Will low expectations help the Vancouver Canucks surprise in 2016-17?

Now that we're into September, action has started to pick up in the hockey world.

The final play-in qualification games for the 2018 Winter Olympics are happening until September 4 in Belarus, Norway and Hungary. Jannik Hansen and Team Denmark were assigned to Group D in Minsk but have already been eliminated after losing their first two games.

Hansen scored once—on the power play—as the Danes lost 5-2 in their opener to Belarus, then were shut out 3-0 by Slovenia. So, no Olympics for Denmark this time around.

Hansen is the only current Canuck involved in the qualification tournament. He'll now head to Montreal, where training camp opens in a couple of days for Team Europe for the World Cup of Hockey.

Here's a positive sign of where Hansen currently ranks in the NHL's hierarchy. He gets to keep his No. 36 when he suits up for Team Europe, which will force speedster Mats Zuccarello—whose cap hit is $4.5 million compared to $2.5 million for Hansen—to make the change.

With Jannik Hansen wearing 36 for Team Europe, Mats Zuccarello will wear 63. #WCH2016 pic.twitter.com/3ZMkREiAtL

— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) August 31, 2016

Also in Canucks' World Cup news, there are whispers that Henrik Sedin might get the nod to lead Team Sweden now that the previously-named captain, Henrik Zetterberg, has been withdrawn from the tournament due to a knee injury.

Next, let me warily draw your attention to this Eric Engels article at Sportsnet.

After Engels cautiously touts the possibility that Connor McDavid could contend for the Art Ross Trophy this year—an idea I also toyed with in this Bleacher Report slideshow

Says Engels:

This team had rebuild written all over it before Benning started an ill-advised retooling job that centered on a six-year, $36 million contract for Loui Eriksson.

The Sedin twins haven’t just entered the twilight phase of their careers, they’re near the end of it. The blue line lacks a big-name presence and that’s a considerable pitfall in front of 36-year-old goaltender Ryan Miller and his partner Jacob Markstrom, who has 26 wins in 83 career NHL games.

Henrik? Yeah, he has been a little banged up, but Daniel Sedin hit his highest goal total in five seasons last year and finally seems to be back to his old self after that long stretch where he underperformed following the Duncan Keith elbow-to-the-head back in March of 2012.

Canucks fans might be frustrated by having Eriksson still in the fold during the last couple of years of that six-year deal, but he and the twins shouldn't have much trouble recapturing their old chemistry, starting on Team Sweden at the World Cup.

As for the defense—we'll see. A bounce-back season by Alex Edler and a change of chemistry thanks to Erik Gudbranson will dictate whether the blue line sinks or swims.

If the Canucks falter out of the gate, I do expect we'll see a coaching change before Christmas—the big reason why we've been keeping such a close eye on Utica Comets boss and likely heir apparent Travis Green this summer. And hey, if the team finishes 30th, then Tank Nation finally gets its wish. Nolan Patrick, come on down!

Further down in his article, Engels also picks Pierre-Luc Dubois to win the Calder Trophy. If that happens, there will be even more hand-wringing here in Vancouver about the one that got away.

I see another season of dysfunction ahead in Columbus and am not even sure that Dubois will end up sticking with the team. Click here for my Calder picks. I say Matt Muray's going to pick up where he left off last spring and pull a Ken Dryden double—Cup first, Calder second. Dryden, of course, also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP when he led the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup in his rookie year, after having played just six regular-season games, so the legacy of the amazing start to his hockey career remains secure.

The skies have just opened up in downtown Vancouver—looks like it's going to be a soggy Labour Day long weekend. Have a good one, whatever you're up to!