Enjoy this preview of the Canucks' potential future while you can

BUFFALO - Nobody was supposed to be talking about the Vancouver Canucks this season. Thanks to "The Alien," "The Flow," "Bo," and sidekicks "Goldy" and "Shotgun Jake," the opposite's the case.

But introducing that cast of characters to NHL fans required saying goodbye to the franchise's stars. While April's simultaneous farewells to Henrik and Daniel Sedin put a bow on the most successful two decades in club history, the twins' exit also signaled the end of an agonizing transition from Generation X to Generation Z.

"They were great players for the organization for a long time but, with their retirement, it's given some other players an opportunity to step up and fill that void," Canucks general manager Jim Benning told theScore on the weekend.

Heading into Monday night's game with the Rangers in New York, the 10-6-2 Canucks have scored more goals than 27 teams and sit alone atop the Pacific Division. It's a strange sight considering that the roster's wildly incomplete and the team's underlying numbers aren't pretty.

But one undeniable truth has emerged in Vancouver: In the Sedins' absence, the kids are running the show - and they're damn good.

"We knew it was going to be a challenge here, with Hank and Danny being gone," said Bo Horvat, the blossoming two-way center and potential future captain. "To lose them was definitely tough, but we have guys that are stepping up and taking their spot."

To properly understand the monumental task Benning and head coach Travis Green are undertaking in the post-Sedin era, recall Vancouver's pitiful recent performance.

From 2015-16 through 2017-18, the Canucks were legitimately the worst team in the league, ranking last or near the bottom in several key statistical categories:

So, how are these Canucks doing it, and what might their early-season success say about Vancouver's long-term prospects?

The 1-2-3 punch

OK, about those first few nicknames: Transcendent rookie center Elias Pettersson is "The Alien," or "Petey"; "The Flow" is sophomore sharpshooter Brock Boeser; and "Bo" is Horvat, the trusty leader.

In the wake of Pettersson's blistering start - including 10 goals and seven assists in 12 games, and a spot in the imaginary GIF Hall of Fame - he's already being mentioned in the same breath as Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Peter Forsberg, Patrice Bergeron, and (wait for it) Wayne Gretzky. That's some out-of-this-world company.

"He's going to turn out to be his own player. I'm not going to compare him to anybody," Benning said. "But I can tell you this about him: He has that awareness out there where he seems to know where all the players are on the other team and where all of his teammates are when he has the puck on his stick."

Pettersson's been the talk of the NHL since notching a goal and an assist on opening night. He's already running Vancouver's first power-play unit. And he just turned 20 on Monday.

Lanky at 6-foot-2 and 176 pounds, there's a fluidity to his game; he slithers around the ice, dodging defenders and goalies with deceptive body language and puck protection. Off the rush, at a standstill, moving laterally - whatever the circumstance, he's a threat to unleash his exceptional shot, find an open teammate with a clever pass, or deke through the defensive structure.

"It seems like every game he comes up with something that's unexpected. That's why he's so fun to watch," Benning said. "You can never know, on any given night, what trick he's going to pull out of his bag."

Check out the video above to watch his latest circus act on loop. That behind-the-back, off-the-skate dangle in overtime provoked audible gasps inside KeyBank Center in the dying moments of Saturday's matinee against the Sabres.

"Oh, it was just nasty," linemate Jake Virtanen remarked. "... We see it all the time from him in practice. It's still pretty insane to see it because it's in the game. I don't think I or anyone else would try it."

Though Pettersson suffered a concussion on a hit from Michael Matheson in the Canucks' fifth game, the injury hasn't cramped his style. The 2017 fifth overall pick continues to finesse his way into prime scoring areas while showcasing surprising defensive chops.

"He's as good defensively as he is offensively. And he competes," defenseman Erik Gudbranson said of Pettersson, who's drawn seven penalties. "I'm extremely impressed with that. The way he supports his D-men in his own end is really good and he fights to get into position."

Horvat added: "The stuff he does away from the puck is what has impressed me the most. ... His shot and his point-getting, and his playmaking ability aside, he is creating offense by being in the right position and having a good stick."

With Pettersson and Boeser years away from unrestricted free agency and Horvat under contract through 2023, the Canucks have three foundational forward pieces - "engine players," as Benning puts it - under team control for the foreseeable future.

Boeser, nursing a groin injury at the moment, demonstrated in his injury-plagued rookie season that he's capable of consistently contending for the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. As long as he can stay on the ice, there's no reason The Flow can't hang with Patrik Laine and Auston Matthews, Gen Z's premier snipers, for the next decade-plus.

And at center, Pettersson's flamboyant style draws attention away from blue-collar Horvat, the squad's leading scorer two years ago and a nine-goal, 16-point man already. The thick pivot is beloved within the organization because he's responsible in all three zones.

"I think when Bo's playing his best, he's strong on his faceoffs, he's good in his own zone, and he's a horse to play against, and it results in scoring chances as well," Green said.

