Vancouver Canucks Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Expectations were sky-high for the Vancouver Canucks coming into the 2020-21 season, with the team was fresh off a gruelling, seven-game semi-final series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
However, that unexpected bubble performance accelerated the team’s overall expectations, which came crumbling down shortly after.
The team lost veteran players like Tyler Toffoli, Chris Tanev and Jacob Markstrom in free agency, and it has definitely shown this year. Fortunately, the goaltending has stepped up during the season, but the Canucks could have desperately used Tanev’s defensive presence on the back-end this year, along with Toffoli’s 28 goals in their top six forward group.