Every year, Pass it to Bulis writes two previews for the upcoming season. One is incredibly positive and optimistic, forecasting unicorns and rainbows to go along with the almost forgone conclusion of a Stanley Cup. The other is gloomy and cynical, predicting the downfall of western civilization and a last place finish.
The joke is that most season previews end up being wildly off-base, so why not predict both ends of the spectrum, fully expecting that the truth will wind up somewhere in the middle? Only, this past season, the end result was a lot closer to the cynical side than I anticipated.
I’m a natural optimist when it comes to the Canucks, which may come as a surprise to some readers. Because of this optimism, the cynical season previews were the hardest to write in the early years of the blog. It helped that the team was really good, making it hard to find flaws. The last couple years, however, the optimistic season previews have grown harder and harder to write.
I want the best for the Canucks, and I actually went into this past season with a lot of positivity and hope: I had hope that Erik Gudbranson would overcome his statistical deficiencies on a pairing with a more offensive-minded defenceman like Ben Hutton. I had hope that Anton Rodin could be a legitimate top-six forward coming off his stellar season in Sweden. I had hope that Philip Larsen would provide a boost to the power play, that Loui Eriksson would revitalize the Sedins, and that Jake Virtanen would take a step forward in his second professional season.
Those hopes got repeatedly kicked in the teeth.
It’s getting harder to gin up optimism for the Canucks, particularly without a clearly articulated direction and vision from Canucks’ management, who still refuse to use the word “rebuild.” It’s as if they’re afraid if they say it three times, Michael Keaton will show up and curse all their top draft picks to be busts. Literal busts: he'll turn their heads into statues.
But there are a lot of Canucks fans out there who are optimistic about the direction of the Canucks and are excited about the future. They point to the Canucks’ young players and prospects and are thrilled about their potential.
Here’s the thing: I’m excited about the Canucks’ prospects too.
I am incredibly optimistic about Brock “Disney Prince” Boeser. I expect at least one of Nikolay Goldobin and Jonathan Dahlen to develop into a solid scoring winger. I think Olli Juolevi will be a very good top pairing defenceman for a long time. Thatcher Demko should be a solid number one goaltender in a couple years. I have reasonable hopes and expectations for Adam Gaudette, William Lockwood, and Dmitry Zhukenov, as well as defensive prospects Guillaume Brisebois, Evan McEneny, Carl Neill, and Tate Olson. I still think Jake Virtanen and Jordan Subban could have a rosy NHL future ahead of them.
But along with that optimism about the Canucks’ prospects, I am incredibly pessimistic about the future? Why? Because I have seen no indication that the Canucks’ current management group knows how to build a team around those prospects.
This is a group that thinks Brandon Sutter is a foundational piece, paying him like a second-line centre. It’s the group that insists that Luca Sbisa is anything more than a mediocre third-pairing defenceman, paying him like a second-pairing guy. They overpaid fourth liner Derek Dorsett so that he could rub shoulders with the Canucks’ youth. Who knows how much they’re going to overpay Erik Gudbranson, particularly with Nikita Tryamkin leaving the fold.
I have little faith in Jim Benning and Trevor Linden to make moves that improve the team when guys like Sutter, Sbisa, Dorsett, and Gudbranson are seen not just as quality depth, but core pieces. "Foundational" piece. I also have little faith that they will make savvy, cost-efficient moves to build a team when they’ve repeatedly thrown big money at aging veterans in free agency.
I’m excited about the potential of Bo Horvat to form a first line with Sven Baertschi and Brock Boeser. I am hopeful that Olli Juolevi will eat up big minutes on the blue line. I am optimistic that Thatcher Demko could become one of the best goalies in the NHL. At the same time, I lament that some of their best years might be wasted if a good team is not built around them.
You can be both excited about the Canucks' prospects and cynical about the future of the franchise. You can be two things.
