On Friday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, Harman Dayal and David Quadrelli laid out what a true “home run” offseason would look like for the Vancouver Canucks – and how far off that target might realistically be.
Harm wasn’t optimistic.
 “You would hope there’s going to be some level of internal bounce-back for guys like Pettersson and Joshua, but even with all that in consideration and the possibility some of the younger prospects can make an impact, there’s a lot of work needed to be done for the Canucks to get to that contention level,” he said.
“To be honest, we’re talking about a home-run offseason… I don’t know if I see a path for the Canucks to become realistic Cup contenders next season. I could see a path for them becoming a good team and perhaps replicating, if everything goes right, what the Washington Capitals did. But anything beyond that? You’re asking for extraordinary luck.”
The bar for contention is higher than people think.
“Look how many times Florida, Dallas, Edmonton, and Carolina have made the conference finals in recent years,” Harm continued. “This idea that anything can happen in the playoffs – yeah, maybe it can in round one. But you just don’t see many Cinderella teams anymore making a run to the Final. If you want to do damage in the playoffs, you need to be an elite team.”
Quads highlighted how many gaps need filling.
“You need a Pettersson bounce-back, which isn’t a guarantee, and you also need to get an elite forward and a top-line centre. You’re also going to need to replace Pius Suter and Brock Boeser if they walk as well. At some point, they’re just not going to be able to do everything,” he said.
And even if they do? “The nightmare scenario for me is they do manage to get those two big pieces – the elite forward and top centre – and then Pettersson doesn’t bounce back. That’s enough to derail everything next season.”
The Canucks’ forward group needs massive upgrades. Harm pointed out that even with Miller and Boeser last year, the Canucks were still one elite forward short. “You remove Miller and Boeser from the equation, and now you’re talking about needing three high-end forwards just to match the forward depth of the NHL’s best teams,” he said.
“If you ranked every team’s forward groups this year, Edmonton, Florida and Dallas would all rank top five. When you look at why the Hurricanes are being demolished, it’s because they don’t have the same level of elite star difference-makers up front.”
So what’s the realistic play? Find the next Geekie.
 “The next step in this home run offseason is finding the next Morgan Geekie or Ryan Donato,” Quads said – players coming off slumping years who took off with new teams. “The Canucks will probably be able to make one free agency signing to address one of these needs. The others will have to come via trade.”
And that means hitting on undervalued players who can outperform their roles – something Washington did effectively this season. “You have to find one of those guys,” Quads said. “Not another Dakota Joshua or Kiefer Sherwood. The Canucks don’t need more third-liners. They need scoring difference-makers.”
You can watch the full replay of the show below:
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