Vancouver Canucks: 2017-18 preseason bound to be exciting

The Vancouver Canucks preseason schedule for 2017-18 has been released, and it’ll include a trip overseas when they play the Los Angeles Kings in Beijing.

With the 2016-17 NHL season officially in the books, all eyes now turn to the Vancouver Canucks’ 2017-18 season.

While we await the official release of the team’s regular season schedule, fans can start circling the calendar for Vancouver’s preseason opponents — which actually has some intriguing dates you won’t want to miss.

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The Canucks will be the very first team to play against the expansion Vegas Golden Knights franchise.

As you can also see on the schedule, the Canucks and Los Angeles Kings are set to play a pair of preseason games in Beijing and Shanghai, China.

Though it’s easy for the common fan to discount the preseason (after all, you’re basically just watching minor leaguers and prospects fighting for roster spots), this actually looks to be a Canucks preseason that every fan should follow.

Welcome to the NHL, Vegas

The Golden Knights will make their highly anticipated debut as a franchise when they visit the Canucks on September 17.

There’s a decent chance we’ll see most of Vegas’ regulars, considering they don’t have much of a farm system nor prospect pool built up for obvious reasons.

Vegas will be playing in the Pacific Division, so they’ll be an opponent that the Canucks will want to know fairly quickly.

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Plus, this preseason matchup just might include the return of a player like Brandon Sutter — should Vegas select him in the expansion draft.

It’s only a preseason game, but welcoming Vegas to the NHL will be one of the kindest acts the Canucks franchise has ever committed.

Bound for China

The NHL will do its part in trying to promote ice hockey in China, as the Canucks and Kings are scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games in Beijing. This comes a year after the HC Kunlun Red Star (a KHL team based in Beijing), completed their inaugural season.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman had this to say once the league successfully set up the two games:

"We look forward to our first games in China and to a variety of initiatives that will inspire generations of Chinese players and fans to enjoy our sport,.We recognize the importance of helping China build a strong national hockey program and are committed to supporting that priority in every way possible.”"

Vancouver and Los Angeles will have the bragging rights as the first NHL franchises to play in the country. Though it remains to be seen how many starters on each side will play in the games, the players will at least get a nice, warm vacation to the beautiful nation of China.

Final thoughts

The Canucks will also play the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames in the preseason, but not other Pacific Division foes, namely the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes or San Jose Sharks. They’ll have to wait until the regular season.

Now that Vancouver is fully set on a rebuild, you can expect a lot of young kids to be on the roster in 2017-18. Your first glimpse from some of these guys, like Jonathan Dahlen, will be in the preseason.

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So, this actually will be one of the most exciting preseasons in franchise history. The Vancouver Canucks will play in Beijing and Shanghai, and are set to welcome the Vegas Golden Knights to the NHL, so start counting down those days.