2023 Vancouver Canucks Predictions with Futures Odds and Expert NHL Picks
Summary of last season
The Vancouver Canucks were one of those middle of the pack teams. They defined mediocrity last season, finishing with 83 points. Their goaltending was awful last season, as they allowed nearly 300 goals. The Canucks were always seemingly working from behind to bail out their poor goaltending. Despite allowing a lot of goals, they managed to finish with just a -22-goal differential thanks to an above average offense. Vancouver had an awful penalty kill, as they killed just 71.6% of their opponents PP chances, while cashing in on 22.7% of their PP chances. The Canucks were awful against Eastern Conference opponents, as they went just 10-20-2 against them last season. They did dominate their own divisional opponents, going 16-9-1 against Pacific Division foes.
C Elias Pettersson had a fantastic year for the Canucks, posting 102 points on 39 goals and 63 assists. Patterson’s efforts would see him rounding out the top 10 in the NHL in points on the season. His 39 goals were tied for the team lead along with LW Andrei Kuzmenko, who finished with another 35 assists for 74 points. J.T. Miller finished second on the team with 82 points on 32 goals and 50 assists, while blueliner Quinn Hughes finished third on the team with 76 points. Vancouver goalies combined to allow 3.60 GA/G and posted a low .888 SV% on the season.
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Seasons come and go, so now it’s time to take a look at what we can expect from the Vancouver Canucks in 2023-24:
Key Additions/Losses
The Canucks traded LW Tanner Pearson and a third-round pick for G Casey DeSmith from Montreal. DeSmith went 15-16-4 in 38 games for Pittsburgh, allowing 3.17 GA/G last season. The only notable loss outside of trading away Pearson was D Kyle Burroughs signing with San Jose.
Vancouver added veteran F Teddy Blueger, who had 16 points in 63 games for Vegas and Pittsburgh last season. They also added blueliner Ian Cole, who had 17 points with Tampa Bay last season. D Carson Soucy (16 points, SEA), D Matt Irwin (61 games, WAS), and F Pius Suther (24 points, DET) were also offseason signing by the Canucks adding incredible depth to this team.
X-Factors
Goalie performance- Thatcher Demko is looking like he is going to be the starting netminder for the Canucks this season. Demko went 14-14-4 in 32 games last season, allowing 3.16 GA/G, and posted a .901 SV%. They will need Demko to be that effective again this upcoming season if not better, while also taking in more of the workload. DeSmith is going to be able to be an improvement as a backup, but the Canucks need better goaltending.
Goalie Outlook
Demko and DeSmith should be good, and last year’s backup, Spencer Martin, is also back. Martin was not good a season ago as he allowed 3.99 GA/G in 29 appearances. He will give the Canucks a serviceable option if Demko or DeSmith falls to an injury. This room has improved a bit, but we will see just how reliable Demko will be.
Grade: C
Key Schedule Stretch
January 4th- January 15th- This week-and-a-half-long stretch features a seven-game road trip for the Canucks, taking them to the other side of the continent. The trip begins in Saint Louis before heading to the East Coast to take on New Jersey, both New York squads, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. Then it ended with an easy win against Columbus. This is a tough collection of games against most every Eastern Conference playoff team, matchups they struggled with a season ago.
Notable Odds
*DraftKings Sportsbook
Stanley Cup Champions - +6000
Conference Winner - +2500
Division Winner - +1200
To Make the Playoffs- Yes- +120
Prediction
Vancouver will still have a great offense, but I do not think their goaltending improves enough for them to reach the over on the team points total. They could win some more games if the Jets and Kraken regress enough, but I do not see this team making the playoffs this season. They would need to capitalize on the aforementioned schedule stretch and would need to do much better with the penalty kill to improve significantly. However, this will just be a mediocre team again this season.
Under 88.5 Team Total Points
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