Looking ahead for the Vancouver Canucks: Invest in skill this summer

As each NHL team is eliminated from playoff contention -- either mathematically or by losing in the postseason -- we'll take a look at why its quest for the Stanley Cup fell short in 2018-19, along with three keys to its offseason, impact prospects for 2019-20 and a way-too-early prediction for what next season will hold.

What went wrong

The practical answer is that the 2018-19 Vancouver Canucks couldn't stay healthy in key spots in the lineup, with veteran defenseman Alexander Edler (51 games played) and Chris Tanev (55) and forwards Sven Baertschi (24) and Brandon Sutter (26) all missing significant time while others were dinged up here and there. The Canucks were the fifth-most injured team this season, via NHL Injury Viz.

But the big picture answer is that this was a post-Sedins transition season, with a team that had a dozen players 25-and-under who saw regular time and whose three best players were 23-and-under. Look no further than the Canucks' record when trailing after the first period: 3-22-5, putting them in the same neighborhood as lottery fodder New Jersey and Los Angeles.

There's a lot that could have gone better -- and the tease of playoff contention before regression was a bummer for Canucks fans -- but let's focus on what went right: Elias Pettersson, Calder Trophy favorite, has given this city its next franchise player less than a year after it said goodbye to the previous two.

Keys to the offseason

Invest in skill: GM Jim Benning was ridiculed last summer for handing out multiyear free-agent contracts to scrappy forwards Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle. (Thus far, the former signing looks much better than the latter.)

The real issue was that signing those kinds of depth players was putting the cart before the horse -- or, more to the point, the fourth line ahead of the second. The Canucks have three dynamic offensive players -- Pettersson, Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser -- and a second line that simply doesn't have enough speed, skill or pop for the NHL in 2019. To wit: There's a 22-point gap between Boeser, the third-leading scorer, and the next-highest scorer on the roster (Roussel). Plus, Boeser missed 13 games. Injuries played a role in that production inequality, but so did roster construction.

Figure out the right side of the blue line: The Canucks have a blessing of riches on the left side of their defense. Edler is an unrestricted free agent, but should return to play papa bear to rookie Quinn Hughes, whom some have compared to Scott Niedermayer. There's also Olli Juolevi, who is currently in the AHL but should arrive in Vancouver in a fortnight, and Ben Hutton.

But on the right side, the Canucks have the oft-injured Tavev, Troy Stecher, questions and Jett Woo a couple years away. There's already speculation that the Canucks are going to make a trade for a right-handed defenseman on the younger side. The questions are: Who and for what?

Is Jim Benning 'The Guy?' Benning has spent five seasons in Vancouver as general manager, and this is the fourth straight season outside the playoffs. He has had some good moments. He has had some bad moments. He gave Loui Eriksson a buyout-proof contract with four of six years with full trade protection. The Canucks clearly have a plan they're sticking to, and one assumes Benning is part of that plan.

But is there someone else who might execute it better? (For the record: Head coach Travis Green, in his second season, should be as safe as they come. He's a keeper.)

Impact prospects for 2019-20