Vancouver Canucks gameday: Tanking battle in Arizona

As the 2017-18 season wears down, the Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes are only playing for pride at this point. But the loser of tonight will inch that much closer to winning the Rasmus Dahlin sweepstakes.

The Vancouver Canucks may be headed for a third-straight season without making the playoffs, but they at least entertain the fans with a different sort of race in April. That would be the tanking race; the more you lose, the better chance you get at earning a high draft pick.

Now, we know the Canucks aren’t actually trying to lose games. The Sedin twins have too much pride to let that happen. It’s just, there are way too many injuries for the Canucks to actually stay competitive this late in the season.

This team was near the bottom of the standings with rookie star Brock Boeser, plus other forwards like Sven Baertschi, Markus Granlund and Loui Eriksson. Just how do the Canucks finish the season strong?

More from The Canuck Way

• Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
• What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
• Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
• Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
• 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg

Well, the good news is that a large portion of the fans seem to be okay with losing at this stage of the season. The Canucks currently own a 9.5 percent chance of winning the draft lottery. But there is time to fall down to 31st.

The Canucks are visiting the last-place Arizona Coyotes, who are just six points behind Vancouver with a game in hand. Should they win in regulation, they’ll be breathing down the Canucks necks. That may be a good thing.

The Buffalo Sabres are only three points behind Vancouver, while the 29th-place Ottawa Senators trail by two with a game in hand.

Indeed, a Canucks loss would go a long way into helping them up their chances of winning the Dahlin sweepstakes.

For what it’s worth, I only had to use the NHL Lottery Simulator three times until the Canucks won. Wouldn’t it be nice if they actually had the best odds for once? Sort of like if they had the best odds two years ago? That could have landed them Auston Matthews.

So when the Canucks and Coyotes play tonight, you have the right to cheer for your team to win. But don’t be too upset if they lose this bout; it only helps their chances of picking in the top-five, and perhaps the draft lottery.

Wednesday’s game was a snooze fest, with the Coyotes winning 2-1. Derek Stepan scored in the final minute to win the game. Oh, what if that’s a franchise-changing moment for the Canucks? What if it somehow leads them to falling below the Coyotes in the standings and winning the draft lottery?

Expect more of the same from Wednesday. The Canucks are playing with a depleted lineup; devoid of scoring depth all whilst making too many mistakes in their defensive zone. Arizona has been playing better lately, but playing back-to-back is never easy. Not sure they’ll be at their best after being crushed 5-2 by the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday afternoon.

Next: Vancouver Canucks need to blow up the defence

My prediction is 3-2 for the Coyotes. Again, they’ve been playing better hockey lately and simply look like the better team here. Bo Horvat and Daniel Sedin score the Canuck goals.