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Vancouver Canucks question marks in 2017-18 include first line, goaltending
August 31, 2017, 3:00 PM ET [331 Comments]
Carol Schram
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The major hockey outlets continue to roll out their team previews as we inch closer to the beginning of training camps.

Today, Mark Spector takes his deep dive into the Vancouver Canucks, for Sportsnet.




This morning, I listened to Spector guesting on Sportsnet's Tape to Tape podcast with Ryan Dixon and Rory Boylen. He touched on the same key points but was a little more cut-and-dried in expressing his opinions, such as:

• The Canucks currently don't have a first line—a situation that has basically arisen because the team didn't restock the prospect pool during the Mike Gillis years. As he correctly points out, the Sedins came up slowly and took over from Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison nearly a decade ago. Though Bo Horvat has certainly shown promise, he's not necessarily a true No. 1. The team currently doesn't have a deep enough talent pool to allow the twins to gracefully slide down to a second-line role.

• The best part of the upcoming season for Canucks fans will be watching the evolution of the kids. He has nice things to say about Brock Boeser and also gave Troy Stecher some respect—Stecher's 24 points ranked him fifth among rookie defensemen last season. His offense was pretty consistent through the season—he scored between four and six points each month between November and March. I feel like Stecher's offensive game has upside as he continues to improve at threading pucks through from the point.

Jake Virtanen is also going to be an intriguing prospect to watch this season. It certainly seems like he has been much more focused this offseason.

Virtanen and some of the other Canucks have been on the ice in Vancouver this week.

First, at UBC.




Then, at Britannia.










Nice to see Derek Dorsett back in action, too!




Meanwhile, the Canucks crew up in Haida Gwaii for the Fishing for Kids trip included Erik Gudbranson, Sven Baertschi and Jacob Markstrom, as well as Travis Green.




Spector is not impressed with the idea of Markstrom as Vancouver's No. 1 goalie.

Vancouver signed Jacob Markstrom to a three-year, $11 million deal that begins this season. That’s low-end No. 1 money for a goalie who has not proven he is a low-end No. 1 goalie. It’s a leap of faith that will make GM Jim Benning look genius if Markstrom stops pucks. But he’s a career .906 goalie playing in what could be a shooting gallery on many nights. Anders Nilsson is a nice backup. The problem is, Markstrom might be just that as well.


I remain hopeful that Green will help Markstrom rediscover the all-star form he displayed when the two were together in Utica in 2014-15.

In other news, the Canucks continue to be linked to Thomas Vanek, but they're not the only ones in the mix:




Vanek was decent during his time with the Red Wings last season, collecting 38 points in 48 games before being moved to Florida at the deadline. If the Wings want to bring Vanek back, though, they'll have to make moves to clear some cap space.

It sounds like he's waiting around in hopes that this happens. If Detroit decides not to make room for him, then it's on to other options—and Vancouver might not be the only team in the mix.

The Canucks did announce their first PTO signing this week:




I'm a little surprised that White didn't catch on with a team. At 29, White is best known as an agitator. He did score 11 goals with the Philadelphia Flyers back in 2015-16 and had nine last year with the Coyotes and the Wild. I actually thought White was a solid trade-deadline add for Minnesota, but he ended up scratched for the Wild's first two playoff games and was pointless for the last three, when he did get into the lineup. His skating may be what has held him back from a guaranteed NHL job.

The Canucks' need for veterans to fill preseason roster spots is even more extreme than usual, since their split-squad games won't be taking place in another province this year—they'll be on another continent, in China.




If I remember correctly, I believe the NHL requirement is that each team ices a minimum of eight NHL players in every preseason game. White will most likely fill that requirement.
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