Vancouver Canucks should be encouraged by 2018 playoffs

The Vancouver Canucks front office, players and fans should be encouraged by how the postseason has played out thus far, because they’re only offering signs of hope for this franchise during a painful rebuilding stage.

Just because the Vancouver Canucks aren’t in the playoffs, it doesn’t mean the players and fans have to sit around in disappointment that their Stanley Cup drought will increase by another year while a different team wins it all.

Rather, the Canucks to sit back and look at the positives that have occurred through the first week of the postseason, because there have been many of them. We can start with what has happened inside the Pacific Division.

For starters, the rival Los Angeles Kings saw their Stanley Cup window (at least with this core), come to a close as the expansion Vegas Golden Knights swept them, following a 1-0 victory in Game 4.

Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown will certainly not repeat their epic 2017-18 seasons, while Jeff Carter (33), and Jonathan Quick (32), only have so many good years left. The Kings lack elite prospects, and there’s no guarantee that Drew Doughty signs long-term, as the superstar blueliner can hit free agency in 2019.

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In short, the Canucks could find themselves on the same level as the rapidly aging and wearing down Kings, who are no longer a championship contender and will be facing a similar dilemma to Vancouver when they missed the playoffs under John Tortorella in 2013-14.

The Anaheim Ducks find themselves in a 3-0 hole over the San Jose Sharks, and their season could end on Wednesday night.

Should the Sharks take care of business, Anaheim will join the Kings as a perennial contender that has seen its championship window close.

Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry (both 33 in May), have struggled to stay healthy and slowly phasing out of their prime years. The same can be said about Ryan Kesler, whose struggled to play through a hip injury. He turns 34 in August, and his days as an elite two-way centre also appear to be behind him.

Like the Kings, Anaheim is also devoid of top-tier prospects (such is life when you pick very late in the first round on an annual basis). As such, there’s no reason to believe the Ducks can keep this window open much longer.

So in short, the Canucks have been bullied by the Ducks and Kings since NHL realignment took place in 2013-14. But both teams have showed they’re too old and slow to win championships now, and it may not be long until Vancouver catches up to them. It’s not crazy to think they can even finish better than Anaheim and L.A. next season.

Underdog stories: Believe

The Canucks can also look at other teams like the Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets. In the case of Vegas, they’re a pure underdog story. Remember, a large portion of NHL fans and pundits labeled them to be the NHL’s worst team in 2018. Instead, they’re the Pacific Division champions and off to the second round of the playoffs.

Sometimes, all you need is an underdog story to be inspired. What if Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser continue to blossom into bigger stars? What if Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen and Olli Juolevi are ready for major roles next season? What if Jake Virtanen and Adam Gaudette also take their games to new heights?

Now, the Canucks would need a lot to go right for next season and 2019-20. But everything went right for the expansion Golden Knights. William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith and Erik Haula all had career years

You see my point? Just when you think a team has no chance at doing anything, they can go out and do it. Vegas did it this year, so why can’t the Canucks be a surprise team much sooner than we expect? Let the 2017-18 Golden Knights (and their playoff performance thus far), offer inspiration and hope to Vancouver.

Building the right way

Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff deserves all the praise in the world for his drafting. Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck, Patrik Laine, Jacob Trouba and Kyle Connor round out much of this team’s nucleus, and they were all draft picks from Cheveldayoff.

That’s how you build a Stanley Cup contender in today’s NHL; right through the draft. Though the Canucks have a long way to go, general manager Jim Benning is off to a nice start with the selections of Boeser, Virtanen, Pettersson, Gaudette, Juolevi, Kole Lind, and Thatcher Demko.

Now, we know the five Jets players listed above are now true stars, whereas Boeser is the only Canucks player to reach his potential.

But Scheifele didn’t become a superstar until 2015-16, five years after he was drafted. Hellebuyck didn’t become a Vezina Trophy finalist until six years after Winnipeg selected him. Trouba and Connor were drafted in 2012 and 2015, respectively. Here they are now.

See where I’m getting at? Winnipeg is one win away from the second round, and they’re a long-term championship contender with this young talent. Benning is following Cheveldayoff’s plan of building a star-studded young core in the draft. And he’s doing it patiently.

Next: Canucks shouldn't trade for Jason Spezza

In all, there are many positives in the 2018 NHL playoffs thus far, and the way the Jets have performed so far should only inspire Canucks fans that they have the perfect plan in place to compete for championships over the next five to 10 years.

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