Vancouver Canucks: Buying or selling players’ hot starts

Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat aren’t the only Vancouver Canucks off to strong starts this season. Which other players are to be taken seriously, and which ones will regress down the stretch?

The Vancouver Canucks find themselves sitting atop the Pacific Division with a 10-6-2 record, thanks in large part to the struggles of their divisional foes.

Well, it’s not really just a case of Vancouver being the best team in a division filled with mediocrity. But with Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson off to scorching starts, the Canucks are winning with a high-powered offence.

Only the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning (62), have scored more goals than the Canucks (59), so far this season. But naturally, fans and pundits wonder if Vancouver can really maintain this incredible start to 2018-19 – considering how bad they fell apart in December just a year ago.

But as long as Pettersson and Horvat keep carrying the load, Vancouver will be hanging around in the playoff race. The main question is if secondary scorers like Jake Virtanen and Markus Granlund can sustain their early season success.

We know Horvat and Pettersson are going to keep on scoring; there’s really nothing to worry about there. But how will the other hot starters fare down the stretch? Let’s play another game of “buying or selling.”

Jake Virtanen

Drafted with the No. 6 selection in 2014, JV18 needs no reminder from fans about how slow his overall hockey development was. It took three years after the 2014 draft for Virtanen to finally lock down a full-time roster spot.

Virtanen had a mere 10 goals and 20 points last season, and many fans decided it was time to give up on him. But so far, the 22-year-old Virtanen already looks so much better than he did at all in 2017-18.

He’s on fire with five goals in his last six games now. Virtanen needs just three more to match the goal total from last year. But now, the expectation is for Virtanen to reach 20-plus goals. At this point, why should we doubt him?

Virtanen looks like a natural fit with Pettersson as his linemate. The latter has that ability to elevate the play of every guy around him. Virtanen’s speed, good size and lethal shot all add up to what should be a fine breakout season.

Verdict: Buying

Loui Eriksson

Loui Eriksson certainly didn’t look like a $6 million per season player in 2016-17 nor 2017-18. He had just 24 and 23 points in those seasons, respectively.

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But over the last couple of weeks, Eriksson has looked like a player who wants to earn every penny of his $36 million contract.

Eriksson is now up to four goals and three assists over his last four games. Per ESPN.com, he’s now on pace to finish with a respectable 18 goals and 50 points. Those numbers wouldn’t warrant a $6 million annual salary, but it would nearly double the point total he posted in his first two seasons.

But don’t get too excited on Eriksson, folks. He went through a similar hot stretch last year around this time.

In November alone, Eriksson finished with five goals and 10 points. He had just two assists in January and struggled the rest of the season.

Enjoy Eriksson’s minor resurgence while you can. He’s 33 years of age and is only getting hot for a short period of time. There’s just no reason to believe that he’s going to suddenly get hot and score 50-something points, especially this late in his career.

Verdict: Selling

Markus Granlund

Markus Granlund scored 19 goals and 32 points for the Canucks in 2016-17, then slumped to a mere eight goals and 12 points in 53 games last year. But the 25-year-old looks like his 2016-17 self again, with three goals and nine points in 18 games.

Granlund has recorded a point in five of his last six games now, and is on pace to finish with a career-high 41 points, per ESPN.com. But don’t get too excited about his recent surge, because regression is inevitable for Granlund.

He owns a woeful 47.5 Corsi For Percentage, and when Brock Boeser, Brandon Sutter and Sven Baertschi return, Granlund will get less power play and ice time. As such, it’s going to be hard for him to produce a career year.

Granlund’s latest surge has been fun to watch, but it won’t be long until he starts struggling more offensively. Head coach Travis Green will surely look to use Granlund more in a defensive/shutdown role soon.

Verdict: Selling

*Stats courtesy of Hockey Reference and NHL.com unless otherwise noted*