Thanks For Playing: Vancouver Canucks

Each spring 16 NHL teams play for Lord Stanley's Cup. At the end one team is left holding the cup while the other 15 teams can only think of what might have been. 

This is about one of the 15 teams who wasn't so lucky. 

How They Finished: 

51-22-9   111 points   1st in Northwest Division  1st in Western Conference.

What Went Wrong: 

The Vancouver Canucks ended up getting the worst match up they could have had in the 1st round, playing a Los Angeles Kings team coached by Darryl Sutter.

I didn't give Sutter much credit going into this series mainly because of how his tenure ended in Calgary. What I forgot was during his time in Calgary, Sutter faced the Canucks on numerous occasions.

Sutter knew Vancouver's strengths and weaknesses and he knew how to coach against them. He finally had a talented roster that could do to the Canucks what he couldn't accomplish with the Flames.

The other problem for Vancouver is they couldn't score against Jonathan Quick who allowed eight goals while facing 172 shots. 

I know three of those games came without Daniel Sedin but this is a deep and talented Canucks roster. Somebody should have been able to step up and fill that void with Sedin out of the lineup. 

The other thing that did in Vancouver was special teams. The Canucks gave up two power play goals against the Kings in game one. In game two they not only gave up a power play goal but two shorthanded ones as well. 

Because of that Vancouver found themselves down two games with the series going to Los Angeles. Once the Kings won game three 1-0 it proved to be too big of a hole for the Canucks to dig themselves out of. 

Where Do They Go From Here: 

When asking this question you have to start in net with Roberto Luongo.

Luongo started the first two games of the series only to be replaced by Cory Schneider in net in game three.

What needs to be mentioned is Luongo actually played well in the first two games, it was the defense in front of him that failed Vancouver.

That leaves the Canucks with an interesting dilemma going into the off-season.

Luongo is set to make $5.3 million over the next ten years and he has a no trade clause. Schneider meanwhile is set to become a restricted free agent. 

Vancouver has just over $9 million in projected cap space for next season. If they stay with Luongo some team is going to make an offer to Schneider that the Canucks can't afford to match.

If Vancouver decides to go with Schneider they then have to first convince Luongo to accept a trade and then find a team that is willing to take on his contract.

My guess is Luongo stays and Schneider is playing elsewhere next year.

The good news for Vancouver is their core players are locked up through next season. The only free agents on the roster are role players that they should be able to bring back for a decent salary if they choose to.

I know a lot of Canuck fans are going to want massive changes on the roster and maybe even a change at head coach. I don't see that happening.

They are still the best team in the Northwest Division by a wide margin. That alone will get them a top three seed in the Western Conference.

I think this brief playoff appearance was an aberration. I still like them to win the Northwest next season and I expect them to come back and have a strong playoff run.

And if they are playing for the Stanley Cup next year, it wouldn't surprise me.