stayed true to its penchant for Swedish cracks and brought a talented forward in Jonathan Lekkerimäki on board. In the last four drafts, the Canucks invested no fewer than eight picks in players from Sweden.
Vancouver Canucks Infobox
Additions:Ilya Mikheyev, Curtis Lazar, Collin Delia
Departures:Jaroslav Halak, Madison Bowey, Matthew Highmore, Brad Hunt, Alex Chiasson
2022 1st Round Pick:Jonathan Lekkerimäki (15th)
Top 3 Prospects:Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Jack Rathbone, Danila Klimovich
It felt like there were endless rumors about the personality JT Miller – countless teams must have been after the American. Who can blame the GMs, the 29-year-old delivered a real dream season with 99 points. Ultimately, Miller stayed in Vancouver for seven more years and $56 million. Thus, the question of the 1st Line Center is clarified until the Swede Elias Pettersson outstripping the US crack or advancing into Miller’s point regions. Pettersson delivered his best season with 68 points, 32 goals also meant a career high. The 23-year-old has only two years left on his contract so it will be interesting to see how the Swede performs and whether Vancouver are looking for an early extension here. The first two center slots are occupied by Miller and Pettersson, Captain Bo Horvat will give the center forward in row 3. Horvat has already played 572 NHL games and is considered a very strong 2-way forward, being able to field a 0.64 point-per-game player in row 3 shows very good center depth. At 27, Horvat is entering his final year of contract, but both sides are interested in continuing to work together.
Will Bo Horvat also forward for the Vancouver Canucks in 2023/24? Picture:
Russian is spoken on the wings this year, because with Vasily Podkolzin, Ilya Mikheyev and the NHL debutant Andrei Kuzmenko three Russians are in the top 9 of the Canucks. It is not yet clear in which constellation, but Mikheyev and Podkolzin, Vancouver’s 1st round pick 2019, will probably get playing time on Miller’s wings, Kuzmenko could play alongside Pettersson and Brock Boeser storm Kuzmenko was a hotly contested player who racked up 53 points for SKA St. Petersburg last year. The 26-year-old has been signed to a 1-year deal. Also Tanner Pearson and Conor Garland will appear in the first three lines of attack, the 21-year-old Swede Nils Höglander, Jason Dickinson, Dakota Joshua and Curtis Lazar round off an interesting offensive mix.
Vancouver Canucks Lineup
striker
Ilya MikheyevJ.T MillerVasily Podkolzin Andrei KuzmenkoElias PetterssonBrock Boeser Conor GarlandBo HorvatTanner Pearson Nils HoglanderCurtis Lazar/Jason DicknsonDakota Joshua
defendergoalkeeper
Quinn HughesTravis DermottThatcher Demko
Oliver Ekman-LarssonLuke SchennSpencer Martin
Jack Rathbone/Tucker PoolmanTyler Myers
Quinn Hughes put on an absolutely impressive 2021-22 season and was Vancouver’s second-best scorer with 68 points – tied with Elias Pettersson. Hughes is considered a gifted skater with a very pronounced penchant for offense. At the same time, he has also found his defensive game in recent years and has developed into a real #1 defender. The brother of New Jersey Devils superstar Jack Hughes has five more seasons under contract, and at just 22 years of age he still has his prime ahead of him. Also until 2027 Oliver Ekman-Larsson tied to the club. The Swede arrived from Arizona in the summer of 2021 and had 29 points in 79 games in his first Nucks season. Along with deadline access Travis Dermott and the physical Luke Schenn he complements the top 4 Canucks. Schenn was the crack with the fourth most checks in the entire league last year with 273 hits. In 863 NHL games, the Canadian dealt no fewer than 2,838 checks, putting him in 7th place in the all-time ranking, which has only been held since 2005/06.
Quinn Hughes is one of the best attacking defenders in the league! Picture:
Tucker Poolman missed a slew of games of the 2021-22 season through injury, the Iowa-born Defender featured in just 40 games. With Tyler Myers, who is going into his 15th NHL season this year, rounds off the third pairing. But cracks like Kyle Burroughs or the boy Jack Rathbone, considered one of the Canucks’ best prospects, for a roster spot. Burroughs played in 42 games last year, Rathbone delivered in Abbotsford with 40 points in 39 games. In nine NHL missions, however, the US crack remained without points. After the upcoming season, the contracts of Dermott, Schenn and Burroughs expire, at the latest Rathbone should be ready for “full time duties”.
Also in the coming season the #1 goal is the Vancouver Canucks Thatcher Demko, who played in 64 games last year and won 33 games for his team. The 26-year-old American now has 136 NHL appearances and is tied to the Canadians for four more seasons with an annual salary of five million US dollars. His backup is “new” because Jaroslav Halak, who has won the most games alongside Demko, has left the club. Spencer Martin made an extremely strong figure in his six appearances: a goals against average of 1.74 and a catch rate of 95% raised expectations of the 27-year-old Canadian. Thus, the Canucks send a very good goalie tandem into the race – remarkable: both are from the 95s, are about the same size and almost the same weight. Michael DiPietro was considered one of Canada’s better goalie prospects and was drafted by the Canucks in the 2017 draft. He is entering his fourth professional season this year and will again be the goalkeeper for the Abbotsford Canucks – it remains to be seen whether he will actually make the leap to the NHL in the medium term.
Hockey-News Projection: On paper, the Vancouver Canucks definitely have what it takes to compete in the Pacific Division. Last year they were only five points short of the playoff spots, this year it could work with a return to the “postseason”.
www.hockey-news.info , Bild: facebook.com/Canucks/
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