When the Stanley Cup is awarded at the end of the 2022-23 season, it will be 30 years since a Canadian team was the champion. Thirty long, trying years for hockey fans right across Canada. Will this season be the end of the Cup drought? Let’s go coast to coast and project what each team’s chance might be. We will start with the Vancouver Canucks.
Bruce, There It Is!
The Canucks last made the Stanley Cup final in 2011. Since then, they have not had much success. They have missed the playoffs seven times and only got past the first round once. Head coach Bruce Boudreau will be behind the bench from the start of the season, and that should help their playoff chances. Boudreau took over for Travis Green and went 32-15-10, the second-best record by points-percentage (.649) in the Pacific Division during Boudreau’s partial season behind the bench.
Roster Is Average Up Front
J.T. Miller, the teams leading scorer, is back for now. He is to be a free agent at the end of the ’22-’23 season. Expect Miller to be moved by the trade deadline. If he can produce early for the team, it will help them get a strong return with a potential trade partner.
Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat need career seasons if the Canucks hope to make the playoffs. The pair were not as effective offensively as the Vancouver management hoped they would be. Peterson looked like he would be an elite player in the Covid Bubble in 2020 but has not shown the same level since.
Brock Boeser got himself a nice little payday back in July. He signed a bridge contract that will pay him close to $20 million over three years. Boeser is expected to improve on his 46-point campaign from a year ago. Dealing with the passing of his father may have contributed to last season’s struggles. Anything extra from him will benefit the Canucks offense and possible success.
Help Needed on Defense
Vancouver’s defensive corps might be the problem in 2022-’23. Quinn Hughes is a year older and continues to impress every night. But after that, there is a pretty sharp drop-off. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tyler Myers, and Luke Schenn aren’t the players they once were. Travis Dermott is a serviceable player but not the kind of guy that will log a lot of big NHL minutes. The Vancouver Canucks need to look at the free agency market or hope a minor leaguer can step in. The Canucks may be the same team as last year if this doesn’t happen.
Demko Solid In Net
In goal, the Canucks are in good shape with Thatcher Demko. He is a big NHL-style goaltender at not a high dollar value. With the addition of Spencer Martin, the Canucks have a quality backup that can take some playing minutes away from Demko for some needed rest throughout the season. If that can happen, look for Demko’s save percentage to go up and goals against to go down.
Playoff Bound?
Will the Vancouver Canucks be able to return to the playoffs in 2022-’23? Maybe. But the chances of them finding their way to the Stanley Cup Finals as they had in 1982, 1994, and 2011 are non-existent. They have not improved their team enough to compete at the same level as the Colorado’s and Edmonton’s of the Western Conference. A cup run or even making the playoffs seems out of the picture for years to come.
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