2009-10 NHL Season Preview: Vancouver Canucks

by James Mirtle on Sep 29, 2009 11:00 AM CDT Comment 14 comments

More photos » by Graham Hughes - AP

Who's in: Christian Ehrhoff, Brad Lukowich, Andrew Raycroft, Mikael Samuelsson, Mathieu Schneider
Who's out: Jeff Cowan, Rob Davison, Jason LaBarbera, Mattias Ohlund, Taylor Pyatt, Curtis Sanford, Mats Sundin, Ossi Vaananen

Outlook: GM Mike Gillis's biggest task in the off-season was to either lockup the Sedins or find their replacement, and on the eve of July 1, he managed the former, signing the identical twins to identical $30.5-million, five-year contracts.

In other news on the Swedish front, both Mattias Ohlund, who signed with Tampa Bay, and Mats Sundin who remains (surprise, surprise) undecided left the club, with former Red Wings winger Mikael Samuelsson joining the team as a likely linemate for his countrymen on the first line.

With Ohlund on the way out, Gillis dramatically altered the blueline by adding a trio of defenders just prior to training camp, dealing prospects to the Sharks for Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich and signing former client Mathieu Schneider. The results leave the Canucks with eight NHL-calibre defencemen and right up against the cap, meaning another move is soon to come depending on who wins spots in training camp.

On the whole, however, the defence has taken some small steps forward in terms of depth, and the Canucks should produce far more offence from the back end than they have in recent seasons.

The biggest factor in Vancouver, as always, however, will be the play of Roberto Luongo, and a healthy season should mean another 20 starts over what he managed last time around. That alone should keep the Canucks in contention for a second straight Northwest Division title.

X-factor: Alex Burrows

For a more in-depth Canucks preview, visit 'Nucks Misconduct
For more NHL analysis, check out the McKeen's Hockey Yearbook

Poll

Where will the Canucks finish in the Western Conference this season?

1

28 votes

2

47 votes

3

78 votes

4

38 votes

5

26 votes

6

13 votes

7

11 votes

8

6 votes

9

0 votes

10

3 votes

11

0 votes

12

1 votes

13

2 votes

14

1 votes

15

21 votes

275 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Nice

A vote for 15th place right out of the gate.

'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.

by Yankee Canuck on Sep 29, 2009 11:10 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

It’s the same people telling the same joke over and over again.

I've seen enough to know that I've seen too much.

by Smoboy41 on Sep 29, 2009 12:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Man, is James a homer or what?

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Sep 29, 2009 11:18 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

If you have time, look back at his season opening predictions from the last 3 seasons. He didn’t like the team very much. So I presume you’re joking right?

by SJKel on Sep 29, 2009 1:56 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes

He always get accused of either being a Canucks’ homer or hating some random team.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on Oct 2, 2009 11:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

6th place, behind DET, SJS, CAL, CHI, and ANA.

by red army line on Sep 29, 2009 1:34 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

8th in the West

Why 8th? Too much expectations on the Canucks and we all know what happened to the Canadiens last season and the Senators the year previous. With the Canucks having a 7-0-2 record in the pre-season all signs point to another collapse just like the Habs and Sens, who both stormed through the pre-season and into the early part of the season only to fail miserably in the 2nd half of the season.
A 14-game road trip could prove to be a major detriment to this team to go along with the heightened expectations if Canada should come away with the Olympic Gold. The Canucks are a good team that may find itself unable to cope with many may presume unachieveable expectations for they’re not Detroit, nor Chicago, nor San Jose.
Can ‘Touchdown Luo’ lead this team through the playoffs? Before last season…maybe, but after the series against the Hawks…not so sure.

It's never about the eventual destination, but rather the long journey and its challenging obstacles that are presented and what it takes to overcome them, that makes the taste of success all the more worthwhile!!!

by hawks61 on Sep 29, 2009 2:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Be advised that the 14 game road trip is actually an 8 gamer, Olympic break, then a 6 gamer. Those not playing in the Olympics will be able to recharge their batteries.

I've seen enough to know that I've seen too much.

by Smoboy41 on Sep 29, 2009 2:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And those playing in the Olympics

will be in Vancouver too, so for the Canuck players those games would be “home” games in a sense.

by SJKel on Sep 30, 2009 12:24 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Feel free to hold one bad series (Chicago/Vancouver) against Luongo, but to claim he’ll never be able to get past that? Or use it plainly as motivation to perform better, especially in a year with the playoffs in his own arena? I think that’s a mistake.

'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.

by Yankee Canuck on Sep 29, 2009 2:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry the Canucks had the exact same excellent pre-season record last year and didn’t run into any trouble until Luongo got hurt, and then recovered when Luongo returned.

I find it ironic that a Hawk fan talks about Canucks having too much pressure because of high expectations, because his team is expected to beat Detroit for the division title after an excellent season and making the final 4 in the postseason. And with Huet in net for the whole season.

by SJKel on Sep 29, 2009 3:04 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’ve always found the worst argument possible is “well, your team is in the same position, so you can’t talk” The pressure the Blackhawks are under doesn’t mean squat when talking about the pressure the Canucks are under, no matter who the person making the opinion cheers for.

by Resolute on Sep 29, 2009 6:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I didn’t say “you can’t talk”. Don’t put words into my mouth, please. I said I found it ironic that he’s talking about how one team would fail because of the high expectations while being fully confident that his favourite team, which is facing even higher expectations, would have no trouble performing.

by SJKel on Sep 30, 2009 12:27 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs