Vancouver's 2022-23 Season Outlook

GM Kirk Slocum feels excited at his Canucks' prospects in the upcoming season, thanks to smart drafting and building a culture of expecting to win.

As some of you know I have been very high on the make-up of this team. I have felt strong enough to turn down fair offers that would disrupt this team as I see it. So, let’s start into what makes this team, in my opinion a pretty competitive team.

FORWARDS:

Current Lines (as of today)

Center Left Wing Right Wing

1 Mika Zibanejad Anders Lee Brayden Point

2 Erik Haula Alexis Lafrenière Patric Hornqvist

3 Victor Rask Tyson Jost Owen Tippett

4 Filip Chytil Nils Hoglander Jakob Silfverberg

Extra: Casey Mittelstadt

These forwards average 74.8 OV; 73.1 SC and 71.8 DF. We maybe a bit heavy offense on the first line, but think the other lines all have enough offense to keep the goals coming.

DEFENSE:

Current Lines (as of today)

Defense Defense

1 Ryan Lindgren Ryan Suter

2 Marc-Edouard Vlasic Ty Smith

3 Braden Schneider Gabriel Carlsson

Extra: Urho Vaakanainen (what a name)

These defensemen average 73.3 OV; 64.7 SC and 76.0 DF. The offense ratings are a bit weak, but as a GM I have always thought the DF ratings to be the most important for the success of my team and these players have a significant DF rating.

GOALIES:

Current Lines (as of today)

Starting: Cam Talbot - OV 81

Backup: Philipp Grubauer – OV 79

Extra: Keith Kincaid – OV 64

The one/two combo of Talbot and Grubauer should be one of the strongest in the league. Kincaid will be a fine emergency backup if Cam or Philipp go done.

So, between the strong defense in front of these goalies scoring on the Canucks should prove rather difficult.

Overall, I believe that the Canucks should be a very competitive team this season and will be a contending team for another division title and who knows what the playoffs could bring.