The dust has settled on the NHL free-agent frenzy and for the Vancouver Canucks.
So what did they do? Well, they did (surprisingly) re-sign Brock Boeser, extend Thatcher Demko and Conor Garland and made some depth two-way signings. The only big new acquisition was Evander Kane, who was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers for a 2025 fourth-round pick a few days before the draft.
Anyone who was expecting the Canucks to do something big in the offseason is probably disappointed. So, what’s next? Can Vancouver bounce back and make the playoffs next season?
The Canucks decided to run it back
After a tumultuous 2024-25 campaign where a lot went wrong and the locker room was divided, the Canucks looked to turn the page and look ahead to the 2025-26 season. So what did they do? They essentially brought back the same team, with Kane being the only major addition.
So this is more or less the same team as last season. The Canucks did improve their defensive core with the in-season acquisition of Marcus Pettersson, and the emergence of Elias Pettersson the defenceman. Additionally, Tom Willander also has a chance to start the season with the Canucks next season.
There are a lot of questions surrounding the forward core, particularly a glaring hole at centre. Vancouver was seemingly looking for a second-line centre over the past few weeks. One name they were interested in was Marco Rossi of the Minnesota Wild, but a trade got rejected. As it stands, Filip Chytil is the Canucks second line centre.
“Centres are a priority for what you’re building your team around,” said Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin on the 100% Canucks podcast last week with Landon Ferraro and John Shannon. “Filip Chytil is still young, he missed some games, but I think he has the intangibles to play higher up in the lineup. He had a 60-point year, and that’s probably in line with some of the other second-line centres around the league. If you’re striving to get better and can find something that fits the criteria of a second-line centre, you might have the best three centres in the league if you have Chytil on your third line.”
By the sound of that, it is unlikely Vancouver will make a trade for a second-line centre this offseason and will see how Chytil does in that role. The trade market was tough and the free agent market wasn’t much better.
“Free agency, you never know what’s going to come out of it,” said Allvin. “A lot of the players in the UFA pool signed with their teams before July 1st. Some of them expressed that Canada wasn’t a preferred destination.”
Running it back is an eyebrow-raising move. Will it lead Vancouver back to the playoffs?
Playoffs??? It’s possible but everything has to go right
Before the 2023-24 season, Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford made a bold claim.
“I think, to be very to the point, with the changes that have been made, we have a playoff team if everything goes right,” said Rutherford per Daniel Wagner of Vancouver is Awesome. “Your goalie has to be good, your specialty teams have to be good, you can’t get into a lot of injuries.”
Well, pretty much everything went right for the Canucks that year as many players had career seasons. The Canucks also won the Pacific Division and were a win away from reaching the Western Conference final.
Nearly two years after Rutherford said those words, Vancouver is pretty much in the same spot. They can make the playoffs, if everything goes right.
For starters that means a healthy Demko and Lankinen replicating his success from last season. Demko’s injuries have been an issue for the past few seasons but when healthy, he is a world-class goaltender. Lankinen’s
Then there is Elias Pettersson the forward. Since the 2024 All-Star game, he hasn’t been the same: he looks slower, fell over easily and his shots weren’t as deadly as they once were. In the 2024 playoffs and last season, he was a ghost. 2024-25 saw him put up just 45 points, the lowest of his career.
“There are very few players in the league who’re capable of doing what Petey can do,” said Allvin on Pettersson. “If we get Petey back to the level of what he’s capable of doing, I think that he will drag the rest of the group with him there.”
Pettersson was the scapegoat for Canucks fans last season, especially after JT Miller was traded. If he doesn’t bounce back, it will get ugly. Allvin’s words on Pettersson are a nice boost of confidence and it is clear the management and coaching staff trust him to succeed. But it is up to him to make it happen.
Kane’s arrival was not well received by Canucks fans. Can he gain their trust? He did not play until the playoffs last season but has been a consistent 20-goal scorer in the past. However, he is 33 and Father Time is after him. Plus, Kane has been prone to taking silly penalties.
Brock Boeser may never score 40 goals as he did in 2023-24, but he can still put up a 20 to 30-goal season. 30 plus would be ideal. Jake DeBrusk led the way in goals for the Canucks with 28 last season. DeBrusk has been known for being notorious for being inconsistent and if the Canucks want to make the playoffs, he needs to find consistency.
Chytil has had a notorious history of injuries as well, particularly with concussions. It is a tough task to ask of the 25-year-old to be the Canucks second line centre next season. With the New York Rangers, he showed flashes of becoming a top-six centre but injuries and inconsistency prevented him from doing so. Chytil’s career high is 45 points, which he set in 2022-23. The Canucks would need him to hit that point total or higher. But having Chytil being the second-line centre is a big risk.
They could’ve re-signed Pius Suter, but they are out of cap space. Suter signed a two-year deal with the St. Louis Blues worth four million dollars a year.
In the bottom six, Vancouver needs bounce-back seasons from Nils Höglander and Dakota Joshua. Höglander had a disappointing 25-point season but showed signs of life in the second half. Joshua missed the start of last season due to testicular cancer. Kiefer Sherwood had a career-high 19 goals and 40 points. The best free agent signing from summer 2024, Sherwood replicating last season or doing even better would be huge for the Canucks. Aatu Raty needs to prove he can stick in the NHL as well.
For the backline, there is no doubt Quinn Hughes can have another outstanding season, especially if Filip Hronek stays healthy. As mentioned, the backline has improved. But Pettersson the defenceman still has a ways to go to prove he can be a reliable NHL defenceman. WIllander, Victor Mancini and new signing Pierre-Oliver Joseph could challenge Pettersson.
Speaking of injuries. The Canucks were seventh in the NHL in man-games lost. Staying healthy is a challenge but fewer injuries would help.
Vancouver also was tied with the Calgary Flames for most overtime losses last season with 14. Perhaps doing better in the extra frame helps too.
So yes, everything must go right once again. Cue Everything In It’s Right Place by Radiohead.
The Canucks ceiling
The Canucks pretty much have the same team from last year and didn’t really improve. This was one of the quietest offseasons in years.
Of course, it is possible they could still make a move. But as it stands, the Canucks at best look like a wild-card team heading into next season. Once again, they are stuck in purgatory and only have themselves to blame.
