What will the Canucks defence look like next year?

The Canucks are off to a great start to their campaign, heading into Winnipeg tonight with a 4-2 record after wins over Tampa Bay, Florida, and Pittsburgh.

They’ve been playing well in all three zones of the rink and aided by some great goaltending by Anders Nilsson, the Canucks have cast some doubt on the pre-season predictions of being basement dwellers.

It’s obviously not going to last all year long, and the stats clearly paint a picture that the success isn’t sustainable, but credit is due to the team for battling through some early injuries and pushing through the adversity.

One of the biggest questions entering the season was about the Canucks defence and how there was an expectation that they would get better in their own zone despite bringing back the exact same group. There wasn’t even a change to the 8th defenceman, it was the same eight from the year prior.

Given that the Canucks gave up 259 goals last season with a -41 goal differential and very limited offence from the backend, there were valid questions about how much they can improve internally. So far, so good this season but those questions are still there.

With that in mind, the 2019-20 season is where the real change will happen.

Barring any trades, the right side of the ice is pretty set with Erik Gudbranson, Chris Tanev, and Troy Stecher all signed for the 2019-20 season. There aren’t any defenders in the AHL or in junior hockey at this moment, that will push one of those three out. Alex Biega has another year remaining on his two-year deal and would likely return in the same role as 7th or 8th defender.

The never-ending suggestion of trading Chris Tanev is something that could happen but it’s clear that the organization values what he brings to the team over what they could get in return. It’s understandable to some degree. If you move Tanev, you are left with Gudbranson and Stecher on the right side and that doesn’t exactly scream playoffs.

If they enter the draft with eyes on a right-handed defender that they can acquire via free agency, then maybe they are more open to moving Tanev but it shouldn’t be surprising to see Tanev back next year for the final year of his contract.

There have some similar ideas about trading Gudbranson but again, it’s clear the organization values what he brings to the table and no matter how many blogs write about his deficiencies, that isn’t going to change.

With those four back, we sit at this:

? – Tanev

? – Stecher

? – Gudbranson

Biega

Here’s where the changes start to appear.

The Canucks have the following free agents defencemen at the conclusion of this year:

The biggest question mark of this group has to be Edler. Will they trade him? Will they re-sign him? Will they trade him and then re-sign him? or let him walk on July 1?

That may be the biggest question of this season as Edler does have a no-trade clause and has made it clear that he doesn’t want to leave Vancouver. Ideally, they move him at some point this season and then can call up one of the players that will be mentioned below. But Edler does control what happens and thus we will have to wait and see how it all plays out.

It would be surprising to see Del Zotto back with the Canucks next season. The best plan would be to get him back in the lineup, prop up his value, and move him prior to the deadline.

Ben Hutton and Derrick Pouliot present interesting cases and we are way too early into the season to accurately predict if either will be back. But it’s a possibility that both come back as left side defender and the other as the 7th defender.

Here’s where things get fun.

Quinn Hughes will more than likely be on this team next season and then Olli Juolevi is ideally ready to take on a full-time NHL role.

If Hughes is turning pro, he is coming to the Canucks and will immediately make an impact. We won’t know what to expect in terms of his impact at 5 v 5 but he will make the first powerplay unit better from day one. Depending on how far Michigan goes this year, we may even see him this season.

Juolevi has been playing well in Utica and should see some time in the NHL this season and then push for that full-time spot for 2019-20.

Assuming both make the team next year, we may see something like this:

Juolevi – Tanev

? – Stecher

Hughes – Gudbranson

Biega

Honestly, I don’t think putting Hughes with Gudbranson will allow him to thrive, so flipping Juolevi and Hughes may be better. But we are 11.5 months away from having to worry about those definitive pairs.

There is also the chance that Jalen Chatfield or Ashton Sautner push for that depth defenceman spot alongside Biega.

There will be changes on the back-end for the Canucks through natural evolution but they also have a chance to accumulate other assets through their extras.

Edler is their biggest trade piece and could fetch a tangible return to aid the rebuild. It’s been fairly clear that he doesn’t want to move and the Canucks are at the mercy of that. It’s a crazy idea but pitching a trade at the deadline and then sign back to Vancouver on July 1 may actually be a great outcome. Albeit it’s a tough one to pull off.

If they don’t get that way, the organization does have money to target a higher-end left side defenceman to help ease the transition for Juolevi/Hughes.

If that does happen, Edler will naturally have his minutes reduced with Hughes and Juolevi looking to eat up those minutes.

Del Zotto may be able to get a late pick and then if the Canucks determine that one of Hutton or Pouliot don’t fit into the long-term plans, try to get something for them.

There was much hand wringing that the Canucks were bringing back the same group this season but it’s clear that next season, we will see some more drastic changes on the backend and if the organization is aggressive, there could be even more.