Welcome back to WDYTT, the only hockey column on the internet that doesn’t always show up on the day it’s supposed to.

Speaking of that intermittent scheduling, it might be a factor in our discussion today, but only barely.

Depending on whether you’re reading this on a Wednesday or a Thursday (or maybe even a Friday?), the Vancouver Canucks are either about to, or just have, played their first game of the 2023/24 season.

We here at WDYTT have been using the last couple of weeks to get in some Preseason Predictions, and whether it’s still technically the preseason or not, we’d like to sneak one more past the line.

Everybody reading this column right now has an opinion on how the Canucks are going to do in the year to come. Some of us are optimists, some are pessimists, some call themselves realists (fancy pessimists). No matter where you fall on the scale, you’ve got some thoughts to share, and we’re going to ask you to be specific about them.

As in, calling your shot as to exactly where the Canucks are going to be standing in the standings when all of 2023/23 is said and done.

This week, we’re asking you to predict:

Let it be known in the comment section!

 

You answered below!

Going with Hughes as he looks ready to step up.. Hoping Boeser can have a great month.

Di Giuseppe, obv.

I’m gonna say Randy “Beer Can” Boyd. Who once had 24 goals, 79 points, and 218 PIM playing for the Canucks farm team in Milwaukee. Always wondered why he didn’t get more of a shot with the Canucks after that season.

Wait, this is 2023 we’re talking about? OK, it’s Beauvillier, 5 goals in his first 7 games.

Last week I took the easy out and went with status quo JT Miller, but I’m liking Ragnarok-Oroboros’ and Kearnsie’s prediction of Quinn Hughes for #2 scorer more and more, especially considering how Hughes lit it up on Saturday AFTER their predictions were made. Quinn Hughes is also a good pick for quickest start (another cop-out pick since he’s already having the quickest start), so I’ll go with Quinn Hughes.

After taking his career seriously for the first time in his career this offseason, Brock Boeser is a threat for having a good start and a good year, but he’s disappointed us so many times in the past that I decided to pass on him (again).

I think the overall scoring is going to go *down,* as will the GAA. I think the big four will all have trouble matching their previous highs of last year. Tocchet hockey is not run and gun, but crash and wear down, so it’s not conducive to the Boudreau scores of the past.

As for who will start surprise hot: Garland. He knows his stock has to go up, and he’s always been good 5×5. He should technically thrive under Tocchet, as he did before. He’s also ridicu-streaky, so why not now.

Hughes will be the top scorer because he will be moving better and thinking faster than anyone they face in the first month

Hughes will have the hottest start to the season, and probably the hottest middle and end, as well, for his position.

Watching him skate in the last preseason game shows that he is ready to go. Hughes looked like a smaller version of McDavid the way he was flying around the offensive zone. I don’t say that tongue in cheek, he really did look that good; the way he was moving his feet and finding guys to dish to and snapping shots from a lot of different angles.

I doubt Hughes will end up being the team top scorer, but he will be the MVP and will have the best start to the season, along with setting a career high on goals scored.

“Hottest start” is a little ambiguous. Hughes is the obvious pick for the most points through October. But if I was to purely to try and Spot-a-Streak, then I will go with Garland. I think he will get off to a hot start and pot six goals for the month of October. Everyone will be pointing out his bargain salary and how we can’t believe no one traded for him, then he’ll disappear for the next two.

Hughes looks ready to go. He’s the captain and wants the team to start well. He will lead by example.

PDG won’t be the highest point producer this October, but will produce at a rate far and away beyond anything he has ever done before. Hughes is on fire and will have the best month of his career. Boeser will lead the team in secondary assists and invisibility quotient.

Quinn Hughes will have the hottest start for the Canucks this year. It is his first year as Captain, and he will take it seriously by never taking a shift off and leading by example. I think Pettersson and Kuzmenko are obvious choices, but I think Hughes will outpace them.

I am going to post twice, as my first thought was Garland. I am going to say the Canuck with the “hottest start” is going to be Demko. Not just because I just read an article on SN ranking Demko as the sixth out of seven netminders for the Canadian teams. Outside of iMac and Eric Francis, there is not a more homer site for the east in the world. Anyway…apparently every Canadian team has better goaltending than the Canucks with the exception of the Habs. Honestly, I was expecting second or even third. Demko is now my pick to light it up in October.

RDster clearly put in the work over the summer and is already in midseason form, but he may just burn out too quickly. BigBA is showing signs of promise early on, but will anyone be surprised if he falls back on those bad habits? BeerCan seems to be shaking off the rust in his game, and as the quintessential Canuck shows tons of potential, but will he finally be able to pull it all together right out of the gate? Ragnarok and kanucked are skating hard, but the question there is for how long can they keep up this pace? Copey could probably use a stint in the minors to start the season, and it looks like Marmot will be on IR as things get underway. Good money is on (a) defenceman leading the pack, early on at least.