5 keys for the Canucks to make the playoffs in the weak Pacific Division

The Pacific Division is weak. The Seattle Kraken had a good summer, but they are unlikely to make the playoffs. Los Angeles Kings have a promising prospect pipeline. Anaheim Ducks spent big this summer on John Klingberg. Vegas has question marks in goal. San Jose Sharks are in no man's land. Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers are the only two teams that can challenge for the third place. Vancouver Canucks need to focus on the following five keys to get to the postseason. They need the team to improve on last season's performance. It is also important to keep the players in the right condition. This is the key to making the playoff.

Spencer Martin is the Canucks backup goalie. He is 26 years old and has just signed his first NHL one-way contract. His goals-against-average and save percentage from last year were high career benchmarks. Martin needs to be as close to his 2021–22 form as possible to keep his job. The closer Martin's form is to last season's, the better Canucks' chances of making the playoffs.

Brock Boeser's shooting percentage should improve. Last year, he had the 55th lowest on-ice shooting Percentage at 5v5 among forwards who played over 500 minutes at that level. Jason Dickinson and Nils Höglander had worse percentages.

Elias Pettersson's first half of the season was difficult. He recovered from a wrist injury and a coaching change to finish second in team scoring. Pettersen also had the highest shorthanded on-ice save percentage among forwards with more than 25 minutes of cumulative PK time. If Pettsen and JT Miller repeat their production rate, they could push for 90 points or more.

The Vancouver Canucks penalty kill needs to be above-average or better to make the playoffs. Trent Cull takes over the defence and penalty killing for the outgoing Brad Shaw. Cull is a good tactics coach who gets a lot out of his players. The team has plenty of skilled youth in their lineup eager to contribute to its shorthanded play. If Cull uses more youth, the Canucks could see a much-improved shorthanding team in the short and long term.

The Vancouver Canucks' defence needs to start scoring more goals. Last year, the Canucks had the fifth-lowest goals scored by defencemen. Alex Edler was the last defenceman to score double-digit goals-scored. Jack Rathbone, Tucker Poolman, Kyle Burroughs, Travis Dermott and Danny DeKeyser are capable of doing that. The team needs more than one defence to produce at a high level. It's unlikely that the team will turn into the Avalanches overnight.