from Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province,

The Erik Karlsson trade reinforced the point with the subtlety of a sledge hammer but if you’re wondering about what the Canucks are facing in the Western Conference this season, consider the following.

Karlsson is now in San Jose, Ilya Kovalchuk is in L.A., and Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty have landed in Las Vegas. The two top teams in the West last season, Nashville and Winnipeg, didn’t do a lot. Then again, they didn’t have to.

Then there’s St. Louis. Last year the Blues missed the playoffs by one point. This season they’ve added Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Bozak and David Perron. They’ll also get Robbie Fabbri back from injury and have top prospects Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou pushing for work.

Colorado, you ask? They made the big leap forward last season with a good young team and they own Ottawa’s first-round pick next summer. With Karlsson out of the Sens’ lineup, that figures to be a top-five selection and might be Jack Hughes.

There were other developments, of course, but the larger point is inescapable. The Canucks have every right to be optimistic about their young players but, without the Sedins this season, they’ll be taking a butter knife into a gunfight.

If they get anywhere near last season’s 73 points, their campaign should be considered a success.

continued for a few more hockey topics...