The Vancouver Canucks are going to be revived in the second half.
The first half of the Vancouver Canucks season was painful. It was painful for us, the fans, to watch the team at times. It was even more painful for the players, and quite literally so, with all the injuries. Heck, it was even painful to win sometimes, stuck on the fine line between that ever-so-tantalizing first overall pick and the Pacific Division playoff spot.
But no pain, no gain, right?
The Canucks will play a much better second half than they did the first half. Riddled by injuries a snakebitten scorers, the Canucks averaged a team point-per-game pace on the standings. Entering the second half on the outside looking in, Vancouver can only hope that the timely returns of Luca Sbisa, Ryan Miller, and most importantly Brandon Sutter, resurrect the team before too late.
Simply said, how could this team get worse when Sutter comes back, and when Hamhuis does too? So let us take a step of faith and trust in the Canuck blue-and-green, that Johnny Canuck still has something left in him to will Vancouver’s boys on to the playoffs.
What getting in to the playoff means to the franchise at this stage of the “rebuild-on-the-fly”, I do not know. What I do know is that I want the team to win, the Canucks want to win, and the city wants to win.
So fully trusting in GM Jim Benning‘s sure-handed leadership of the Canucks organization, here they are, the Vancouver Canucks’ second half predictions.
Next: #1 Brandon Sutter will Revive the Offence
1. Brandon Sutter will Revive the Offence
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The stage is set for Brandon Sutter to show to his fans why he deserves the massive contract extension he inked for the next five years.
Sutter was on pace for a 40 point season before he went down with the injury that led to his sports hernia injury. When he returns, he is going to be the freshest leg in the Canucks lineup, provided his surgery does not harm his career. Unlikely so at age 26 to not be able to recover fully from a surgery, but it is still a slim possibility.
The great thing about Sutter is that he so versatile all around the lineup. Play him at the conventional second-line centre spot, provided that you have functional NHL-level top-six wingers for him, and he can score. Play him on the right wing with the Sedins, should Hansen stutter. Play him on the bottom-six with Derek Dorsett and Brandon Prust, and that is instantly your most powerful line in the lineup.
Sutter’s presence frees up Bo Horvat and Jared McCann. The defensive obligations are lighter for the kids, and now that they played half the season defending, they will thrive offensively while playing defensively responsible hockey! If Willie Desjardins wants to play Adam Cracknell more and give McCann more offensive space, play McCann on Sutter’s wing.
I can’t put a number on him because of how versatile he can be used around the lineup, but Sutter is going to be a foundational player for the Canucks, even if he wasn’t one coming in.
Next: #2 The Kids will Come Alive
2. The Kids will Come Alive
Sven Baertschi, Jake Virtanen, Ben Hutton, alongside Horvat and McCann, are going to find their next level.
For the Bo&Sven line, that seems to be already coming true. The Carolina Hurricanes game was a prime example of Horvat’s edgy doggedness on the puck leading to scoring chances and Baertschi’s playmaking instincts combining with his sniper’s hands, the two combining for three goals and one assist.
Prediction: Horvat and Baertsci will combine for 70+ points this season
As for Virtanen, the stage is set for him to take over Alex Burrows’s role as the energy guy who can get under the opponents’ skin. Of course, with much more speed, physicality, and offensive upside. If Virtanen plays with the ambition, the vengeance to prove the post-World Juniors critics wrong, his second half will be a good jumping-off spot for next year.
Ben Hutton has been the best rookie of the season. His patience, composure, and puck-handling is arguably one of the best on the team’s defence. However, his ability to finish on the offence could use some touch, as well as his strength and toughness in his own end. He will not surprise in the second half, but simply continue to be good.
Next: #3 Jacob Markstrom will Rise
3. Jacob Markstrom will Rise
I think we all agree that Jonathan Quick deserves to be at the All-Star Game, but John Gibson? When I was trying to pull together an argument that someone else, perhaps that Ryan Miller, deserves to be there in Nashville instead of Gibson, I saw Markstrom’s advanced stats.
Wow. Were they good.
According to war-on-ice.com, through his 14 games, Markstrom ranks first in save percentage in all Pacific Division goaltenders who have played more than 500 minutes. Of the same sample of netminders, Markstrom ranks first in medium-danger scoring chance save percentage, and second in high-danger scoring chance save percentage.
Guess who stands first — Quick. Guess who stands third — Gibson.
Although there is never a single metric to grade netminders, I believe that Markstrom will be a capable NHL starter by the end of this season. Next year should prove to be an intriguing one, where Markstrom eventually bumps Ryan Miller from the starting role and eventually to a trade as his contract expires. After all, Markstrom is posting better number than Miller is, despite playing tougher minutes. The team’s Corsi is 4.4 percent lower with Markstrom in net than with Miller in net.
I cannot say that Markstrom gets the recognition as the number three netminder in the Pacific Division, but the league will soon realize that with Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider both out of the Pacific, that Vancouver is growing another top-tier goaltender in the 6’4″ Markstrom. With the Canucks defence getting healthier and stronger in the second half, expect Markstrom to push Miller’s performance.
Next: #4 Emerson Etem will Bump a Veteran
4. Emerson Etem will Bump a Veteran
The Canucks acquired Emerson Etem from the New York Rangers to continue boost the team’s next wave of core players. That means that the old core will have to go.
The Canucks carry 16 forwards including injured Sutter and Jannik Hansen. There are no waiver exempt players, according to hockeyscap.com, on the Canucks line-up, save “the Kids” — McCann, Virtanen, Hutton, Horvat, and Andrey Pedan. In other words, unless Virtanen is sent to the Juniors, the Canucks will have 25 skaters when all four injured players return, 16 forwards and nine defencemen.
That will be in a handful of weeks from now, before the Trade Deadline which is February 29th. So do the Canucks expose Vey to waivers? Send Virtanen down to the Juniors?
Or does Vancouver trade an expendable veteran?
Related: Big Decisions to Make with Etem in the Mix
With Etem in the mix, multiple wingers suddenly became expendable. Etem is a scorer, a physical ‘tank’, and a defensively-depended player from his time in New York where he started 68.8 percent of his shifts in the defensive zone. That makes scorer Radim Vrbata expendable, alongside defensive and physical veterans in Chris Higgins and Brandon Prust, even Alex Burrows.
Prediction: At least one of Vrbata, Prust, Higgins, or Burrows gets traded by February 29th
All of them are potential trade baits, if you ask me. There are no-trade clauses in effect of course, but the Canucks will have to move someone to make roster space. Cap space is also an issue. With with Sutter on the Long-Term IR, the Canucks are just $107k under the salary cap, par general fanager. Etem’s acquisition should give the rest of the team some more urgency for their ice times.
Next: #5 The Sedins will Not Stop
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.