NHL 20: Who should be on the Vancouver Canucks Alumni Team?

With the inclusion of alumni teams in NHL 20, which players should be featured on the Vancouver Canucks roster?

NHL 20 comes out very soon. EA Sports recently announced the game will have 33 alumni teams. We’ll assume they have a full team with 12 forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies. The Vancouver Canucks could have one of the better alumni rosters in the game.

For this list, I will also be attempting to guess their overall ratings and will be putting them in order of how high I think they will be from highest on the first line to lowest on the fourth. If the player is still “active” (Kesler), I won’t be giving them an overall rating. If you have anything to add, feel free to message me on Twitter @NikofromtheTo or comment below!

Forwards

First Line

Daniel Sedin (90) – Henrik Sedin (90) – Pavel Bure (92)

The twins with the Russian Rocket. The newer generation of hockey fans never got to see the full power of Daniel and Henrik and most definitely never saw a fully operational Bure live on the ice. Thank God for Youtube, right?

For older fans of this franchise, you knew you were in for something special every time any of these players stepped out onto the ice in their primes. While it’s definitely not the same as real life, the potential of having the Sedins’ wizardry and Bure’s killer instinct ability to score goals will be a treat to play with when the game comes out.

Second Line

Markus Naslund (89) – Thomas Gradin (88) – Tony Tanti (88)

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The second line is pretty good too. ‘Nazzy’ teams up with another former Swede, Gradin, and Tanti, who scored at least 30 goals five times during his seven seasons with the Canucks. Naslund was known for his ability to get into the spaces and get a wicked wrister off. He was one of the main components of the ‘West Coast Express’ line in the early 2000s.

Naslund never really had a #1 center, while Morrison was capable he was more suited for a second to third-line role.

With the magic of video games, he now gets to team up with Grandin and Tanti, who both were some of the only bright spots on a 1980s Canucks squad that never had an over .500 record during that decade. They only made it out of the 1st round once in 1982, getting swept in the Finals to the Islanders.

Grandin was probably the most skilled center the Canucks ever had up till Henrik came along, putting up 65+ points in six of his eight seasons with the organization. Tanti is considered to be the first real “sniper” in franchise history, putting up three 40 goal outputs including three more 30 goal seasons.

Third Line

Alex Mogilny (87) – Ryan Kesler – Trevor Linden (88)

In reality, Linden and Kesler will be on the second line and will be switched with Gradin and Tanti. For my list, I am putting them on the third line. I would like to think of this line as the evolved version of the West Coast Express line.

You have the extremely skilled Mogilny making plays that should never happen, Kesler playing the lockdown center role (eight-time Selke Trophy candidate, winner in 2011), and Linden giving inspirational speeches while scoring the easiest goals of his life. This line doesn’t have that big factor as the regular West Coast Express line, but it has aspects of it with Kesler and Linden bringing the grit.

Fourth Line

Stan Smyl (87) – Brendan Morrison (86) – Todd Bertuzzi (87)

This is the part of the lineup where you could put current Canucks players like Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, and Elias Pettersson in here and you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. I had to put Smyl in here because he played his entire career with the Canucks, has his jersey retired with the club and was the captain for eight seasons.

Morrison and Bertuzzi both were apart of the most popular line in this teams history. The combined forces of Naslund, Morrison, and Bertuzzi made the rest of the league miserable from 2002-06.

The combination of skill and size made Bertuzzi the new definition of what a power forward was supposed to be during the early 2000s. Morrison was the one that I had the most trouble with whether or not to put him in but he made the cut.

Healthy Scratch line

Alexandre Burrows (85) – Cliff Ronning (87) – Tiger Williams (82)

They won’t give Ronning the respect he deserves but he was one of the most underrated players to play the game. His sneaky skill was always passed over in his era because of his size. He had over 850 points and played in over 1000 games, you probably never heard of him unless he played for your team.

Ronning only played six seasons with the Canucks but helped them to a Cup final in 1994 and was productive on the seven teams he played on during his career. With Burrows, he was the most successful linemate of the Sedins during his tenure and bit someone. Tiger Williams is Tiger Williams. If you don’t know who he is, go look up this legend.

Defense

First Pairing

Mattias Ohlund (88) – Sami Salo (87)

Not taking away from the defensemen of the Canucks history but they have never really had a number one elite defenseman play for them for more than two seasons. Ohlund and Salo both played together during the latter half of the 2000s on a team that looked like it was ready to win it all very soon.

These two were known for their solid play when healthy and Salo helped the team get to the Cup finals in 2011. I was caught a puck that flew out of the rink from a Salo slapshot. I got 10-degree burns. He had a vicious slapper and was a killer on the power-play scoring 48 goals during his time.

Second Pairing

Alexander Edler – Jyrki Lumme (87)

If Edler retired tomorrow he would be the Canucks defensive leader in games played, goals and points. Edler has been a soldier for a long time for this team and is their best defenseman heading into this 2019-20 season.

Jyrki Lumme was the statical leader of most defensive accolades until recently as Edler has passed him. Lumme was a mainstay on the team that went to the finals in 1994 and had multiple 40+ point seasons.

This pairing would be pretty good with Edler’s two-way play coming in handy with the offensive mindset of Lumme. His skating is what would make him really fun to play with especially with the upgraded skating in NHL 20.

Third Pairing

Kevin Bieksa (85) – Ed Jovanovski (86)

I kind of want Bieksa to get back in the league, but just come in for fights so he can do that superman punch against everybody. He was the toughest son-of-a-gun the Canucks blueline has ever seen. Putting up 879 PIMS during his 10 seasons with the Canucks, he was tough as nails and put up points. Bieksa as an all-around great teammate and gave that grit and character every team needs.

The other guy is Jovanovski or the “JovoCop”. It was hard to put him on the third pairing but that does not mean he is bad when he is here. Jovanovski is one of the six best defensemen in the history of the franchise and with multiple seasons of 40+ points. He was the closest thing the Canucks ever had that resembled an elite defenseman during his time.

Goaltending

Roberto Luongo (91) – Kirk McLean (89)

Should Luongo have his jersey retired by the Canucks? Is Kirk McLean‘s helmet the best in Canucks history? Both are yes and both of these goaltenders are the best in the history of this franchise. Both are one and two in almost every statistical number and you can’t deny that they were the best two goalies for the Canucks.

So there it is. The Vancouver Canucks potential alumni team. Took me a while to write this and a quick shoutout to Matthew Zator (@SwaggyCanuckMZ on Twitter) for helping me get info for this article!