Complete Guide to the 2015 Offseason for the Vancouver Canucks

Tom Urtz Jr.Apr 27, 2015

The Vancouver Canucks made it back to the playoffs this season after a brief blip during the storied John Tortorella era, but failed to make it past the first round. Despite the tremendous regular-season success the franchise has had in recent years, it has been unable to get it done in the playoffs.

The roster isn't getting any younger, and the team has to do some soul-searching ahead of what could be the last chance to win the Stanley Cup with the majority of roster intact. The front office certainly will go through the roster with a fine-tooth comb, and here's an early look ahead of the team's upcoming offseason.

Season Recap

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Top Performers

Daniel and Henrik Sedin: The Sedin twins rebounded rather nicely for the Canucks this season. Daniel tallied 76 points, Henrik tallied 73 points and both played in every game. Their offensive ability was much better under Willie Desjardins, and it appears that last season under John Tortorella was a simple fluke.

Radim Vrbata: Vrbata was a great acquisition for the Canucks and did a good job as the third Sedin brother. He scored 31 goals, added 32 assists and finished with 63 points in 79 games played.

Alex Edler: The Vancouver Canucks' top offensive defender rebounded quite nicely in 2014-15, improving dramatically from last season. His points total went from 22 to 31, and his plus/minus went from minus-39 to plus-13.

Biggest Disappointments

Goaltending: In general the goaltending of the Vancouver Canucks was very disappointing. Ryan Miller went 29-15-1 but posted a 2.53 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.

Eddie Lack appeared in 41 games and his record of 18-13-4 with a 2.45 goals-against average and .921 save percentage wasn't drastically better. The Canucks signed Miller to a sizable contract during the offseason, and he didn't exactly live up to his end of the deal. Injuries are going to happen, but he certainty didn't play as expected in 2014-15.

Final Analysis

Another first-round exit is troubling for the Canucks because the core of the team is getting older each year. Players like Bo Horvat represent the future of the franchise, but this team is in a win-now mode. They were a 101-point team in 2014-15, but it doesn't matter because of when they were eliminated. The Province's Ed Willes thinks the franchise's post-mortem should start now, because the team lack a heartbeat.

Biggest Storylines to Follow

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Who will be the starting goaltender in 2015-16?

Goaltending was a disappointing area for the Canucks in 2014-15, and we learned on the previous slide that the team had two goaltenders who played pretty similarly. One made $1.15 million, and the other made $6 million. Obviously the Canucks are going to give Miller the starting job from the get-go, but it remains to be seen if he ultimately will be their best option.

Having a better blue line could be a variable that helps the goaltending, but thus far the investment in Ryan Miller hasn't been a fruitful one.

Will Canucks be able to move Kevin Bieksa or Dan Hamhuis?

During the Canucks' last day of media availability for 2014-15, both veteran defenders Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa were asked if they'd waive their no-movement clause (h/t Jason Brough of NBC Pro Hockey Talk.) Both gave non-answers, and it will be interesting to see if either is dealt consider their "lame duck" status.

Both defenders have not played up to their contracts, and the Canucks as a team struggled with moving the puck on the back end. Addressing the defense has to be a top concern, because it hasn't been a strength of Vancouver's over the past few seasons.

Notable Players Hitting Free Agency

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Shawn Matthias: The Canucks' pivot hits free agency for the first time of his career in July, and he finished the season with 27 points in 78 games.

Notable RFAs: Linden Vey, Sven Baertschi, Yannick Weber, Jacob Markstrom

TOP NEWS

Bleacher Report1w

Bleacher Report1w

Top Free-Agent Targets

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1. Antoine Vermette: The Canucks should consider adding the veteran center as long as his price tag remains reasonable. At one point it looked like he would make a killing, but a stint of healthy scratches in Chicago certainly has impacted his price. He is a two-way center with talent, and he can line up at all forward positions.

2. Jeff Petry: If the Montreal Canadiens do not re-sign Jeff Petry, he is a player who the Canucks should go after. Petry is a 27-year-old defender with a booming shot and good size at 6'3"; he hasn't hit his potential yet as a player. He made the most of a bad situation in Edmonton, and he is the type of player the Canucks need to start building a winning team.

Best Option in the NHL Draft

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No. 23: Oliver Kylington is the Canucks' projected first-round pick, according to mynhldraft.com, and it's a name that makes sense. Kylington is a 6'0", 180-pound defender who has a lot of upside and would fit a dire need for Vancouver.

