The Canuck Way
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9 early and bold predictions for the Canucks 51st NHL season

By Brayden Ursel

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 07: The Vancouver Canucks celebrate their 5-4 win on a goal by Christopher Tanev #8 at :11 in overtime to defeat the Minnesota Wild in Game Four and the Western Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 07, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 07: The Vancouver Canucks celebrate their 5-4 win on a goal by Christopher Tanev #8 at :11 in overtime to defeat the Minnesota Wild in Game Four and the Western Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 07, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /
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Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks skates up the ice (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images).
Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks skates up the ice (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images). /

2. Demko will start more games than Holtby

Demko’s outer-worldly performance against the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs was a true sign that he was ready to show people that he is ready to take the next step in his NHL hockey career. That next step is for him to lock down a starting role inside Vancouver’s crease.

With just 40 games under his belt, it’ll be hard for Travis Green to just hand over the net to a guy like Demko when he has a Vezina Trophy and Stanley Cup-winning goaltender in the newly signed Braden Holtby. Nonetheless, Demko will have the fuel he needs to add to his burning desire to get what he believes he’s earned.

It likely won’t happen right away, but I predict that by seasons end, Demko has completely taken over as the team’s go-to starter. He’s younger, he’s been the better goaltender as of late, and he has the potential to be a legit NHL number one. I bet his stellar play leads to him taking the net full-time.

3. Hughes will lead all NHL defensemen in points

He was incredible the very moment he stepped foot on the ice in a Vancouver Canucks uniform. He was calm, cool, and he believed in himself more than anything else. His strong beliefs led to him gaining serious momentum and serious league-wide attention over the course of his rookie campaign.

He racked up points better than any Canucks defender over the last 50 seasons and he showed that he would only get better as time went on. From January up until his elimination in the playoffs, he was scoring at a higher rate than any NHL blueliner.

Next season, Hughes will be taking on even more responsibility and I could see him continuing his trend in the right direction. Nothing shows me that he will be slowing down. Barring any serious injury, Hughes has what it takes to be the highest point scorer of any NHL D-man. It won’t be easy in any way, but if everything goes correctly, he can do it.

4. Virtanen will score 25 goals playing in the top-six

Before the 2019-20 season was ended early, Jake Virtanen was well on his way to scoring 20 goals. That feat would have likely been met had the season continued, and let’s not forget that Virtanen did that while mainly playing a bottom-six role and seeing limited ice time on the man-advantage.

Next season is going to be completely different. Virtanen is in line for a full-fledged top-six opportunity, not just here and there when the team needs a shakeup. With Toffoli and Leivo now gone and Micheal Ferland’s concussion status unknown, Virtanen is the best option behind Boeser.

Given that Green doesn’t have much faith in Virtanen on the defensive side of the puck, it makes the most sense for him to play on a scoring line with Pettersson rather than a matchup line with Horvat where he’d be facing other team’s best lines every other night.

If Virtanen can score 18 goals on the third line, imagine what he could do in a full season next to Pettersson and Miller? Sprinkle in some extra power play time and suddenly the sky is the limit for the Vancouver local.

5. Boeser will score 30 goals for the first time ever

Boeser’s sensational rookie season painted him as a pure goal scorer but the truth of the matter is Boeser has never scored more than 29 goals in a single season. Yes, if he was never injured he would have, but nonetheless, he still hasn’t accomplished the feat of 30.

Despite Boeser having a career-year last season in terms of points per game (0.789), Boeser recorded by far his worst shooting percentage in the NHL (9.5%). It resulted in just 16 goals spread across 57 games. His shot wasn’t as effective as years prior and he just wasn’t getting it done on the power play. In fact, he wasn’t being used correctly. His lethal one-timer was passed over by the entire first unit.

With Toffoli now out of the picture next season, Boeser will return to his usual spot on the power play and his usual spot on the top line. If he can remain healthy, he’ll have a good chance of reaching the 30 goal mark in 2021.

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