3 reasons the Vancouver Canucks can defeat the Wild
The Vancouver Canucks have what it takes to get past the Minnesota Wild in the postseason.
For the first time since the 2014-15 season, the Vancouver Canucks will be playing hockey after the regular season. Well, sort of. Technically, the play-in round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs won’t be a part of the playoffs. But if the Canucks can beat the Minnesota Wild in the qualifying round, they’ll be in the postseason.
On paper, this seems like a pretty fair series. The Canucks have 78 points in 69 games while the Wild have 77 points in 69 games. However, Vancouver holds the edge in this series and I’d be surprised if they didn’t win.
Here’s a look at why the Canucks will likely be the ones advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs instead of the Wild.
1. Goaltending
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The Canucks are probably happy the hiatus happened because it allowed them to stop the bad momentum going their way. They were struggling after the injury to starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom. Since his injury on Feb. 22, the Canucks were just 3-5-0 during that time.
Markstrom’s healthy, which should give them the boost they need. He’s not an elite goalie, but he’s still having a great season. Markstrom ranks in the top 10 in 5v5 save percentage and GSAA (goals saved above average).
Let’s say the worst case scenario happens and Markstrom gets injured or struggles. That’s fine because the Canucks have Thatcher Demko, who had an encouraging rookie season and proved himself to be a very capable backup goalie.
On the other side of the ice, the Wild have had some goaltending struggles. Devan Dubnyk has been uncharacteristically bad. He’s always been a little bit overrated because the Wild’s defense is very good at preventing high-danger chances, but Dubnyk’s numbers this year are downright dreadful.
Alex Stalock has been solid in net for the Wild, but his history suggests he’s an average backup at best. He’s probably not someone the Wild can count on in the postseason.
2. Stars
To win the Stanley Cup, you need stars. This is a fact. Every team who has won the Stanley Cup in the salary cap era had at least one star. Last year, the St. Louis Blues had a multitude of them with Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jordan Binnington, Colton Parayko, and Alex Pietrangelo. And your best players have to be your best players.
The Canucks are a tad bit lacking in the star department, but they’ve got enough to make some noise in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Let’s start with Elias Pettersson. On paper, he didn’t have a terrific sophomore season, as he had the same 66 points this season as he did last season. But that’s still pretty great. Pettersson is the top-line center you need to go far i the postseason.
Next, there’s Brock Boeser, who will be coming back after an injury. He’s had injury concerns throughout his short career, but man, when he’s on the ice, he’s something else. Boeser’s 2.13 5v5 points per hour this season are the most he has posted in his career.
Then there’s Quinn Hughes, who has been a blessing for their blue line. I’m still not sold the Canucks blue line is good enough to win the Stanley Cup, but with Hughes, it’s at least plausible. Hughes has emerged as one of the NHL’s top young defensemen already. Whenever he’s on the ice, the puck tends to be moving away from Vancouver’s end. That’s a good sign.
3. Scoring Depth
Sure, having stars is important. But at the end of the day, you’ve also got to have some impressive depth to make a long postseason run. This trend became highlighted with the 2015-16 Pittsburgh Penguins with their three lines of scoring, but it’s been happening for a while.
They had five players with at least 20 goals this season (Pettersson, J.T Miller, Bo Horvat, Tanner Pearson, Bo Horvat, and Tyler Toffoli). Only two other teams, the Florida Panthers and the Winnipeg Jets, can boast that.
On top of that, the Canucks had two more players on pace for 20 goals. Jake Virtanen has 18 goals in 69 games while Boeser has 16 goals in 57 games. You’re not going to find many teams who have that many good goal scorers.
Even once you look past those guys, they have players like Adam Gaudette, Josh Leivo, and Brandon Sutter as options in the bottom six. You’d like to see them have one more proven goal scorer there, but their top six is good enough that it’ll probably make do.
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The Canucks are probably a year away from being serious Stanley Cup contenders. They’ve got to find more goal scorers. But don’t overlook them this season. They’re the kind of team who could get hot at the right time and they’re more well-balanced than a lot of people think.