Canucks: Top line ranked seventh best for fantasy by NHL.com

NHL.com ranked all 31 top lines for fantasy hockey. The Vancouver Canucks’ trio of Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller placed seventh.

Throughout most of the second half of the 2010s decade, the Vancouver Canucks lacked a true top-flight first line.

From 2012-13 to 2017-18, the Canucks often struggled to find a reliable winger to play alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin, with the exception of 31-goal man Radim Vrbata in 2014-15.

Alexandre Burrows’ final seasons were marred by injuries and inconsistent play. Loui Eriksson hasn’t come close to living up to the $36 million contract. In the final years of their careers, the Sedins weren’t exactly top line caliber players, either.

Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser and Sven Baertschi showed some promise in 2017-18, until the latter two suffered long-term injuries that season.

Elias Pettersson arrived and took over as the new No. 1 centre in 2018-19. He did wonders with Boeser, but Vancouver was clearly missing the final piece on the top line. That prompted general manager Jim Benning to acquire Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Miller in a blockbuster trade at the 2019 NHL Draft.

Fast forward one year later, and the Canucks have finally built one of the league’s elite top lines.

Pete Jensen of NHL.com ranked all 31 first lines “for potential fantasy hockey stacking options” ahead of the 2020-21 season, and he placed the Pettersson-Miller-Boeser trio seventh. For what it’s worth, the Colorado Avalanche’s top line of Nate MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen took the top spot.

Pettersson, Miller and Boeser formed a dynamic scoring trio that guided Vancouver to its first playoff berth in five years. The former tallied 27 goals and 66 points in 68 regular season games, but it was Miller who led Vancouver in scoring with 27 goals and 72 points (both career highs).

Injuries limited Boeser to 57 regular season games, but he still finished with 16 goals and 45 points. If he stays healthy, there’s no reason to think he can’t become a 25-to-30 goal and 60-plus point player.

With Tyler Toffoli leaving for the Montreal Canadiens in free agency, Boeser will reclaim his spot on the top line and power play. Horvat will continue to work alongside Tanner Pearson and likely Jake Virtanen, who’s coming off the best season of his career.

Whether or not Miller can build off his career year remains to be seen. But Pettersson and Boeser haven’t reached their prime years yet, and that’s why the Canucks figure to have one of the NHL’s elite scoring lines for many years to come.