The Vancouver Canucks are a well-built team and are poised to do well in the upcoming playoffs this spring. This is an evaluation of the season because they are making crucial mistakes during half the games played, aside from the dominant wins against teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
The team is playing with poise most of the time, knows how to create turnovers in any area of the ice, and keeps pressure against the opposing teams. The team can shut down plays within seconds and not give up many second-chance opportunities.
The team has good chemistry, which will be necessary during the post-season, where it will have to play like a combined unit; otherwise, it will have difficulty competing against the best in the West. If the team does manage to come together, it will be a match of the ages if they play the Edmonton Oilers.
Vancouver has a solid formation of lines and can dictate games when playing comfortably on ice. They can handle the puck brilliantly and can hold each player accountable. If Ellias Petterson and J.T. Miller get traded, the team will be this good.
I believe keeping at least one of Miller or Petterson would help the team's cause for winning. Still, circumstances could lead to them acquiring players such as John Taveras in a trade, with the contracts combined.
Two weaknesses of the Vancouver Canucks during games played
During some games, I observed that the team is making errors that affect the team's results, take away from winning games, and get to a particular disadvantage. With so much going on with the roster, winning games must be essential.
The team seems to be losing battles on the boards, which leads to costly turnovers in the defensive zone and racks up goals against. This means they need more toughness as a team. The team possesses plenty of grit; however, they struggle to battle for pucks in many areas of the ice.
GM Patrick Alvin and his management team might want to add toughness. Players like Ryan Reeves or Corey Perry may be available depending on their status. Both would make a great addition, Perry having the size and scoring touch and Reeves with speed and tenacity on the ice.
The team dwells on a shoot-first approach, and the coaching staff is against the pass-and-play aspect of the game at a certain level. Trying to be fancy will lead to less ice time, and not keeping consistent with the time on the ice will take away from the team, according to head coach Rick Tochette.
Both plays may be helpful or a gamble by the coaching staff trying to muster out wins without giving up too much. However, there would be a need to fix and adjust them. Competing is not a problem for this team; it is the bread and butter of this club.