Vancouver Canucks: Looking at The Hockey News’ player projections

The Hockey News released their annual “Ultimate Pool Guide,” and shared their projections for multiple Vancouver Canucks players. I picked up a copy and thought we’d analyze what the good folks of THN predict for the Canuck skaters.

Expecations aren’t high for the Vancouver Canucks in 2018-19, but this team has more scoring talent than many people seem to think.

If healthy, Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser could both score 30-plus goals and over 60 points. Elias Pettersson has to be considered a front-runner for the Calder Trophy, while Adam Gaudette and Jake Virtanen also look ready for bigger roles in 2018-19.

We know which NHL players are at the top of the wish lists for you pool players. The usual Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Alexander Ovechkin, etc. But you don’t want to sleep on certain Canuck players, either.

The Hockey News released their 2018-19 version of the “Ultimate Pool Guide,” which includes stat projections for the top scorers and goalies across the league. We’ll take a look at what they project for the Canucks.

Forwards

Brock Boeser: 35 goals, 35 assists, 70 points

Nikolay Goldobin: 17 goals, 23 assists, 40 points

Bo Horvat: 27 goals, 35 assists, 62 points

Elias Pettersson: 25 goals, 33 assists, 58 points

Defencemen

Olli Juolevi: Seven goals, 24 assists, 31 points

Goalies

Jacob Markstrom: 20 wins, 2.92 GAA, .910 save percentage, one shutout

Analysis

The Boeser and Horvat projections seem fair. The former will surely score 30-plus goals so long as he plays at least 70 games. Horvat’s ceiling is probably 60-65 points, so those are realistic projections. Again, his health is the key factor here.

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

As for Goldobin, he certainly has 20-goal potential and could have big season if head coach Travis Green puts him in the top-six.

But the plethora of free agent signings made by general manager Jim Benning don’t bode well for Goldobin. Perhaps they’re not fully confident in him, or they simply just don’t want to give him the ice time.

But if Goldobin does play most of 2018-19 with the Canucks, I’d maybe look at something closer to 14 goals and 30 points. Unless he gets to play on the first or second line, Goldobin won’t threaten for 20.

It’s always tough to make predictions with rookies. You don’t know how much ice time they’ll get, how smoothly they’ll transition to the NHL, and if they’ll play a whole season. But Pettersson isn’t like most rookies.

That being said, I’d be looking at a minor dip from THN’s projections. The 25 goals seem fair, but maybe a few less points. I’m looking at something closer to the 45-50 point range.

As for Juolevi, simply take a guess. Benning didn’t bother to trade out any of his defencemen, even though most of them failed to generate much production in 2017-18. Seems like he’s going with the same group next year. Barring a trade or two, it’s hard to envision Juolevi playing much (if at all), in Vancouver.

For Markstrom, he’ll likely get the starting nod over Anders Nilsson and Thatcher Demko. Until the latter is given the reigns to take over in the crease, the pipes belong to Markstrom. He won 23 games last season, and THN is giving him three less.

If Demko doesn’t make the jump, something closer to 25 wins is more realistic for Markstrom. But if the former manages to take over the starting job at any point in 2018-19, then expect Markstrom to finish with 15-20 wins.