Vancouver Canucks: 5 Players who Need to Step Up
By David Joun
The Vancouver Canucks are getting bodies back, but the wins just aren’t coming.
The Vancouver Canucks have got to be wondering what they must do to climb up the standings.
Look. Captain Henrik is back. Brandon Sutter is back. Now that Dan Hamhuis is coming back, the Canucks have the best players that they can afford this season. But the points aren’t coming. The Canucks can’t seem to win unless their netminders stand on their heads.
The result? Heading into the weekend, the Canucks are 20-19-12, with just 10 games remaining before the 2016 NHL Trade Deadline. They just can’t seem to catch the seemingly idle Arizona Coyotes. Oh, wait. There goes Anaheim to the heavenly portion of the standings.
Instead, the Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid are coming from the bottom of the Pacific, poised to submarine the orca from below.
You know, the moment that the Oilers overtake the Canucks is when half the team will be on clearance sale. Mind you, Brandon Prust, Chris Higgins, and Yannick Weber were all disposed of the roster without any return and without any suitors. Trader Jim Benning also has his work cut out.
It could get ugly, and the Canucks could be forced to “tank,” not because they want to, but because they are incapable of doing anything else. So what do you do? You can’t really be buyers, and the only alternative might be to be forced to make a run for the first-overall pick.
Simple. You make your players run the other way.
The not-so-simple part is the execution. But as it has been said before, knowing the problem is half the solution. Do the Canucks know what the problem is?
So here it is, this week’s edition of the Canucklehead Lament, on the five Vancouver players who have their work cut out for them. They are the problem, and they are the ones who need to make the push for the playoffs.
It is time to know the Canucks’ problems, one by one.
What’s their mission? Make the playoffs. What do they have to do? Just find ways to climb over the Arizona Coyotes, the Minnesota Wild, and the Nashville Predators. Very doable, right?
Next: Problem No. 1: Derek Dorsett