Overall Team’s Needs: While these needs are probably needed by every team, in the series against the Blackhawks, they became extremely apparent top priorities for the Canucks: speed on the defence, and a couple of scorers with creativity. Against a team that has average speed, the Canucks defence can play a phenomenal brand of shut-down hockey because everyone is so sound in his positioning. They were exposed against the quicker, puck-moving Chicago forwards, when defencemen could no longer stand around and use their sticks to deflect passes and block shots. In addition, the Canucks’ offence has become very predictable when spearheaded by the Twins. The cycle game works great when the other team is just trying to play the Canucks’ brand of defence, but if you have noticed how many passes were deflected or blocked when the team played Chicago, you’d know that they need some other options. 
Mats Sundin: I won’t say Sundin is a bust necessarily, as I believe he brought a swagger to the team that kept the other teams honest when checking the Sedins’ line. Having said that, Sundin also plays a brand of hockey that is similar to that of the Sedins’ line. When dueling it out with a team for a 7-game series, teams can learn how to shut down the same game. In that sense, I don’t think Sundin is the right fit for the Canucks’ future, especially if GM Mike Gillis is intending to bring the twins back.
Mattias Ohlund: I feel saddened that the game’s speed is starting to surpass “Olie’s” game. Ohlund is a great positional player, and his plus/minus rating in the playoffs suggests that he is still playing the game at a fairly high level. It does not appear that he will be back next year; however, my feeling is: if the Canucks can still put a good mix of defencemen together with speed and skills, he should be brought back.
Henrik and Daniel Sedin: They are solid, front-line offensive players who can perform magic on 
ice. The problem, however, is that they only seem to come together as a package, which would be extremely costly for the Canucks. And though some of the past playoff demons were excised this year, the twins still were unable to serve as the game-breakers when the game is on the line. If the Canucks can get good value for them, I would not feel offended to see them traded.
Roberto Luongo: How soon we forget? After the St. Louis series, Luongo joked about being treated like a demi-god in the city. Six games later, some people are trying to run him out of town. Did Luongo play well against Chicago? No. Is he worth 7+ millions per year when it appears that no single goaltender, not Brodeur, and not Luongo, can single-handedly win a team a game, much less a series anymore? It’s questionable. I think Luongo is still an invaluable asset to the team; the melt-down in the Chicago series has more to do with the lack of speed on the Canucks’ D than Luongo’s ability to “steal” a game. Unless the salary cap’s maximum amount is substantially reduced to a point where it is not viable to keep Luongo, I think it is still a no-brainer that the Canucks should keep him.
Coaching: When the Canucks missed the playoffs in 2008, people question whether coach Alain Vigneault is too “defence first” of a coach. Game 4 against Chicago did not help shake that never-fading feeling in my heart. While “Coach V” has nothing to do with the slow-footed personnel he is given, he still has a tendency to get too conservative when the Canucks have a lead. GM Gillis probably will try to provide the coach with more speed through free agency and drafts – it’s up to Vigneault to prove that he can coach an offensive-minded game.
Needless to say, it will be an interesting spring/summer in Canucksville.
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