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Grading the Canucks offseason (So far)

By Joshua Rey

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 08: (L-R) Bruce Boudreau and Patrik Allvin of the Vancouver Canucks attend the 2022 NHL Draft at the Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 08: (L-R) Bruce Boudreau and Patrik Allvin of the Vancouver Canucks attend the 2022 NHL Draft at the Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JULY 08: General manger Ron Francis of the Seattle Kraken and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford of the Vancouver Canucks speak on the draft floor prior to the start of Round Two of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JULY 08: General manger Ron Francis of the Seattle Kraken and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford of the Vancouver Canucks speak on the draft floor prior to the start of Round Two of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Overall offseason grade: C

It’s hard not to get underwhelmed with the Canucks offseason so far. Allvin and Rutherford talked about creating cap space and improving the team but haven’t done a whole lot.

Yes, the Canucks are a better team with Mikheyev and Lazar and they had a good draft. But the defence is still the same and it was not good at all last season. They cannot go with the same defence heading into next season.

But as said above, it doesn’t seem like they’ll do that. Rutherford was asked about the fans being impatient on a Miller trade Friday’s edition of Donnie and Dhali.

“Well, I’ll ask you what are they impatient about?” said Rutherford. “Our best forward, we still have in our lineup, what’s the impatience for?”

It looks like the Canucks are still waiting for the right offer for Miller and other players. Again, they can’t make a trade just because they have to. They need to be smart with it and that’s the right approach.

It’s hard not to blame fans for being impatience and underwhelmed. But as I Tweeted out on Friday, I think Canucks fans are also having PTSD from the old regime and fear Miller will walk away for nothing or get signed to a big contract that will look bad in a few years.

However, the Canucks path to contention won’t happen in just one offseason. It’s going to take time to clean up the previous regime’s messes.

Rutherford even said in the Donnie and Dhali interview that it could take two to three years to turn things around.

So I think the Canucks have improved the forward core and they have a decent shot at the playoffs next year. But the defence still scares me and that could prevent them from making the playoffs. Thatcher Demko and Spencer Martin are going to have their work cut out for them if the same defensive core returns.

I’ll admit I am underwhelmed by the Canucks moves so far which is why they get a C. But at the same time, I’m patient.

Next. Canucks re-sign Phil Di Giuseppe to league minimum deal. dark

What grade would you give the Canucks offseason so far? Let us know in the comments below, in the Facebook comments or on Twitter.

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