Since the defensively minded Jay Beagle and Brandon Sutter have managed to appear in a combined 18 games, Horvat's been deployed as the Canucks' shutdown center. The 23-year-old's offensive-zone faceoff rate (43.4 percent) hasn't dipped this low since 2015-16.

“Young players that are wired like Bo feel like they've got to do it all to help the team win, and we've talked to him about that a lot," Green said. "... The emergence of Petey, and Beagle and Sutter going down, it's kinda forced him into that role a little bit. But that's how we envision him playing long term."

Look at the past 10 Stanley Cup-winning groups and you'll find that every single lineup boasted at least three drivers up front. Think Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel/Staal in Pittsburgh for three Cups; Toews, Kane, and Hossa in Chicago for three; Kopitar, Carter, and Brown/Richards in Los Angeles for two; Bergeron, Krejci, and Marchand in Boston in 2011; Backstrom, Kuznetsov, and Ovechkin in Washington last season.

You don't win a championship with just three impact players - the core is bigger than that, and there are 23 names on the roster - but Vancouver may have something special brewing. Pettersson, Boeser, and Horvat each fill critical roles, and time is on their side.

The (incomplete) supporting cast

If the Canucks hope to ride this current wave a little while longer, they must evolve, because the league's fourth-youngest roster is beating the odds. Despite ranking in the bottom five in virtually all shot-related statistics - including Corsi, scoring chances, and high-danger attempts - and owning a negative goal differential, Vancouver's got a .611 points percentage.

Pettersson, Boeser, and Horvat need support, this season and in the future, from all over the depth chart.

“We’re a team that needs to have everyone playing well. We’re not going to just have 13-14 play well (and find success)," Green said following the Sabres game. "When we have our whole team playing well and buying in, we find ways to win."

The Canucks are dangerously thin on defense and in goal due to injuries and, frankly, a lack of talent. Beyond Chris Tanev and Ben Hutton, the back end's something of a patchwork. In another two or three years, Quinn Hughes and Olli Juolevi should be on the blue line with Thatcher Demko between the pipes, and the trio should be making an impact. But during the first season of the post-Sedin era, that area of the roster remains an unlikely source of help or inspiration.

That offers Vancouver's lesser-known forwards a chance to shine. Twenty-three-year-old Nikolay "Goldy" Goldobin and 22-year-old "Shotgun" Virtanen are taking advantage, and not a moment too soon for their NHL careers. Both players are 2014 first-round picks, and they're running out of time to impress Canucks management and coaches with Goldobin on an expiring contract and Virtanen a season behind.

Goldobin, acquired from the Sharks at the 2017 trade deadline, has found a home in the lineup early this season. He's recorded eight assists, already a career high, and seems to be developing some chemistry with Pettersson in an extended audition on the rookie's wing: Four of those helpers came on Pettersson's goals, and they've linked up somehow on seven of Goldobin's nine points, including the Russian's lone marker.

“That’s one of the reasons why we traded for him," Benning said of Goldobin's match with a skilled center. "... We liked his ability when he has the puck, to make plays and bring offense to our group. There are some things as a player that he needed to work on, and he’s working on those things and he’s gotten better."

In Virtanen's case, the Canucks gave him something specific to work on over the summer, telling the 6-foot-1, 208-pounder to find a way to hit the net more often.

So far, so good: 80 percent of his shot attempts have counted as shots on goal (up from 66 percent in 2017-18), and he's scored seven times after putting up a career-high 10 goals in 75 games last season.

With the Sedins' even-strength and power-play time up for grabs, Virtanen has a golden opportunity to make himself indispensable to a forward group desperate for some versatility.

"Jake can shoot the puck. He has a good release on his shot," Benning said. "He's a unique player because, for a guy his size, he's fast. He can get in on the forecheck and disrupt the play. He can get to the net."

Speaking of that shot: In August, a Vancouver radio host joked about shotgunning (chugging a beer from a hole punctured in the side of a can) every time Virtanen scored this season. For a dedicated but win-starved Canucks fan base, that joke turned into a legitimate movement.

Beginning with Virtanen's goal in the season opener, dozens of people have taken the #ShotgunJake challenge and documented it on social media.

"If people are having fun watching us play hockey, then that’s really what we're working towards," said Gudbranson, who's right in the middle of the old and new guard at age 27. "If he can keep going, beer sales are going up, I guess."

If Virtanen and Goldobin keep making headway, the Canucks could discover that they've already added a pair of wingers to their core. Along with the Big Three, plus Beagle and fellow veterans Loui Eriksson and Antoine Roussel, the Canucks could slowly but surely be developing a respectable four-line group.

For now, the Canucks are young, loose, and promising over the long term, while enjoying every minute of this unexpected and probably unsustainable short-term ride.

"At the core, we're a bunch of buddies playing on a hockey team. We try to keep it that way," said Gudbranson.

"We had our own expectations. We've set our goals that are achievable and we've prided ourselves on getting better every day and every single game."

Bottoms up.

John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.

(Statistics courtesy: NaturalStatTrick.com, Hockey-Reference.com, and NHL.com)