There's times in life when you're so excited that you run with all that energy in your body to fall flat on your face. After a moment, you compose yourself and get right back in the race. That's life. Literally "That's Life" according to Frank Sinatra. The Vancouver Canucks came out of the bubble playoffs in 2020 with all the promise of a rising young team. 2021 wasn't so kind but their conditions weren't ideal - hell look at the Flames and see that's true. This season, the Canucks were going to show that they're closer to the team that pushed the Las Vegas Golden Knights to Game 7 in 2020. Unfortunately, they'd stumble again, but they did "Pick themselves up and get back in the race"
2021-22 Expectations: This was a young team until coach Travis Green that won a play-in round vs the Minnesota Wild, a first round series vs the defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues before succumbing to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in seven games. In 2021, the Canucks finished DEAD LAST in the Scotia North thus warming Travis Green's seat. GM Jim Benning acquired Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Connor Garland from the Arizona Coyotes to improve depth. The playoffs were a possibility.
2021-22 Season Result: GM Jim Benning and Head Coach Travis Green were fired on December 5th and replaced by Jim Rutherford and Bruce Boudreau. Under Green, the Canucks floundered 9-15-2; 3-9-1 in the final 13 games signaling that the team quit on him. Under Boudreau won their first 7 games giving life to the "Bruce there it is" as he started tapping into the potential of this team. Like most teams in the NHL, the Canucks season got complicated by Covid-19. The NHL shutdown the week of Christmas, but the Canucks would get a SECOND week off from January 2nd through 10th as they could not play a game in Canada. From December 14th to January 21st, the Canucks could only play on the road.with a 5-4 record to show for it. Once they got home, they finished January with a 2-1-3 record. February faired much better as the team went 6-4 in the month and carried that into March, where they won 4 of their first six games. However, the Canucks theme for the season was Paula Abdul's "Opposite's Attract" cause the Canucks would always take "3 steps forward and two steps back." They'd finish March with a 2-4-2, but Boudreau being the great coach that he is got Vancouver "Back in the race" with 7 consecutive wins to begin April. The Canucks would fall 5 points short of making the playoffs with 92 points.
What Went Right: Sticking with Bruce Boudreau for a few more sentences, he was a godsend to Vancouver. In the 57 games he coached, Vancouver notched a 32-15-10 record. They had a +35 goal differential and cut their goals against down to third best in the league in that span (152) behind the Carolina Hurricanes (148) and the New York Rangers (147). Their power play was second best in that span (26.7%) and penalty kill shot up to 10th best (80.5%). Simply put, Boudreau unlocked what Green could not.
All season long, forward J.T. Miller's name swirled around trade rumors. The American forward regressed in 2021 from his 72 point season in 2020 and with a contract coming up after next season, he was a sexy trade chip. He had 20 points in 23 games in October and November, but once Boudreau took over, he took OFF. Miller's production would go on to a career best with the new coach; finishing with 32 goals, 67 assists, 99 points and a +15. Miller saved his best for last as he closed February to April with 16 points, 21 points and 18 points. As his name is STILL in trade rumors and a move back to center ice will help the Canucks center depth.
In the 44 games he played after Boudreau took over, Thatcher Demko would win 25 games; the 6th most in that time and 2 more than Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin. There was a saying back in the bubble that teams got "Demkoed" and this season many teams found out what that meant. Though the goals against was still high at 2.65, the 0.918 save % was 8th best for goalies with 20 games played. Demko proved he could be a franchise goalie for the Canucks.
What Went Wrong: One player that struggled for the most part of the season was Eias Pettersson. The 2017 5th overall pick was the envy of many fans across the league seeking a number one center, but the Swedish center didn't light the world on fire after signing a 3 year / $22.05m deal. He began the season with point totals that aren't top center quality from October to January. October: 4 points, November: 7 points, December: 6 points, and January: 7 points. It caused many fans to pull their hair out until February and a reason to still have faith. Pettersson would score 6 goals and 8 assists for 14 points in the year's shortest month and carry through to 5 goals, 6 assists in March and 10 goals, 9 assists in April. The year's end line of 32 goals, 36 assists and 68 points were career best for the young center, but those were seasons that ended in 71 and 68 games respectively. This season was 80 games for the Canuck center. Which one will show up next season? The emerging number one that Canuck fans saw the first two years or the one that struggled in 2021 to the beginning of 2022? Time will tell.
Reasons to be optimistic: On top of what went right, defenseman Quinn Hughes rebounded for an abysmal 2021 where he was a -24 to a +10 with 68 points. Winger Conor Garland had a career best 52 points and captain Bo Horvat had a career high 31 goals. The new Canucks GM Patrick Allvin has brought in KHL star Andrei Kuzmenko, who had 22 goals, 33 assists and 55 points in the Russian league last season. The Canucks forward group can be just as good as they were under Boudreau last year and carry it forward.
Reasons to be pessimistic: Trade rumors still swirl around J.T. Miller and forward Brock Boeser. The Minnesota born Boeser has four 20 goal seasons in his 5 full NHL season, but is an RFA and could ask for a heavy raise that could send him packing. The Canucks have about $9m in cap space even after a bunch of head scratching moves by former GM Jim Benning. Can the Canucks add more even after re-signing Boeser or are they going to pivot and deal one (or both) to recoup assets and continue the rebuild?
2022-23 Expectations: It's hard to pinpoint at the moment the Vancouver Canucks expectations because which team are they. The underachieving team that got their coach fired or the team that had 13th most points in the league after December 6th. That's more than playoff teams Edmonton, Dallas, Washington and Nashville. The Canucks could be a sleeper team in The NHL for next season and watch out if they improve further under Bruce Boudreau, a coach with four 50 win seasons until his watch. Can the playoffs be a possibility? Bruce there it is!
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