For the last 20 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber and the team have reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 21st annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead and the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what we take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Collin Delia, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Justin Dowling, Ethan Bear, Kyle Burroughs, Travis Dermott

Incoming – Teddy Blueger, Pius Suter, Carson Soucy, Ian Cole, Matt Irwin

Impact of Changes – The Canucks revamped most of their bottom four on defense by buying out Ekman-Larsson and choosing not to re-sign Bear, Burroughs or Dermott. They brought in free agents Soucy, Cole and Irwin to replace them.

Vancouver also bolstered their third and fourth lines with the additions of Suter and Blueger. Suter is expected to be their third-line center while Blueger can play center or on the wing. Blueger is good in the face-off circle, being between 52 and 53 percent the past few seasons, while Suter struggled a little last year at 46.8 percent.

The Canucks were dead last in the NHL in killing penalties at 71.6 percent in 2022-23. Look for Blueger to be a primary penalty killer taking important draws with newcomers Suter, Soucy and Cole on the kill as well. It looks like the Canuck management targeted improving the penalty kill in free agency and went out and did it.

Vancouver will miss the physicality of Burroughs (165 hits in 48 games) but all of Soucy, Cole and Irwin should exceed 100 hits if they play 65 games or more.

By bringing in Blueger and Suter it signals that management doesn't think that Nils Aman, Jack Studnicka, or Sheldon Dries are the short-term solution.

Aman, Studnicka and Dries should compete for two forward spots with Nils Hoglander, Vasily Podkolzin, Phillip Di Giuseppe and Tanner Pearson if healthy. Aatu Raty and Aidan McDonough will more than likely need more time in the AHL.

Ready for Full Time – No one

As was just mentioned, there doesn't appear to be a player who is assured a full-time role in the NHL for the first time.

Di Giuseppe showed well in 30 games, while Wolanin had a great year in the AHL and was rewarded with 16 NHL games where he looked like he belonged. The issue with both is that Di Giuseppe is 29 and Wolanin is 28 years old.  Rathbone and Hirose play a similar style to Wolanin, and it might come down to the three of them for one roster spot.

Players like Räty, Rathbone, Hirose, Danila Klimovich, and Linus Karlsson may get some NHL games but do not rely on any Canucks prospect to be a full-time, fantasy-relevant option in 2023-24.

Fantasy Outlook – The Canucks were 18-25-3 when they fired Bruce Boudreau on January 21st and hired Rick Tocchet to replace him. From then on, the team went 20-12-4. The biggest difference from a team standpoint was the goals against went from 3.96 to 3.17 and the penalty kill from 65.9 percent to 78.4.

Under Boudreau, Thatcher Demko went 3-10-2 with a save percentage of 88.3 before being injured. When Demko returned under Tocchet he went 11-4-2 with a 91.8 save percentage. The Canucks have no hope of the playoffs without Demko healthy and in form.

Overall, the Canucks were 13th in the NHL in goals with 3.29 per game and they haven't added enough to their lineup to improve upon that.

Players who increased their production under Tocchet were Elias Pettersson (1.23 to 1.33 points per game), J.T. Miller (0.89 to 1.17), Andrei Kuzmenko (0.91 to 0.92), Brock Boeser (0.71 to 0.78), Conor Garland (0.49 to 0.67), Nils Aman (0.14 to 0.33) and Dakota Joshua (0.21 to 0.39).

Skaters who saw their production decrease were Quinn Hughes (1.00 to 0.94), Tyler Myers (0.23 to 0.20), Sheldon Dries (0.33 to 0.22) and Jack Studnicka (0.21 to 0.10).

Elias Pettersson is in the last year of his contract and will be a restricted free agent alongside Filip Hronek. Impending UFAs are Anthony Beauvillier, Teddy Blueger, Dakota Joshua, Sheldon Dries, Tyler Myers, Ian Cole and Matt Irwin.

It is tempting to look at the numbers of Kuzmenko and think that there is no way he can duplicate his shooting percentage of 26.8 and reach 39 goals again. Under Boudreau, Kuzmenko had 10 ES goals in 45 games and under Tocchet 15 in 36 games. With the number of times Tocchet benched Kuzmenko or took him off of the power play, it is amazing that he had slightly better production in the second half.

Ilya Mikheyev should be returning from his ACL injury which cost him the last 36 games, but it might take him a good part of the first half to hit his stride and be 100%.

Tanner Pearson could also be returning to the roster after only playing 14 games in 2022-23 because of a recurring hand injury.

I'm not sure that there are any Canucks who haven't reached their ceilings in the past two years outside of Nils Höglander and Vasily Podkolzin, and they aren't even guaranteed to be regulars.

For this team to make the playoffs, they will need Pettersson, Miller, Hughes and Demko to be their best players and Hronek to be healthy for most of the season.

Fantasy Grade: B (last year was a B+)

Read the rest of our offseason fantasy grades here.