Will the Canucks make the playoffs in 2022-23?

The Vancouver Canucks have only seen playoff action twice in the eight years.

The first was in 2014-15, which was the first year of Trevor Linden as President of Hockey Operations, Jim Benning as General Manager and Willie Desjardins as head coach. The Canucks overachieved that season and finished second in the Pacific Division with 101 points. Unfortunately, they lost six games in the first round to a younger and faster Calgary Flames team.

The Canucks would not see playoff action again until 2020 which was a very interesting year. Vancouver and 24 NHL teams took part in the “bubble playoffs” which started with the qualifying round. As we all know, the Canucks knocked off the Minnesota Wild in the qualifiers in five games, beat the St. Louis Blues in six and lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in seven games. That was the series which saw Thatcher Demko display unreal goaltending in the final three games.

Two years later, new management and a new head coach have come in.

My last article was on five questions for the Canucks heading into next season. There was one I missed and it was the biggest one. Will they make the playoffs next season? It’s a bit early but let’s go over to reasons why they will make it and why they will not and take a look at how they compare to the rest of the Pacific Division.

How do the Canucks compare to the rest of the Pacific Division?

The Calgary Flames did lose Johnny Gaudreau in free agency. They also lost Matthew Tkachuk but they managed to get assets back for him in a trade. Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar are great acquisitions but will both or at least one of them re-sign? The Flames’ forward core is a bit weaker with the loss of Gaudreau and Tkachuk but Weegar bolts a solid defensive core that has the likes of Noah Hanifin, Rasmus Andersson, Nikita Zadorov and Chris Tanev. (When he’s healthy) Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar still make a good goaltending tandem. The Flames still are a playoff team but probably won’t win the Pacific again.

The Edmonton Oilers are a team that could win the Pacific. It looks like they have found their starting goalie in Jack Campbell. They signed him to a five-year contract worth five million dollars a season. But can Campbell live up to his contract and prove he can be the goalie the Oilers have been looking for?

Edmonton still has a great group of forwards led by superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Evander Kane was a great pickup for them (But that can’t excuse his numerous off-ice issues) and they re-signed him to a four-year deal worth 5.1 million. Could he continue his offensive output from last season? However, the thing that could bring the Oilers down is their defence. Duncan Keith retired and they did re-sign Brett Kulak to a four-year deal but they didn’t make any improvements to the blue line. (Like the Canucks.)

The second-year Seattle Kraken are a team the analytics love for some reason. Last season, a lot of models had them making the playoffs but they didn’t make it. Once the models come out for next season, The Kraken did improve with the acquisitions of Andre Burakovsky and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Shane Wright and Matthew Beniers bring a youth down the middle and will be dangerous in the not too far distant future. Justin Schultz was also signed and he will provide defensive depth. I don’t think the Kraken will be as bad as they were last year but I don’t see them making the playoffs.

The Vegas Golden Knights look to be the front runner to win the Pacific. Last year, they missed the playoffs for the first time and franchise history and were riddled with injuries. They traded Max Pacioretty to the Carolina Hurricanes for future considerations (which basically means nothing) because they were cap-strapped. Bruce Cassidy is an excellent hire behind the bench and Vegas is still a good team but can the likes of Mark Stone and Jack Eichel stay healthy?

As for the California teams, despite the signing of John Klingberg, the Anaheim Ducks are in rebuild mode and so are the San Jose Sharks. San Jose is likely to finish last in the Pacific. The team to watch is the Los Angeles Kings. They have a bunch of young talent like Sean Durzi and Quinton Byfield and Anze Kopitar and Philip Danualt are great veterans. Plus, the acquisition of Kevin Fiala makes them even better.

The Kings are a team on the rise and could make the playoffs again.

It could be a dog fight for the final playoff spot in the Pacific. It looks like Vegas, Edmonton and Calgary could be fighting for the top three but as for a wild card spot, the Canucks will be fighting with LA and Seattle for it. The Canucks seem to be in the middle of the pack for the Pacific.