from Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province,

Let’s see if we understand this correctly.

Coming off a season in which they finished 22 points out of the final playoff spot in the West, the Vancouver Canucks return in 2018-19 without the second-, third- and fifth-leading scorers from last year’s juggernaut and the same eight blueliners and two goalies who were responsible for allowing the most goals in the conference.

Have we got that right?

Based on this data, the deep thinkers who prophesy about the NHL have determined the Canucks will again finish at or near the bottom of the league standings this season. Actually, they’d be picked to finish 32nd but Seattle is still a couple of years away from icing a team. That means the Canucks will have an exciting new challenge in 2020.

So add everything up and it appears the Canucks will be facing any number of trials and obstacles in the forthcoming campaign, but at least they won’t be weighed down with the burden of expectations.

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