Vancouver Canucks 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Vancouver Canucks 2017 Season Preview

The Sedin Brothers were both drafted by the Canucks second and third overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. Both Sedin brothers will be the key to Vancouver's season as both are 36-years-old.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 8/25/2017.

Vancouver Canucks Line 1 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Daniel Sedin	Left Wing	82	6-foot-1-inches	187-pounds	15	29	44
Henrik Sedin	Center	82	6-foot-2-inches	188-pounds	15	35	50
Loui Eriksson	Right Wing	65	6-foot-2-inches	196-pounds	11	13	24

Vancouver Canucks Line 2 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Sven Baertschi	Left Wing	68	5-foot-11-inches	192-pounds	18	17	35
Bo Horvat	Center	68	6-foot-0-inches	223-pounds	20	32	52
Brock Boeser	Right Wing	9	6-foot-1-inches	191-pounds	4	1	5

Vancouver Canucks Line 3 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Reid Boucher	Left Wing	39	5-foot-10-inches	195-pounds	6	4	10
Brandon Sutter	Center	81	6-foot-3-inches	190-pounds	17	17	34
Sam Gagner	Right Wing	81	5-foot-11-inches	200-pounds	18	32	50

Vancouver Canucks Line 4 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Michael Chaput	Left Wing	18	5-foot-11-inches	190-pounds	4	5	9
Markus Granlund	Center	69	6-foot-0-inches	183-pounds	19	13	32
Derek Dorsett	Right Wing	14	6-foot-0-inches	192-pounds	1	3	4

Vancouver Canucks Forwards Review: Both Sedin brothers had 76 and 73 points in 2014-2015 when we mentioned their 2015-2016 preview two years ago. Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin have both declined significantly the last two seasons in Vancouver.

Loui Eriksson has no business on the first line. The last time he got heavy line one consideration was when he was in Dallas. Eriksson can be solid on a second line, but has no business on the first line.

Vancouver has Bo Horvat on the second line at center, Brandon Sutter on the third line at center, and Markus Granlund on the fourth line at center. Brock Boeser, Vancouver's 2015 first round pick is set to play right wing next to Horvat on the second line, but I don't see him being a line 1 right winger.

Horvat had more points than Henrik Sedin last year and is 22-years-old. The 2013 first round pick is the teams future line 1 center. Sam Gagner is a line 3 right winger and he had 50 points last season in Columbus. He could be a huge difference maker on Vancouver's third line next to Sutter.

Vancouver is thin at left wing on the back 6. They also lack a line 4 right winger. Those are two main weaknesses, but I expect this offense to remain stagnant with both Sedin brothers declining.

Vancouver was 29th in goals scored and 29th in the NHL on the power play. The scary thing is they could end up being 30th or 31st in both of these categories this season.

Vancouver Canucks Defensive Lines

Player	Line	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Alexander Edler	Line 1	68	6-foot-3-inches	215-pounds	6	8	14
Chris Tanev	Line 1	53	6-foot-2-inches	185-pounds	2	8	10
Michael Del Zotto	Line 2	51	6-foot-0-inches	195-pounds	6	12	18
Erik Gudbranson	Line 2	65	6-foot-5-inches	220-pounds	1	5	6
Troy Stecher	Line 3	71	5-foot-10-inches	190-pounds	3	21	24
Ben Hutton	Line 3	71	6-foot-2-inches	207-pounds	5	14	19

Vancouver Canucks Defensemen Review: Vancouver has a pedestrian defense. Besides Alexander Edler, there really isn't anyone else that stands out. The Canucks ranked 25th in goals allowed and 28th in penalty killing. The Canucks defense is a huge weak point outside of Edler even though they added Del Zotto.

Draft Utopia Between The Pipes Goalie Tracker

Starting Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Jacob Markstrom	Vancouver Canucks	23	10-11-3	0 Shutouts	.910	2.63 GAA

Backup Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Anders Nilsson	Vancouver Canucks	23	10-10-4	1 Shutout	.923	2.67 GAA

Vancouver Canucks Goaltender Review: Jacob Markstrom stepped in and did well enough as a backup to take over for Ryan Miller. Vancouver also brought in Anders Nilsson to be a veteran backup. If neither goalie works out in 2017, there is a very realistic possibility that Thatcher Demko takes over in 2018.

Vancouver Canucks Prospect Pool: Both defenseman Jordan Subban and Thatcher Demko are talented enough to play on Vancouver in my mind. Both prospects are still developing in the AHL though. You also have 2016 first round pick Olli Juolevi in the juniors still. That looks like a bad pick when you consider how much success Jakob Chychurn had as a rookie in Arizona, but it's really too early to say. Elias Petersson their 2017 first round pick at center made the move to left wing upon arriving with the Vaxjo Lakers. Vancouver took Petersson at five overall over guys like Cody Glass, Gabriel Vilardi, Michael Rasmussen, and Owen Tippett. Vancouver has some good prospects, but a lot of these guys need another year to develop before potentially arriving in the NHL as early as 2018 in the 2018-2019 NHL Season.

Vancouver Canucks 2017-2018 Prediction

Vancouver is the team that I will predict to have the worst record in 2017-2018. This franchise has never picked first overall. That may change. This is the one team that I see as a frontrunner to pick first overall in the 2018 NHL Draft.