Vancouver Canucks: 5 Second Half Predictions: “Revival”

5. The Sedins will Not Stop

Henrik and Daniel Sedin have combined for 72 points in a total of 80 games shared between them.

Daniel is nearly back to his league-leading days, and Henrik continues to grind out his assists while trying to get tougher in the faceoff circle. Hansen’s puck retrieval skills have been a blessing for the Sedins, but with Burrows now filling in for Hansen to start the second half, hopefully the Sedins continue to each roll at a point-per-game production. You know, the Sedins and Burrows is one of the oldest first lines you will see, a line averaging 34.7 years of age.

But rest assured, as much as we worry about the “third Sedin”, the Canucks have a lot of options on the first-line wing slot opposite to Daniel. Sutter looked great in the beginning of the year, blowing by all expectations that he will be a burden for the Sedins. Hansen is obviously a proven choice now, and Burrows is the most original “third Sedin”, after all. With Etem in the mix now, the Canucks could even look to try a Zack Kassian-like approach with Etem, playing him with the Sedins — although I do not see Etem being efficient with the Sedins.

Prediction: Hank&Dank will combine for 150+ points this season

You just have to try out the players and let the Sedins have some fun, you know. Hockey is a sport, in case you forgot, and sport is supposed to be exciting and fun, in case you forgot from the first half of this season.

Next: Canucks Midseason Awards: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

The Canucks seem to be piecing this puzzle together, albeit frustratingly. If Coach Desjardins and Trader Jim push just a couple more buttons right in the coming weeks, this Vancouver team could survive this “rebuild-on-the-fly” sooner than anyone would have expected. But there still are a lot of questions to be answered. Prediction: if anything is going to win Vancouver a playoff spot, it is going to be a Trader Jim’s trade.