from Travis Yost of TSN,

Eighteen months ago, Patrik Allvin was hired by the Vancouver Canucks to spearhead an organizational turnaround as the team’s 12th general manager. His chief objective: rounding out a very top-heavy franchise, one that has managed just a single playoff berth over the last eight seasons.

The Canucks have been under salary cap siege for years, but they aren’t completely swimming upstream. The franchise was blessed with two cornerstone talents in forward Elias Pettersson and defenceman Quinn Hughes, two must-see skaters capable of single-handedly winning games.

The rest of the lineup remains a major project.

In many respects, where Vancouver is right now reminds me of where the Edmonton Oilers were just a few seasons ago, with a sharp talent skew to the uppermost parts of the roster. If you have watched a Vancouver game in recent years, you know there are effectively three unique teams:

- The Canucks with both Pettersson and Hughes on the ice.
- The Canucks with at least one of Pettersson or Hughes on the ice.
- The Canucks with neither of Pettersson nor Hughes on the ice.

These three teams are as distinct as you will find. Consider the performance of each of these groups over the past couple of seasons – we will focus on even-strength play for apples-to-apples comparisons.

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