Are the Canucks the biggest bust of 2023-2024?

By: Asa Montreaux

What was it that made the first place Vancouver Canucks weakly bow out in the second round in the 2023-2024 season?

Ignoring a multitude of existing opinions, there are really only two facts.

One is that star goalie Thatcher Demko was injured in the first round of the playoffs. After that, the Canucks chances of making it the Stanley Cup finals were significantly lessened.

Though there were no other losses to the lineup, and many teams in recent NHL history have made it to the finals with a back-up goalie. Sometimes the best teams have a back-up that is as good as a starter. The Canucks had depended on the play of their one worthy goalie. Throughout the course of the season, throughout the course of playoffs, many teams plug holes when players are injured, and depth is a revered trait of champion teams. Had the Canucks team had depth?

This is a sign that it had not. With just one goalie, this wasn't a team to make it through long stretches with their starter injured. They had lacked depth in a very key area. The reality is they had lacked depth in other areas, and it is the fact there were no other significant injuries on the team, that make the Canucks not a legitimate contender, but the recipient of a lot of luck in a long season leading up to the playoffs.

Chosen by many(fans, journalists, commentators) to win the cup, the Canucks were really destined to bow out in the first or second round. And they had! Rather than being a team that had depth at every position, and the type of cohesion that makes winning it all palpable... they had been a top-heavy team. And there is in the end no evidence of master work by a g.m. or coach. The Canucks were not a well-shaped team.

So what happens now? Can the Canucks repeat another first place season? It is statically impossible that last season luck will continue, and it is not likely the Canucks will have a season anything like last year. In fact, with Demko injured through the pre-season, and the start of the regular season, the momentum is sure to end. And then morale will be low, and the season will not go well.

Short Story Selections predicts the Canucks barely capture a play-off spot next season. Though they hope the Canucks can prove them wrong just a little bit.