1. The core will be stronger next season
As general manager, Jim Benning has done a fabulous job piecing together a young and exciting core of talented players that, if managed properly, can give the Vancouver Canucks a Stanley Cup window that lasts the decade or possibly longer.
It all starts with Elias Pettersson. First, the Swedish sensation dazzled millions in his rookie season and then followed it up with a mirror 66 points in three fewer games in his sophomore year. Pettersson statistically didn’t leap too far forward from year one to two, but he came back looking like Captain America and proved his added size. He was stronger on the puck, battled the toughest defence all season, and became a puck-possession animal. His Corsi For Percentage this season (63.4) skyrocketed over five percent from his rookie season (58.2) and you can expect that to continue as he matures another year. Next season he could very well become a 90-point player.
Next is the franchise defender, Quinn Hughes. It felt like a knife to the heart seeing the kid’s wildly exciting rookie season cut short. He was blazing his own trail in Vancouver and chasing records all along the way. We may never know if Hughes (53) would have broken Pettersson’s barely year-old rookie record (66), but as Pettersson did before him, Hughes will come back better and stronger next season. Both players desire to be better and Hughes has already shown he improves with experience.
What we as fans have been aching for, for years will finally happen next season. Both Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser (the other core pieces) will eclipse the 30-goal mark for the very first time. Horvat is as hungry as a hockey player as they get and the Canucks finally have the forward depth to give their captain some quality wingers to play with. A full season sandwiched between Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli should help him reach the milestone as he reaches his prime years. Boeser, on the other hand, should benefit from the long offseason and have no trouble bouncing back if he can get his shot working on the man-advantage. The Canucks can be a goal-scoring powerhouse next season.