Will it be another ill wind in this year’s draft?
There are some great players available if Vancouver grabs higher pick for a change
This says everything about timing for the Vancouver Canucks.
They have the fewest points in the NHL for the past three seasons and the highest draft pick they’re likely pulling from this three-year run is fifth overall.
That, of course, could change at Saturday’s NHL draft lottery, which has always sucked as a television event and always will, whether they stretch it out for six minutes or six hours.
But the odds are stacked against Vancouver, mostly because the NHL has tilted odds against the league’s worst teams.
In an effort to combat tanking, the league has turned its back from the basic foundation of traditional draft order, originally designed to help the teams that need it most.
The NHL hasn’t made a lick of difference when it comes to competitiveness with their system, by the way. The bad teams are still really bad. In fact, last season the Colorado Avalanche put up 48 points — the lowest total for any team in a full season this century.
“The fact we sit sixth and are most likely to pick seventh or eighth is hard,” Canucks’ president Trevor Linden said. “It’s probably swung a little bit too far. Last year, you saw teams from 13th and eighth move up into the top three.”
Missing out on the winning PingPong balls at last year’s lottery was hardly the end of the world. However, there was already a strong push in the Canucks’ organization from scouts lobbying for Elias Pettersson who ended up being picked at No. 5.
“Last year, there wasn’t the big prize,” said Linden, whose reactions at the lottery have been turned into memes.
“We knew (Elias) could be at No. 5 and we kind of expected him to be. Honestly, I knew what was going to happen (the Canucks moving back in 2017) at the lottery and I was prepared for it.
“When I saw 13 flip and eight flip, I knew we were done and we were likely moving back. I did everything to look like I was fine with it, but I guess I didn’t do a very good job.”
Linden has passed the lottery sit-in responsibilities to GM Jim Benning, who will be on hand to witness the results. It is sure to end all the Canucks-related lottery memes. Wait, no it isn’t.
This time there is not only a big prize, there is a player who can change the entire conversation engulfing the Vancouver Canucks and their rebuild. Defenceman Rasmus Dahlin is a game changer. In this draft there is Dahlin, a huge gap and then everyone else.
To put it in perspective, the next two rated prospects, Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Zadina, would have been in the mix for first and second overall if they were in the 2017 draft. They aren’t even in the same universe as the No. 1 pick in 2018.
“Dahlin is an impressive kid,” Linden said. “He’s such a wellrounded player.”
Dahlin and the first pick overall has been dominating the conversation in Vancouver. It’s also muddying the Canucks’ current situation. Yes, they desperately need a No. 1 defenceman. But, in reality, the main reason the Canucks have just 217 points in three seasons combined is because they don’t score goals.
The 582 goals they’ve produced in three seasons is the fewest in the NHL, and that’s with the Sedin twins. In this span, the Canucks have averaged just 2.37 goals per game. The Pittsburgh Penguins, on the other end, have scored 207 more goals, averaging 3.21 a game.
That’s quite the difference and shows you the kind of ground Vancouver needs to make up to become a dangerous, relevant hockey club again.
This season, the Canucks scored the sixth fewest goals in the league and that includes the 29 super rookie Brock Boeser poured into the net.
Aside from Pettersson, the Canucks don’t have prospects with elite offensive potential. That’s why it’s so stunning whenever Vancouver reporters suggest they should trade from the pool of forward prospects to get help on defence. The Canucks need help everywhere. Period.
They need more top-end prospects, and there will be at least two of them available after Dahlin, notably Svechnikov and Zadina.
Both are wingers and either would instantly become the Canucks’ second best prospect.
“I think the first, second, third and possibly fourth overall (picks) will be players who could possibly be in the (NHL) next year so that’s significant,” Linden said.
The Canucks believe Pettersson is soon going to be a centre in the NHL even if he starts his career on the wing. It’s where he wants to play and it’s where they want him to be.
“I know he thinks he’s better as centreman because the play runs through him,” Linden said. “More touches. I do think he’s going to be a centreman and has a chance to be a really good one because his vision is so good.” If so, wouldn’t it be great to be in position to draft an elite scoring winger for him to play with?
In other words, this year there are essentially three lotteries. Whoever gets first overall is a massive winner, but the teams winning the second and third overall picks will have opportunities to select players with big-impact potential.
The Canucks sure could use one of them here. Any one of them.
I did everything to look like I was fine with it, but I guess I didn’t do a very good job.