On July 25, in an unanticipated and stunning move, Trevor Linden and the Canucks amicably separated. Linden held the position of President of Hockey Operations and Alternate Governor of the club which will temporarily be handled by General Manager Jim Benning until further notice. There are plenty of rumours swirling around about the fan dividing divorce on whether it involved a disconnect in vision and direction or whether there is an upcoming move that Linden wanted nothing to do with. Both present situations of havoc and fear for Canucks fans, who have otherwise had a quiet summer aside from outrage towards the Beagle signing. Where does Vancouver go from here? Is the vision and process truly going to remain as Benning and Head Coach Travis Green adamantly stated on Sportsnet radio today? There are potentially 3 forks in this road. Let’s examine.

As it sits right at this moment, there are a slew of players vying for spots in the lineup come September. Current depth charts currently look along the lines of:

Baertschi Horvat Boeser

Goldobin Pettersson Virtanen

Roussel Sutter Granlund

Gaunce Gagner Eriksson

Leipsic Beagle Archibald

Dahlen Schaller

Motte Gaudette

Boucher

Edler Tanev

Del Zotto Gudbranson

Hutton Stecher

Pouliot Biega

Juolevi

Markstrom

Nilsson

With this lineup, one can debate who is ahead of who, but it’s merely to display the vast amounts of competition heading into camp. Which is something that Benning says is what he is wanting to see. Fair enough.

Where things get interesting is from this base. Will they play it Conservative? Pushy? Or Aggressive?

Pro-Conservative: The Canucks in this scenario, truly keep to the patient message left by Linden. Grow from the draft, give time to the players developing. There’s a lot of good to be said for that. It would allow Hughes to stay in Michigan and develop, allow Pettersson a chance to develop along the wing before taking on the rigors of a NHL centerman through 82 games and gives Virtanen and Goldobin the opportunity to display what they offer.

Con-Conservative: The Vancouver Canucks have been a losing franchise for several years and the notoriously impatient fanbase and ownership may take exception. Patience is a hard message to hear in a hockey mad city such as Vancouver. To reiterate this message may crank the heat up on Benning and eventually Green.

What a conservative lineup could look like:

Baertschi Horvat Boeser

Pettersson Gagner Virtanen

Goldobin Sutter Granlund

Roussel Beagle/Schaller Eriksson

Edler Tanev

Del Zotto Gudbranson

Hutton/Pouliot Stecher

Biega

Markstrom

Nilsson

Pro-Push: The marketability of a prospect pushed team could be enticing. Aquilini could very well drive Benning to dress Hughes, Pettersson and other youth into the lineup to fill seats. Canucks are already utilizing Hughes in their Season Tickets marketing.

Con-Push: Rushing prospects can have a detrimental effect on some players. With discussions about the size and durability of players such as Hughes and Pettersson, one may wonder if they are truly ready physically. As exciting as it may be to see a youthful team showcasing their systemic wealth and bright future, it may lead to more losing and questions on putting young players in that culture can arise. See Edmonton pre-McDavid for examples.

A pushed lineup could look like:

Baertschi Horvat Boeser

Pettersson Gaudette Virtanen

Goldobin Sutter Granlund

Roussel Beagle/Schaller Eriksson

Edler Tanev

Del Zotto Gudbranson

Hughes Stecher

Juolevi/Hutton/Pouliot

Markstrom

Nilsson

Pro-Agressive: Winning. A chance to win. The chance to take a meteoric rise from one year to the next. Aquilini is quoted from Twitter to believe in the rises of Colorado, New Jersey and Vegas as examples of how a franchise can be abysmal one season and exhilarating playoff teams the next.

Con-Agressive: Rushing a rebuild can potentially set a franchise back years if done incorrectly. Although there are several examples recently of immediate changes, Vancouver does not appear at this time to possess players such as Taylor Hall/Nico Hischier and Nathan MacKinnon/Miko Rantanen. Canucks still have pieces to fill and develop.

With an agressive strategy, Vancouver would need to bring a quality piece in and clear cap space for players that they will need to re-sign such as Brock Boeser next summer. One such player that is available and that they could target is Columbus’ Artemi Panarin. Columbus is ready to compete now which may not cost much in terms of futures and Vancouver has immense depth as far as 3rd/4th line guys as well as midrange defensemen. We also have Sam Gagner who thrived in Columbus and who is taking up a valuable spot in our lineup. An aggressive lineup may look like (in this one example scenario):

Panarin Horvat Boeser

Baertschi Pettersson Virtanen

Goldobin Sutter/Gaudette Granlund

Roussel Beagle/Schaller Eriksson

Edler Gudbranson

Hughes Stecher

Del Zotto Juolevi

Hutton/Pouliot

Markstrom

Nilsson

Whichever way, the Vancouver Canucks have some work left to do this summer. How will they fill out their roster’s musical chairs come September?

-Sean Warren