It took a while, but the Vancouver Canucks have finally accepted their fate. Had they gotten to this point sooner, they might have been able to avoid some of the growing pains that are to follow.
While Canucks Nation was hoping for a Vancouver Canucks revival in the 2016 offseason, most non-Canuck fans, writers and analysts predicted things to get worse. Yes, most — including The Hockey News, in their 2016-17 Yearbook — predicted the Canucks to finish last in the Pacific Division.
For the longest time, it seemed like the Canucks could at least finish ahead of the Arizona Coyotes. But with 13 games left in the season, they are just five points apart.
This development makes us wonder: did it really take management that long to realise what situation they were in?
Reality Has Set In
Daniel Wagner (Vancouver Courier) — How did it take this long for reality to set in for the Canucks?
"What a phrase: “now that reality has set in.” As in, the reality that the Canucks are not going to make the playoffs, something that has been a reality for most of the season."
Daniel Wagner asks a valid question. How did it take this long?
Going into the season, I agree that it was too early to give up on all playoff hopes. The Canucks added Loui Eriksson who looked great with Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. They also added veteran D-man Erik Gudbranson and prospect Troy Stecher.
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The problem here is that none of them, except for Stecher, delivered. Eriksson has been a disappointment, and if he doesn’t rebound next season, his contract will look atrocious. Gudbranson, too, failed to deliver and eventually suffered a long-term injury.
So, seeing how the team’s star players couldn’t lead the team, management could have come to early conclusions. This team was never good enough.
I have often been criticised for being too negative about the Canucks. But, as GM Jim Benning says, this is reality, not pessimism.
On the bright side, reality has set in at last. The Canucks have stopped sacrificing youth development for “success”.
Growing Pains Incoming
Ed Willes (The Province) — Cue the Canucks’ growing pains – patience will be mandatory
"But the Canucks’ other young players — Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi, Markus Granlund, Troy Stecher — are already playing feature roles with the team. It’s difficult to see where they’ll play more.As for the prospects who excite the team’s fan base, they’re still at least two or three years away and that puts the Canucks in an awkward situation, not that 25th place overall isn’t awkward enough."
Ed Willes makes a number of good points here, so check out his article.
We are all getting excited about the Canucks playing their kids more, but what can they really do?
Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Markus Granlund are already getting top-six minutes. Even Reid Boucher is up there now, with several players injured.
Should Horvat-Baertschi-Boucher be the new top line? Maybe.
Should the Sedin twins get pushed down to the bottom six with Granlund, Joseph LaBate and Drew Shore filling in on the second line? Probably not.
On defence, Troy Stecher is already playing top-pairing and power-play minutes. The only thing Willie Desjardins could do here would be to put Nikita Tryamkin on the top pairing, but that doesn’t really make sense either.
Fact is, the Canucks don’t even have many youngsters to give more playing time to. So, this might just be a lot of hype and excitement about nothing.
Next: Canucks Should Re-Sign Reid Boucher
That said, Brock Boeser could sign and join the team as early as next week, if North Dakota gets kicked out of the playoffs. If that happens, I would love to see him getting top-six minutes in the few remaining games.
But as long as Boeser is still in North Dakota, Olli Juolevi in London, and Thatcher Demko in Utica, there aren’t many options to let the kids play more.