NHL.com's Chris Stevenson ran a prospect evaluation on Kylington, and a number of scouts, including NHL director of European scouting Goran Stubb, had some promising reviews of his play:

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He's a talented first-round prospect. He's an excellent, smooth skater. He's an offensive defenseman with excellent vision and playmaking skills. He has very good eye-to-hand coordination, is dangerous on the power play. He has all the tools needed and is a finesse-type player.
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Those attributes are ones the Canucks should be interested in, because he is the smooth-skating defensive prospect Vancouver sorely needs. Alex Edler is the only true mobile puck-moving defender the Canucks have, and Kylington could learn a lot from his fellow countryman.

The 2015 top prospect was the No. 6 overall European skater when NHL Central Scouting ran its final poll, and although his stock dropped a bit from earlier in the year, it shouldn't deter the Canucks from picking him if he is on the board.

Players Who Should Be Put on the Trading Block

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Kevin Bieksa: Bieksa appeared in 60 games and only tallied 14 points. He's been on a decline for a number of years, and it is hard to believe he tallied 44 points in 2011-12. He becomes a free agent next summer and is probably not a member of the Canucks' future plans.

Dan Hamhuis: Hamhuis' decline hasn't been as noticeable as Bieksa's, but the Canucks would be wise to try to deal him. The odds of the team re-signing him next summer aren't high because of the direction the team is heading in, and it makes very little sense to hold on to a lame-duck player. The Canucks defense plays a style that was successful when the team made a run for the Stanley Cup in 2011, but in 2015 you need to have speed to win.

Top Trade Targets

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1. Top-Four Defenseman: If the Canucks are unable to land a defender in free agency, then it is up to general manager Jim Benning to land one via trade. Heading into 2015-16 with the same exact defense would be a massive mistake, because they had the 12th-worst goals allowed per-game average last season.

Ed Willes of The Province had this to say about the Canucks and where they should go next:

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As for the offseason, the challenges before Jim Benning and the hockey department are equally clear. First and foremost, the Canucks have to upgrade their blue-line because, if they don’t, they’ll get passed like they were standing still by a number of teams in the West.
The D-corps were barely adequate during the regular season, but they were exposed to an alarming degree by a good, not great, Flames team. Not sure how you land an impact defenceman in this era, but Benning has to try because what he has isn’t good enough.
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Having some defensemen who could skate with the puck would help improve that number, because a number of goals allowed this season were after the Canucks got pinned in their own end. The Calgary Flames exploited that against the Canucks in the first round; that is a lesson that needs to be taken into consideration this summer.

2. Secondary Scoring: Willes also felt this is an area the Canucks need to improve upon, saying:

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Secondly, the Canucks have to close the gap between the quality of their best forwards and their depth forwards. This year, they became deeper and that hid some warts in the regular season. But in the playoffs, when you need difference-makers, the Canucks had too many players who couldn’t elevate their game or their team.
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It is hard to disagree with Willes' assessment, and Jim Benning certainly could have his work cut out for him this summer.

The Sedin triplet—Vrbata—was an honorary one this season. The three led the team in scoring, and there was a huge drop-off in production when you take them out of the equation. Nick Bonino was the highest scorer to not be involved with the Sedins, and he finished with 39 points. Bonino was looked at as a potential replacement for Ryan Kesler, but that didn't materialize this season.

Prospects Most Likely to Debut in 2015-16

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Hunter Shinkaruk: The Canucks drafted the 5'11", 179-pound winger in the first round of the 2013 draft. He spent the 2014-15 season with the Utica Comets, and he tallied 16 goals and 31 points as a 20-year-old in his AHL rookie season.

He is a smooth-skating winger with great hands, an accurate shot and plays with an edge. Shinkaruk stands a chance to make the roster out of training camp, and he could find his place on the second or third line if he is successful.

Jake Virtanen: The Canucks' 2014 first-round pick will turn 19 in August, and that means he is still too young for the AHL. He could join the Canucks' main roster, because he is a skilled power forward who can play at the NHL level.

He is already 6'1" and 207 pounds, has an NHL release and plays with a real physical edge. There is always the chance he will return to the Calgary Hitmen, but his skill and physicality would make him a great fit in Vancouver next season. He should see some time in the NHL next season, but it could be much later in the season if he doesn't make the team out of training camp.