With the Canucks currently on an 8 game win-less streak, it’s time to look to next year. Focusing on this season can be painful and tiring, so looking to see what next year’s lineup may be a good antidote for the despair.

One thing that has stuck out to me recently is that the Canucks are already full with players with NHL contracts next season. We are 6 months away from the puck drop of the 2016-17 season, but they already have a minimum of 11 forwards for next season, plus the kids and then add some bubble players.

When it comes to the forwards, it is impossible to predict what the lines will be. There tends to be a lot of fluctuation and change over the course of a season, so let’s look at them differently.

This exercise isn’t to criticize the Canucks for next season, just merely a snapshot of where they sit now.

The locks are players who are NHL players who are already signed to a contract for next season. So this may exclude some players who will be on the roster, but they will be cover later. 

Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter, Derek Dorsett and Jannik Hansen all meet this qualification. 

There isn’t much explanation needed for this group – you have your top three centres, a future hall of fame winger, the Honey Badger and then a slightly overpaid serviceable depth player. Horvat has had to do the heavy lifting this season with Sutter out so much, but with both of them in the lineup, the Canucks have their second and third line centre spots locked up. 

No way to predict where Hansen will be in the lineup, but you know what you are getting with him. Dorsett is a decent and serviceable player who can help to provide some penalty kill duty and chip in a few goals. As suggested, although the argument can be made that he is overpaid, he still plays his role fairly well and the overpayment is negligible for this team next season.

Three young RFA’s who the Canucks have traded for in the past 13 months, Sven Baertschi, Markus Granlund and Emerson Etem.

Baertschi and Granlund are no-brainers for playing major roles for the Canucks next season. I suggested above Horvat and Sutter playing the second and third line centre roles next season, but it is plausible that Granlund plays the third line spot with Sutter being moved to the wing (or vice versa). 

Baertschi has been the bright spot of this season, and will look to build on that. I would expect him to continue to play a second line role with the Sedin twins holding down the first line. Emerson Etem is a bit of question mark, but unless something unforeseen happens he will be on the roster and will provide a serviceable depth role. 

I will save the speculation on these three’s new contracts for another day, but it’s fair to assume that getting all three under contract won’t break the bank.

I left one long-tenured Canuck from the ‘locks’ grouping from above – Alex Burrows.

If I was in charge (which obviously I am not), I would just let Burrows play out his contract. The Canucks have enough salary coming off the books at the end of the season, that trading or buying out Burrows isn’t necessary. For some reason, there have been murmurs that the Canucks will look to move or possibly buy out the fan favourite. Thus, he finds himself in the question mark category, but if he does come back, he would probably continue to play a bottom 6 role.

The other question mark is Linden Vey – will the Canucks qualify (or re-sign) him?

I could see the Canucks passing on tendering a qualifying offer to Linden Vey, followed by attempting to sign him to a lower cap hit deal for one or two years. Doing this to be similar to what they did with Yannick Weber this past summer. Setting aside the price they paid in the trade for him, Vey has been better this season and is a viable option to have around as a 13th/14th forward.

Both Burrows and Vey are question marks simply because I can see a scenario where both come back, one of them does, or both are gone.

The two nineteen-year-olds who made the Canucks out of camp last season are grouped together.

I think Jake Virtanen will have a spot on this roster next season given that he has the ability to play anywhere in the lineup. He has also shown the ability to drive the play very well this season, so although he may start on the fourth line with Dorsett, he has a spot with the team next season.

Jared McCann is the main point of fluctuation here. With Henrik, Horvat, Sutter and Granlund, the Canucks have four centres above McCann, add Vey and suddenly McCann is the sixth centre. So McCann starting next season in Utica is likely what will happen. At this moment, he would be their first line centre. So he would be able to work on his offensive game and build strength. Ideally, he would’ve been able to be assigned there sometime this season, but given the CHL/NHL agreement, he was here for the duration of the season.

This shouldn’t be seen as a step back, merely a way to allow McCann some time to develop.

Signed to a one-year, one-way deal, it’s a safe assumption that Rodin will be with the Canucks next season. But in what capacity is yet to be determined. I would expect him to play a middle six role alongside one of Horvat or Sutter next season. The great part about his game currently is that he is defensively responsible, so even if he isn’t scoring, he isn’t a liability.  He was playing a lot in the SHL, so it will be interesting to see how effectively he can use his lowered ice time.

A grouping of players who can go in any direction.

Alexandre Grenier has been okay at the NHL level this season, but in fairness, it has been his first crack at this level. The key here is, that Grenier is waiver eligible next season. He would likely clear but that has to be at least a consideration of not clearing. If he can have a good camp, it’s not a crazy thought to think he could join Vey as the 13th/14th forward.

Chris Higgins is still under contract next season at $2.5M. He could get traded, he could get bought out, or he could get waived again. There is no telling where Higgins will be in September, but he is another player that could be in the mix for the extra forward spots.

Brendan Gaunce is the last player who could force his way onto the Canucks. Out of necessity, he has been getting regular minutes in these final weeks. He could push himself all the way to a third line spot or find his way to the first line in Utica next year.

So given all of that, where do the Canucks currently sit?

As I mentioned above, there is so much time before the start of next season and thus is just merely a snapshot of the Canucks forward grouping at this moment. So with that, here is how I see the lineup shaping up at this moment:

Add the variables of – Vey, Grenier, Higgins, Etem, Burrows and Gaunce

There are varying degrees of variability with those players, I would expect Etem and Vey to be somewhere in this lineup next season.

Obviously, Sutter and Rodin could be the ‘second line’, with Baertschi and Horvat as the ‘3rd line’ but given Willie Desjardins coaching strategy of rolling four lines, the title isn’t really needed. Barring any changes, those ten holding down spots next season is a likely scenario, with Etem as a probable lock for the 11th spot. So that leaves two to three spots for the rest.

What is abundantly clear is that the Canucks have a lot of bodies, and will quickly have a lack of spots. They will also have a lot of cap space available, so adding a forward or two through free agency isn’t out of the question. I won’t speculate who they will target, but given the open spots and the money to spend, it isn’t inconceivable for the Canucks to target some of the higher end forward free agents.

If the Canucks somehow end up with a top three pick, then there could be an Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine or Jesse Puljujärvi to add to the mix above.

This also tells me, that we should expect some moves. There are too many bodies right now, and the offseason hasn’t even begun. Ideally, the Canucks can leverage their position, with cap space and moveable players, to take advantage of teams with cap issues. Time will only tell on that part of this exercise.

Obviously, I am just throwing darts at the board when it comes to the lines, so there will be tons of debate and banter about that part.