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The Canuck Way Mailbag: Hoglander, Miller, chances in 2020-21

By Matthew Zator

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 17: The Vancouver Canucks celebrate a goal by J.T. Miller #9 (C) against the St. Louis Blues at 40 seconds of the second period in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 17, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 17: The Vancouver Canucks celebrate a goal by J.T. Miller #9 (C) against the St. Louis Blues at 40 seconds of the second period in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 17, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /
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Vancouver Canucks. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Vancouver Canucks. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

More Questions

JT Miller will once again be playing with Pettersson, so at this point anything is possible. I am going to go out on a limb and predict that he will not only replicate his play from last season but eclipse it. If everyone is predicting a career-season from Pettersson, then Miller will have one as well. They go hand in hand, as they are one of the Canucks’ dynamic duos.

The leadership and consistency Miller showed in 2019-20 were very impressive, and I don’t see him pulling back from that. I think he’s turned a corner from being a secondary scorer to a top-line star who is counted upon for offence every night. He will have his work cut out for him, no doubt, but I just see more great things coming from him in 2020-21.

The Canucks may have been Canada’s best team in the playoffs in 2019-20, but they are not the best Canadian team overall. Like I said in the last mailbag, I think that team is the Toronto Maple Leafs especially with the additions they made in the offseason.

The Canucks lost several key pieces to their roster in Tyler Toffoli, Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Troy Stecher, and Josh Leivo and have a lot of question marks right now. Nate Schmidt is a huge addition to the blue line and will more than make up for the loss of Tanev and Holtby definitely solidifies the goaltending, it’s the lack of depth on defence that’s got me worried.

Stecher was a big part of the bottom pairing, mostly because he could jump up into the top-four when needed. Olli Juolevi, Jack Rathbone, and Brogan Rafferty are not proven NHL defencemen at this point and the depth beyond them is not experienced either. If injuries strike, they will be pushed into roles they are not accustomed to, and the team could struggle as a result.

Having said all that, the Canucks still have the constantly improving dynamic young core of Pettersson, Bo Horvat, Quinn Hughes, and Brock Boeser to lead them into 2020-21. Hoglander and Vasili Podkolzin are coming up fast as additional point-producing options and Rathbone and Juolevi are sure to impress as well. At this point, it’s probably foolish to bet against these young guns, especially when they have surprised us in the past.

The Canucks remain a young team on the rise, and if they can figure out a way to beat the many goaltenders who have given them issues in the past, I see them surprising a lot of pundits this season once again. If anything, they will be exciting to watch once again.

Next. Canucks: 3 questions facing Travis Green in 2021. dark

That brings us to the end of another mailbag. We finally have a 51st season to look forward to Canucks fans! There’s sure to be more movement and news in the coming weeks as the team starts preparing for training camp and teams attempt to get under the salary cap. Until next time, remember to follow us on Twitter @FSTheCanuckWay and keep those questions coming!

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