The 2019/20 Canucks, As Voted By The Fans: Final Results

With nary a week left until preseason action, we’ve finally reached the end of our exercise in projection.

Through a sequence of more than a dozen polls, CanucksArmy readers cast thousands of votes on their preferences for the @Vancouver Canucks’ 2019/20 lineup—and now we’re ready to reveal the final results.

Our final round of polling was almost ceremonial, as it was pretty obvious which two remaining defensemen would be selected for the Canucks’ bottom pairing.

Indeed, @Jordie Benn beat out @Olli Juolevi and @Oscar Fantenberg by a healthy margin to secure the last spot on the left side:

On the other side of the ice, @Chris Tanev also won handily—with his only real competition being the notion of playing Benn on the right side:

It’s also important to note that fans seem to prefer the idea of the Canucks carrying just one extra defenseman in 2019/20—specifically, Oscar Fantenberg—along with two extra forwards:

 

That leaves us with the final, official

Most will probably agree that the above lineup looks—on paper, at least—to be a major improvement on the team the Canucks’ iced in 2018/19. Though the roster features a number of players who are almost certain to miss time with injury, it has the appearance of a lineup that could feasibly challenge for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Perhaps the most interesting results of this entire endeavor are those players who fans did not vote into the Canucks’ lineup.

On the forward side of things, all of Brandon Sutter, @Nikolay Goldobin, @Tyler Motte, @Tim Schaller, and @Loui Eriksson have been left on the outside looking in. At most, only two of them can be kept as extra forwards—with Sutter and Goldobin probably having the inside track in that regard.

Of course, if there are no major injuries at forward by the time Antoine Roussel returns from IR late in the calendar year, one more forward will have to go. In reality, such difficult decisions might be avoided by simply sending down the waivers-exempt Zack MacEwen and Adam Gaudette—though polling data indicates such moves would be unpopular with the fanbase.

The results for the blueline are a lot less difficult to parse. Oscar Fantenberg checks in as the seventh defenseman, which leaves @Alex Biega and Olli Juolevi relegated to the Utica Comets—not exactly a surprising turn of events.

Now, with training camp upon us, it’s time to see just how accurate our predictions were. Of course, it bears mentioning that the Canucks will still need to sign Brock Boeser—and escape the preseason without any major injuries—in order to have a hope of icing a similar roster to our projection on opening night.

In any case, the 2019/20 appears to have all the necessary pieces in place to be an exciting and memorable season—and perhaps the next step forward in a new era of Canucks hockey.