Can Canucks Make Playoffs This Year?

At the start of the off-season., next year always seems ages away but it has finally arrived! Wednesday is not only the start of the NHL season but also the start of the Canucks march to the playoffs which the Canucks desperately need to avoid potentially giving up the first overall draft pick in 2021.

There isn't one move that the Canucks made that are going to put them over the top, however all the moves collectively might. The team has a solidified Top six to go with a reasonable bottom six. They have addressed the major concerns on Defense and Markstrom and Demko have one more year of experience under their belt.

For the first time in the Jim Benning Era, the Canucks have expectations heading into the season. I for one really want to see playoff hockey this April but also know that teams will play us a lot harder and it will be up to the Canucks elite stars like Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser to adjust to the way other teams are trying to shut them down.

I'm really hoping for the best but I think it's an even coin flip to whether or not the Canucks make the playoffs. My hope is that the fans have turned the corner and won't get irritated when our players underachieve. I realize that there were a lot of expectations on the Canucks from 2001-2013 but we really were too bi-polar when it came to some of our stars like Luongo and Nazlund.

We need to create a new atmosphere and culture at Rogers Arena and I t
hink we are close to doing that. Bo Horvat seems like a great future Captain and there was a different feel around the arena last year.

I love our first part of our schedule, I think it is going to really test us to see where we are at. Edmonton has lots to prove and Calgary will be hungry to fix how last season ended. I don't think we start off 0-2 but we will have to be ready for a tough first period in both games.

I'm anxiously awaiting the Canucks full roster. Fingers crossed that none of our players get claimed on waviers.

I think the Canucks have a 89 point season. It will depend on the 14 others in the Western Conference if 89 points will be enough for the playoffs. 89 usually doesn't make the playoffs but it can.