I personally would think that at this point you'd have to think that they are currently worse off, on PAPER, than last year but, If I'm remembering correctly Vancouver suffered through a lot of injuries on the backend and as far as losing Naslund goes I'm not so sure he was adding much to the team last season anyway. I do like the Demitra signing and the trade for Pettinger - though they were not big moves they should help and coupled with a healthy Defense it should be an improvement over last season. Whether they're a playoff team or not will depend heavily on the Sedin twins as well as Demitra and Kesler at this point. I do believe another top six will go a long way to improving this club and with the D they have they should be able to make a trade. Perhaps the stories of their new GM having issues getting along with other GMs has some truth to it? Hopefully vancanuck1 can shed some light on the situation and give us his take as well?
GM Hockey