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Frank Doyle
Vancouver Canucks 2014-2015 Preview: Change is Good For Western Underdogs
The Vancouver Canucks turn the page on a new season with new team president Trevor Linden out to clean up a big mess.
Vancouver Canucks 2014-2015 odds:
Will the Canucks make the Stanley Cup playoffs? No -144
Over/under regular season points 88.5
What’s new
Who’s in
Linden has given this team a new look from top to bottom. Jim Benning is the new GM and Willie Desjardins takes over behind the bench after John Tortorella was canned. On the ice, goaltender Ryan Miller was the marquee signing, but Radim Vrbata, Nick Bonino, and Luc Sbisa are all solid pickups.
Who’s out
This is where we’ll see the biggest change. Gone are Tortorella, Roberto Luongo, Ryan Kesler, David Booth and Jason Garrison. Those subtracts create a lot of opportunities for Vancouver’s youth. Change was needed in Vancouver both in the dressing room and on the ice. The Canucks may be better for it faster than most people expect.
The skinny
The general consensus is the Canucks are either going to slip into a complete rebuild before the halfway point of this season, or actually bond together and stick around the playoff picture. A lot of that will depend on whether the Sedin twins have already begun declining or whether last year was just an off year. With Desjardins behind the bench, he’ll manage their minutes better and you should expect better production. How the rest of the lineup comes together remains a major question mark.
Betting forecast
The days of Vancouver running teams out of the rink and lighting up the scoreboard are long gone. This team lacks depth up front and will need to see big steps from players like Zack Kassian and Bonino to have any sort of balanced scoring. If all goes well, Vrbata will mesh well with the Sedins on the top line to take some of the pressure off, but that’s far from a guarantee. The defence remains basically the same outside of the Sbisa acquisition, so that’s a bonus.
Overview
The lack of depth at forward will be a major obstacle for this team as it tries to get used to a new coach behind the bench and new players and systems on the ice.
Betting prediction
The changes were needed in Vancouver, but this team needs time to come together and finishing with more than 88 points or a ticket to the playoffs seems like a pipe dream. On the bright side, look forward to a more exciting team on the ice and fewer media distractions. The Canucks could be a good under bet this year.