Vancouver Canucks: A Lost Season Stuck in No Man’s Land

The Vancouver Canucks have nowhere else to go in the NHL standings. A season was lost overnight.

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The Vancouver Canucks stood silent at the deadline. The Canucks lost Adam Cracknell to the Edmonton Oilers. The Canucks ran into Kris Russell again after facing him in the playoffs last year, now on the trade front.

And Russell proved victorious over Dan Hamhuis once again. But the trades (or the lack thereof) are just a part of the equation going forward. The management is lost, it is in no man’s land. That was the case when they were trying to seal the Hamhuis deal — apparently only late third-round picks were coming, unlike the seconds and prospects that other rentals were fetching.

The management has finally caved in, they are going to play the kids. Jim Benning mentioned during the live press conference on Monday how he is going to call up guys like Brendan Gaunce, Alex Grenier, and Mike Zalewski. That has already started with the injury call-up to Gaunce on Tuesday.

But this isn’t a real tank job. How can the Canucks tank with Chris Tanev, Dan Hamhuis, Radim Vrbata, the Sedins, Jannik Hansen, Ryan Miller… it just is not possible. After all, the Canucks are still so close to the max salary cap.

The Canucks will need to make up for eight points on the Minnesota Wild albeit with two games in hand. The Canucks are also just eight points on top of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the bottom team in the NHL standings.

But after the trade deadline, both spots are now further away than they seem to be. The bottom teams got worse and the fringe playoff teams got better.

If you ask me, that is the worst thing that could have happened to the Canucks besides the trade deadline silence itself. Alright, looking at the standings after Tuesday’s loss to the New York Islanders, the Canucks have 60 points in 62 games. That is good for the 23rd spot in the standings — or rather, the eighth spot from the bottom. The Canucks have played the fewer games than all the bottom seven teams (only Winnipeg has played equal games as of Wednesday morning).

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That means that it is unlikely that the teams below them can overtake the Canucks. And what was the enticing thing about not making the playoffs? Getting Auston Matthews, or someone very close to him. The way things are right now, the Canucks will have to be content with something like the eighth overall pick.

Well, I could have said that before the deadline. Now that just got worse. Here are the players that the six of seven teams below the Canucks have traded away. Columbus did not make a single move.

Arizona: Mikkel Boedker, Corey Potter (IN: Alex Tanguay)
Buffalo: Jamie McGinn, Mike Weber
Winnipeg: Andrew Ladd
Calgary: Markus Granlund, Jiri Hudler, Kris Russell, David Jones
Edmonton: Martin Gernat, Anders Nilsson, Teddy Purcell, Justin Schultz
Toronto: Daniel Winnik, James Reimer, Roman Polak, Nick Spaling, Dion Phaneuf, Shawn Matthias

And yes. First round picks, second round picks, and third round picks did get traded in return. The management was in no man’s land with the asking price on Hamhuis going into the last week of February.

But the point here is that the Canucks have nowhere else to go in the standings. They are in no man’s land.

From TANKING 101: Recapping the Coach’s Gongshow

The floor just dropped even lower, and the ceiling just jumped higher. Maybe not for the Montreal Canadiens, but who knows when Carey Price comes back? He is taking full-gear practices now… Just look at this list of acquisitions for three Western wild card contenders:

Colorado: Shawn Matthias, Eric Gelinas, Mikkel Boedker
Minnesota: David Jones
Nashville: (depth) Corey Potter, Stefan Elliott

Bottomline? The Canucks are going to be stuck here, in the number eight spot in the draft, hoping that the fans don’t throw a riot and the lottery works its magic. Sounds like a plan to Jim Benning, eh?

There is some optimism to be found. There is more to the season than just tanking or making the playoffs. Now with Gaunce with the team and Grenier, Zalewski, and Pedan all primed for call-ups, it will be worth watching these lost Canucks trying to make up for all their wanderings in the first bit of their injury-riddled season.

Next: A Look into the Future: Is there still hope?

But this season is lost. It is for the youth to reclaim this abandoned ship.