After once again ranking near the bottom in scoring last season, the Vancouver Canucks went to work in addressing their offence. General manager Jim Benning brought in sniper Thomas Vanek, the speedy and versatile Sam Gagner, and puck-moving defenceman Michael Del Zotto.
These names — along with a new head coach Travis Green and expected contributions from Brock Boeser and Jake Virtanen –were to help the Canucks simply score more goals. Throw in strong 2016-17 campaigns from Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Markus Granlund, and you see why expectations were a bit higher for the forwards this season.