The Canuck Way
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Canucks: 3 players that will take on bigger roles next year

By Brayden Ursel

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 14: Tanner Pearson #70 of the Vancouver Canucks (C) celebrates a power-play goal against the St. Louis Blues at 13:01 of the second period and is joined by Elias Pettersson #40 (L) and Jake Virtanen #18 (R) in Game Two of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 14, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 14: Tanner Pearson #70 of the Vancouver Canucks (C) celebrates a power-play goal against the St. Louis Blues at 13:01 of the second period and is joined by Elias Pettersson #40 (L) and Jake Virtanen #18 (R) in Game Two of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 14, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /
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The Vancouver Canucks celebrate a goal earned during NHL action (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images).
The Vancouver Canucks celebrate a goal earned during NHL action (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images). /

The Vancouver Canucks said goodbye to a lot of talented players this offseason paving the way for a few players to step up and take on bigger roles next year.

The Vancouver Canucks got a whole lot better last season and they have the resume to back it up. Thanks to tremendous team play, the Canucks made it to the dance for the first time in five years. After they survived the play-in round against the Minnesota Wild, they knocked off the St. Louis Blues and took the Vegas Golden Knights all the way to the dying minutes of game seven of the Western Conference finals. They were one win away from the final four and the last Canadian team to be eliminated.

Now, what feels like half of that successful roster, has up and left in free agency to sign with other NHL teams. Thankfully, the core of the Canucks franchise remains intact, but with very few fresh faces making Vancouver home, certain players are being counted on by management and coaching staff to take the next step in their development and fill bigger roles on the team moving forward.

Who are those players exactly? Sure, it’s been said that any one person can rise up and become the man, but in this specific case, management already has a pretty good idea of which guys they have primed for their upcoming role. The coaching staff already has a good idea on who exactly they’ll be turning to, to pick up the slack and help Vancouver remain competitive next season. Let’s dive into who those players might be.

1. Jake Virtanen

Despite performing well below expectations in his first-ever NHL playoffs experience, Jake Virtanen‘s season as a whole has to be considered to be quite successful. Without much time spent in the team’s top-six, “Big Tuna” found his scoring touch and was able to pot 18 goals and 36 total points through a 69-game schedule.

Consistency has always been in question when it comes to Virtanen’s game, and if he hadn’t shown up to training camp out of shape (twice), who knows what he could have accomplished last season. However, his accomplishments in 2019-20 were enough for the Canucks to sign him to a two-year extension and they believe the best is yet to come from the New Westminster native.

With not much depth on the right side behind Brock Boeser, it appears Virtanen could be the best available option for a full-time top-six position next season– something Virtanen has never truly had. With that in mind, if he does get a long hard look next to either Bo Horvat or Elias Pettersson, the sky could be the limit for “Shotgun Jake”.

With him averaging just a touch over 13 minutes a game last year on the third line and with no first unit power play time, just imagine what he could do playing first-line minutes next to one of the greatest players in hockey. Maybe, just maybe Virtanen could become that 25-goal, 50-point guy who can crash and bang with the best of them on a night-to-night basis.

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