Vancouver Canucks' Offseason Moves Have Left Team Worse Off

The Vancouver Canucks surprised everyone and shot up the standings last season to win the Pacific Division. Not only that, they made it to the second round where the team lost in seven games to the Stanley Cup finalist Edmonton Oilers.

The Canucks loaded up at the deadline and after not making it to the conference finals, it cost them assets and roster pieces after the season was over. Vancouver isn't coming back next season with Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty, Ian Cole, or Casey DeSmith. Instead, those spots on the team have been replaced by additions in Daniel Sprong, Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Kiefer Sherwood, Derek Forbort, and Vincent Desharnais.

At the very best, the Canucks stayed level, but it is tough to replace a two-way player like Lindholm and a big defensive juggernaut like Zadorov, especially with how both performed in the playoffs. DeBrusk is very streaky and Sprong has been nothing above a third line player in his career, now likely expected to play higher in the lineup.

Forbort and Desharnais aren't upgrades to the losses of Zadorov and Cole, but the team did save some money by doing so. Both were healthy scratches at times last season, so that may come into play later in the season when games matter more.

The Canucks are really going to be hoping for three former Boston Bruins to come in and make an impact in such a different system. Vancouver is also going to be counting on some of their younger talent like Nils Hoglander, Vasily Podkolzin, and Artur Silovs to step up.

With good health, the Canucks are a playoff team, but the organization is hoping for more moving forward as most of the main pieces are locked in.