The Vancouver Canucks are off to somewhat of a promising start, winning five of their first eight games. They are currently sitting in fifth place in the Pacific Division, with the Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, Vegas Golden Knights and Calgary Flames above them.
J.T. Miller has proven to be a valuable off-season pick up this summer, scoring four goals and four assists in eight games. Elias Pettersson has also shown that his performance last season was no fluke, also being a point-per-game player so far this season (two goals, six assists). In total, 17 skaters have contributed at least one point so far.
They are in a wildcard position right now, but should Vancouver fans get their hopes up?
The Oilers have had a hot start and currently lead the Pacific with seven wins and 15 points. Connor McDavid already has 17 points. Leon Draisaitl has 16. James Neal has also proven he is still a lethal sniper, notching nine goals. Will the Oilers slow down though? It looks like the Oilers have finally hit their groove, but if something were to happen to McDavid would it injure their run? Neal’s scoring will eventually slow down, after all, he has never scored more than than 30 goals a season except twice (in 2011-12 he scored 40 goals and in 2015-16 he scored 31). When he was with the Calgary Flames, his production suffered, only posting 19 points in 63 games last season. It was a career-low, so he definitely is out to redeem himself.
Edmonton’s bottom-six forwards are also struggling to provide any offence of note. And while the holes in defence and goaltending have been addressed, the Oilers cannot expect McDavid, Draisaitl and the first defensive pairing of Darnell Nurse and Ethan Bear to carry the team.
The Canucks have a lot of good young talent, who have been finding their stride and continuing on the foundation they have built on in previous seasons, such as Brock Boeser. The 22-year-old Minnesotan has yet to play a full NHL season but has proven himself to be a high calibre player, despite being injury prone. This could be his first full season. He may not be scoring at the same pace as Miller or Pettersson, but he has seven points.
Through Brandon Sutter, Tanner Pearson and Josh Leivo, the Canucks have something the Oilers don’t. Secondary scoring. The three players have 12 points combined. Jake Virtanen, Jay Beagle and Tim Schaller have yet to find their footing (Schaller is one of three players yet to get a point. Virtanen and Beagle have two each),
Bo Horvat hasn’t found his stride either, scoring only three points. However, he was recently named as captain of the franchise on Oct. 9 and it’s still early days.
Defence and goaltending have also have had decent showings this season. Jakob Markstrom’s 2.19 GAA is below his average (2.80). And despite his good performances, Thatcher Demko is pushing for a starting spot, with two wins in his three starts and a GAA of 1.64.
