Each day in the month of August we’ll be examining a different NHL team — from looking back at last season to discussing a player under pressure to focusing on a player coming off a breakthrough year to asking questions about the future. Today we look at the Vancouver Canucks.

1. Will Elias Pettersson make the team out of training camp?

The Canucks hit a home run when they selected Petterson fifth overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. In his first season in the Swedish Hockey League, the 19-year-old led his team in scoring by a wide margin, as he racked up 24 goals and 56 points in just 44 contests. No other player on the team scored more than 41 points.

Pettersson doesn’t have anything left to prove over in Europe, so he has a legitimate shot of making the team out of camp. The Canucks aren’t necessarily the deepest team up front either. Brock Boeser was able to make an immediate impact in his first year, and the organization will have to hope the Pettersson is able to do the same thing during his first year.

If they want to ease his transition to the NHL, they could opt to put him on the wing instead of at center (at least for the first year), but that shouldn’t prevent him from earning on a top-six role on this team. It’s too bad that the fellow Swede won’t be able to play with Canucks legends Daniel and Henrik Sedin, but he should get every opportunity to help replace their production.

[2017-18 Review | Under Pressure: Benning | Breakthrough: Boeser]

2. How soon before Thatcher Demko becomes the starting goaltender?

Heading into the regular season with Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson as your number one and number two goaltenders is less than ideal (unless you’re trying to lose). Markstrom was once considered to be one of the best prospects in the NHL when he was a member of the Florida Panthers, but he’s never reached those expectations. Even though he played in 60 games last season, he’s probably better suited as a backup netminder. As for Nilsson, he’s kind of in the same boat. There are moments when he looks like he can be a starter and then at other times, he looks mediocre. Consistency has been a problem for him. Both players are on one-way contracts, so there’s no reason to believe that they won’t start the year with the Canucks (Markstrom will earn $3.67 million, Nilsson will make $2.5 million).

From a talent perspective, Demko has the ability to become a starting goalie in the near future. How soon? That remains to be seen. But after spending two years in the AHL, you’d have to think that he’s close to being ready for the show. The 22-year-old improve his numbers from his first year to his second year in the minors. Last year, he posted a 2.44 goals-against-average and a .922 save percentage, which are pretty solid numbers by AHL standards.

Goalies always seem to take a little more time to develop than forwards do, but you’d have to think he’s close being ready for the next challenge. The Canucks aren’t going to be very good this year, so they might want to take it easy on a young goaltender. That doesn’t mean that he can’t get an extended look though. Once Nilsson’s contract expires at the end of the season, Demko could be in line for a full-time promotion.

3. How much will the team miss the Sedin twins?

For the first time since the 1999-00 season, the Canucks will be playing without Daniel and Henrik. Both players proved to be valuable contributors to the organization for the better part of two decades. They helped lead the Canucks to a Stanley Cup Final and they carried them to the playoffs a number of times.

Even though they “only” combined for 105 points last season, there’s no denying that the Swedish twins will be missed. They weren’t the most vocal leaders, but they always managed to lead by example. With such a young roster, that type of experience would’ve been valuable to have around.

“You’re losing two Hall-of-Fame players out of your lineup,” head coach Travis Green said, per Sportsnet. “You just don’t replace those elements to your game.