Sometimes I don't know what Patrick Alvin is doing. If the whole goal is to acquire as many 4th round picks in the NHL draft then the Canucks have had a good offseason so far. However, their seems to be one more missing piece that the Canucks have yet to add.
Evander Kane is exciting, there is a chance to can tally more points than Pius Suter. The likely hood of Raty and Lekkerimaki produce more offensively than Joshua next year so offensively the Canucks may have improved and at worst decreased slightly.
More importantly, a healthy goaltending tandem of Demko and Lankinen should be enough to get the Canucks in the playoffs next year.
Have they done enough to get past Edmonton or Vegas? Absolutely not. They still have 3.2 Million of cap space. I suspect the Canucks will add someone before opening night. There are 46 skaters still yet to be signed according to Puckpedia. Roslovic, Jack makes the most sense. Hopefully a 2 year deal at 3.1 AAV. That way it doesn't interfere with Hughes negotiations.
Crunching the numbers a little bit I would aim for the Canucks to score ten more goals than last year and give up ten less. That puts Vancouver projected to score 246 goals and give up 241. This is if they don't make any changes. A +5 differential would have put the Canucks in the last playoff spot. Only the Minnesota Wild made the playoffs with a negative differential last year.
Hardest thing about the NHL right now is how many good teams lose in the first round. The division set up is partly to blame but that's another conversation for another day.
Overall, the Canucks are still missing their 2C but the fact they have Cootes, Willander and Petterson still on this team as prospects will give them some wiggle room for the trade deadline next year or the draft next year to make an even bigger splash.
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