3. Olli Juolevi will play the whole season
It’s been a rough, long road for Olli Juolevi. After he was drafted by the Canucks in 2016, some fans didn’t like the pick and thought they should have taken Matthew Tkachuk, who went to the Flames with the next pick.
Juolevi suffered multiple injuries throughout the next few years which included a back, hip and knee injury with the Utica Comets that required two surgeries. It was almost as if Juolevi had to be protected with Flex Tape and you had to feel sorry for him.
Four years have passed since he was drafted and he finally made his NHL debut, playing in limited minutes in Game 3 of the qualifying round against the Minnesota Wild.
Juolevi seems like one of the favourites to make the team out of camp and could slot in on the bottom pair. He is strong on the puck and uses his vision to make clean passes but is prone to defensive mistakes without the puck. Despite all of this, general manager Jim Benning believes the 22-year-old Finnish defenceman is ready for the NHL.
Benning - Juolevi looks like he is ready to play in the NHL full time.
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) September 8, 2020
I think Juolevi can make the jump to the NHL full time this year. He just needs to work on his play without the puck, especially in the defensive zone, but I think he could play the whole season (hopefully without injury of course). It has been a tough road to the NHL for Juolevi but it’s better late than never.
4. The Canucks will finish third in the Canadian Division and make the playoffs
This is the boldest of the predictions. I think the Canucks will finish third in the Canadian division and make the playoffs for the second straight season.
Some people like The Athletic’s Dom Lusczyszyn and analytics wizard J-Fresh project the Canucks will be out of a playoff spot and finish sixth in the division.
Vancouver Canucks 2020-21 season preview
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) December 27, 2020
The margins between the 2nd and 6th best teams in Canada are very small, but for now Vancouver is at the bottom of that list with depth being a major concern.https://t.co/L3wxulplvd pic.twitter.com/7jYKHSdcY0
can you imagine this playoff race pic.twitter.com/oSZU7faIKy
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) January 2, 2021
It is hard not to see why some people predict that. The Canucks lost their team MVP in Jacob Markstrom, a good top-six player in Tyler Toffoli, a solid depth forward in Josh Leivo and two hard-working and reliable top-four defencemen in Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher.
The Canucks did add Holtby, improved the top four by trading for Nate Schmidt and signed a depth forward in Jayce Hawryluk.
On paper, this team is worse than last year and will rely heavily on the top-six and goaltending. The defence and bottom-six depth are still an issue too, but the addition of Travis Hamonic should help.
However, I think it is going to be a dog fight in the North Division for the last two playoff spots. I see Ottawa finishing last and Toronto finishing first and Calgary finishing second. The Canadian divison could be anyone’s game. Edmonton will rely heavily on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisital as depth and goaltending could hurt them.
Winnipeg still has offensive firepower but defensively they aren’t great and will hope for another Vezina-calibre season from Connor Hellebuyck. Montreal is an interesting team. They made good acquisitions like Toffoli and Josh Anderson, good depth but nothing exciting in terms of top end talent.
The Canucks do look worse on paper and have taken a step back but I don’t think they will finish sixth. I expect them to fight for the final two playoff spots and make it in.
Let us know in the comments any other bold predictions for the Canucks this season. We shall see if I get any of these predictions right, but knowing myself my predictions are about as accurate as a stormtrooper’s shooting.