Last June, the Vancouver Canucks came within one win of bringing the Stanley Cup back home to Canada. Instead, they brought a downtown Vancouver riot which cost the city Millions of Dollars in damages. While the riot could have been worse if the Vancouver Canucks ultimately won the cup, this year, they fell 3 rounds short, after being shocked in 5 games in the hands of the Los Angeles Kings. These Canucks were no where near the team they were last season and no where as passionate. It is clear that they were outplayed by goaltender Jonathan Quick, who can easily carry the 8th seeded Kings to the Cup Finals. Now, the Canucks must find a way to recover from 4 straight wasted opportunities to win the Stanley Cup going all the way back to 2009 playoffs.
Will Roberto Luongo remain with Canucks or is Cory Schneider the new #1?
Based on the fact that Cory Schneider started an elimination game for the Canucks seems to be an indication that Luongo if he stays with Canucks will have to win the #1 job back in training camp. Luongo has a 9 years left on his contract with Vancouver worth $5.34 million dollars in cap hit. There are teams looking for a #1 goaltender and with as not much pressure as there is in Vancouver. Most of the blame for the Canucks lack of playoff success falls on Luongo, who was the team captain until 2009. My guess is that he will be on a short leash going into next season and could be trade bait by the deadline.
Will Alain Vigneault be back as coach?
Alain Vigneault has done a great job by making the Canucks an elite team in the NHL, but the question is, has he done all he can do. The Canucks have a qualified NHL coach in Craig MacTavish, who is coaching their minor league affiliate in Chicago. He coached the 8th seed Edmonton Oilers in 2005-2006 playoffs all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. He will also be on a short leash and might not be back next season.
What is the Canucks biggest off-season need?
The Canucks do not need any radical changes in the off-season. They just need to get their mental state straightened out and just play with more hunger and passion. It's evident they ran out of gas against LA and that the Kings were more hungry and more grittier and more passion. The Canucks will need to add more size and grit and maybe another scoring center to take the pressure of Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler. They do have a gritty winger who will pan out very well next season or very shortly in Zack Kassian, who will also be able to score. He will become a fan favorite, but they might also want to add a size-able defenseman. So, we shall see.
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