© Geoff Burke Captain Bo Horvat of the visiting Vancouver Canucks celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal in the seventh round of a shootout on Saturday against Washington Capitals' goaltender Braden Holtby.

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Granted, the opinion wasn’t unanimous but at the outset of this season the consensus view of the Vancouver Canucks went something like this:

Yes, the team will be improved and, yes, they should be playing meaningful games in March. But to qualify for the NHL playoffs, they’d have to improve by 12 to 14 points over last season while crawling over four teams that finished ahead of them.

For a team that was emerging from four lost years, the playoffs seemed like a bridge too far. Still, as long as the Canucks — everybody now — took another step forward in 2019-20, the faithful could live with another playoff-free spring.

The next question is will they have to?

Travis Green’s team is now 24 games into the fight and while a million different things can happen between now and Game 82, those 24 games represent an adequate sample size to draw some conclusions.

First and foremost, they’re better than anyone could have reasonably expected. The record — 12-8-4 good for third in the Pacific — is one thing. The larger issue is the in-team improvements that suggest the ledger is an accurate reflection of this ensemble.

© Gerry Kahrmann Vancouver Canucks #40 Elias Petterson wears the Skate jerseys as they skate prior tp playing the Colorado Avalanche in a regular season NHL hockey game at Rogers Arena, Vancouver, November 16 2019.

Heading into this season, for example, the belief was Elias Pettersson could improve on his rookie campaign. How much he’d improve was a matter of some conjecture but after 24 games, Pettersson is on pace for 34 goals and 99 points.

He’s also coming off a standout performance on Saturday when he might have been the best player on the ice against the Capitals in a big boys’ game. In no particular order he scored a power-play goal, registered five shots on net, hounded the puck all game and drove the Canucks’ offence.

A 70-point centre in today’s NHL is a very good player. A 100-point centre is a top-10 player in the league and if Pettersson is that guy, it changes a lot of things for the Canucks.

The in-house improvement also goes deeper than Pettersson. Brock Boeser is on pace for 34 goals and 79 points. J.T. Miller represented a huge variable in the Canucks’ equation this season. He’s on pace for 30 goals and 79 points.

© Rich Lam Vancouver Canucks blueliner Quinn Hughes does the post goal-scoring skate past his team’s bench during the Canucks’ game against the St. Louis Blues at Rogers Arena on Nov. 5, 2019.

Everyone was excited about Quinn Hughes at the start of the year but did anyone see a 64-point defenceman who’s quarterbacking the league’s fourth-ranked power play?

Now, it’s fair to ask if that rate of production is sustainable. But there’s more to this team than the front-end talent and that’s shown up a couple of times this season, most notably in Washington on Saturday.

As is their wont, the Canucks surrendered the game’s first goal just over two minutes in. Workhorse defenceman Alex Edler was then lost for the game midway through the first period with an undisclosed injury.

Unfazed, the visitors leaned on a four-man blue-line rotation of Hughes (25:13 of ice time), Chris Tanev (25:41), Tyler Myers (25:21) and Jordie Benn (22:37). Bo Horvat also contributed a bone-wearying 26 minutes, then scored the game winner in Round 7 of the shootout. And Miller chipped in with 24 heavy minutes.

Easy it wasn’t but if the Canucks were curious about what lies ahead, they now have a clearer idea, which brings us back to the playoff question.

© Geoff Burke Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie (77) battles for the puck with Vancouver Canucks defenceman Alexander Edler (23) and Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers (57) in the first period at Capital One Arena.

Again, it’s early days but there are a couple of points to ponder as we dream about April. Overall, the Canucks can’t complain too loudly about their health. Before Edler went down Saturday, their nine leading scorers had missed, collectively, one game. That was Hughes three weeks ago.

But the Canucks were also missing five regulars from their lineup Saturday, including four who started opening night: Brandon Sutter, Michael Ferland, Jay Beagle and Tyler Motte.

The irrepressible Antoine Roussel is the fifth and some of those players should start returning to the lineup. Collectively, they’re not going to light up the scoreboard but they represent size and experience to a team that can use both.

Edler, of course, is a different animal. They can cover his minutes short term but long term, you can’t lose your best defenceman without leaving a scar.

In the meantime, the Canucks boast the league’s eighth-ranked penalty kill and fourth-ranked power play. Their goaltending, by and large, has been playoff-quality and they’re on pace to score 266 goals as a team which would be their highest total since 2009-10.

But here’s the most important consideration for the Canucks as their playoff chances are contemplated. While the number fluctuates from year to year, it usually takes 94 to 95 points to qualify in the West.

After 24 games the Canucks are on pace for 96 points. They’ve also played 14 of those 24 on the road.

To reach 94 points they’ll require 66 points over their final 58 games and, suddenly, that ask doesn’t seem as onerous.

To borrow from Denny Green, it could be the Canucks are who we thought they were back in October. It’s also possible, just possible, they’re something different.

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LISTEN: This week’s White Towel Podcast sees Ed Willes join Paul Chapman to talk about the recent Canucks struggles, the potential for a goalie controversy, the job security and possible moves for General Manager Jim Benning, and the furor caused by the Canucks wearing their black “Skate” jerseys and whether that’s really noteworthy or just social media fluff.

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