The Vancouver Canucks have missed the playoffs in three of the past four years, including a pair of 28th and 29th finishes in the league standings. Long gone are the days when they were a trendy pick by NHL fans and experts to win the Stanley Cup.
To the surprise of very few people, experts aren’t banking on the Canucks to turn things around in 2017-18. General manager Jim Benning tried to make this team more competitive by signing Sam Gagner, Thomas Vanek and Michael Del Zotto to fix a terrible offence, while veteran Anders Nilsson was brought in for stability in goal.