FAST-TRACKED REBUILD
MAKE NO MISTAKE,
the rebuild is over in Vancouver. Just two years after the final games of the Sedin twins’ storied careers, the Canucks are in win-now mode. It started last summer when GM Jim Benning dealt his 2020 first-round pick to Tampa Bay for J.T. Miller. It continued at the trade deadline when Vancouver traded its No. 3 prospect (Northeastern’s Tyler Madden) and a second-round pick to Los Angeles for Tyler Toffoli. Rebuilding teams don’t trade picks and prospects. IMMEDIATE NEEDS: There’s both balance and star power throughout the lineup. There’s not a lot of toughness on the blueline, especially if Chris Tanev moves on as a UFA. And unless Micheal Ferland can avoid pervading concussion symptoms, the Canucks could use another power forward. LONG-TERM NEEDS: Getting Quinn Hughes with the No. 7 pick in 2018 was a gift from the hockey gods. He’d easily go in the top four in a redraft. But that’s wiped out by taking Olli Juolevi fifth overall in 2016 when Matthew Tkachuk was the next pick. Vancouver will get old on the blueline in the next few seasons and need some top-four replacements to complement Hughes.
CAP SITUATION: Goalie Jacob Markstrom, Toffoli and Tanev are all UFAs the Canucks would love to keep. But there’s only enough payroll to sign two of them. The summer of 2021 will be one to watch when Elias Pettersson and Hughes are RFAs who deserve to bypass short bridge deals. Good thing there’s $22 million coming off the books.
IN THE SYSTEM 2020-21: With Tanev in all probability walking as a UFA, look for 24-year-old puck-moving blueliner Brogan Rafferty to make the jump after an impressive rookie pro season in AHL Utica. DID YOU KNOW: The Canucks draft by position in spurts. During the 2017 and 2018 drafts, Vancouver took six defensemen in a span of eight picks. After that run ended, they’ve gone 11 picks without taking a blueliner (nine forwards and two goalies).