Heading into the 2015-16 campaign, various pundits have rightly identified the number of teams poised for a breakthrough this NHL season.

On this point they agree. Where they disagree is which team or teams will make the great leap forward.

Edmonton has been stockpiling draft picks since the last Chretien administration and has added generational talent Connor McDavid.

It’s a similar story in Buffalo with their own wunderkind, Jack Eichel. Florida has a great young nucleus.

Last year Calgary made the playoffs with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau playing feature roles and they’ll get a full season out of Sam Bennett this year.

It’s a similar story with the Islanders, Ottawa and Winnipeg. All are good. All are young. All seem on the precipice of great things.

So who will make it? It’s hard to say but, with one team, there is complete agreement.

You’d have an easier time finding Tommy Douglas at a Trump campaign rally than finding anyone who thinks the Vancouver Canucks will make the playoffs this season.

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The Canucks, as you may be aware, were one of the surprise teams of the NHL’s regular season in 2014-15. Following a Dumpster-fire of a year under John Tortorella, they were picked to finish somewhere between the Charlestown Chiefs and the Syracuse Bulldogs. Instead, they finished second in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference with 101 points, one point back of the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

As for the playoffs, things didn’t work out quite as well, but they still had the look of a team that established a solid foundation last season. That’s, of course, unless you believe their success was more a byproduct of down seasons in Los Angeles, San Jose, Dallas and Colorado and not the Canucks’ own excellence — and many do.

The Canadian Press even has the Canucks finishing behind the Phoenix Coyotes in the Pacific this season and you know you’re in trouble when the ’Yotes are picked ahead of you in anything but a relocation pool.

Now, because October is all about positivity and optimism, we will attempt to construct a scenario where the Canucks not only avoid disaster, they make the playoffs.

True, this starts with a conclusion and works its way back to a premise but, as mentioned, this is the time of the season for blue skies and fields of flowers.

The Canucks, like most teams, need a number of things to break their way in order to achieve success. Maybe they need more of those breaks than most, but here’s how the Canucks will make a return trip to the playoffs this season.

If you believe.

JACOB MARKSTROM MAKES THEM FORGET EDDIE LACK

OK, technically it’s impossible to forget the effervescent Lack. But last season, the eccentric partnership of Lack and Ryan Miller held up over 82 games, and if the Canucks’ goaltending wasn’t stellar, it was good enough behind an offence that scored the third-most goals in the West. At the minimum, they need that much out of Markstrom and Miller this season. Quite likely, they’ll need more.

BO HORVAT ESTABLISHES HIMSELF AS A LEGITIMATE SECOND-LINE CENTRE