The return of Vancouver Canucks hockey is imminent.
With the calendar turning to October and the leaves falling from the trees, you know hockey is here. For the Canucks it begins this Wednesday as they host the Calgary Flames.
The roster is set, featuring Braeden Cootes and Jonathan Lekkerimäki, both standout performers in the preseason. The Canucks aim to move past last season’s struggles and return to the playoffs.
There are numerous questions heading into the season, such as whether Elias Pettersson can return to form, the health of Thatcher Demko and Filip Chytil, and how Adam Foote will perform in his first season as bench boss.
Let’s get bold here. We’re going to make some bold predictions heading into the 2025-26 Canucks season. Now these picks are outrageous, crazy, and well…bold. Will they come true? Probably not.
#1: Elias Pettersson gets over 100 points and is nominated for the Hart
Elias Pettersson has struggled for 18 months due to form and knee issues.
This season, Pettersson is looking to prove his doubters wrong and to get back to being the player that was once beloved in Vancouver. At training camp and in the preseason, he has shown flashes of
Pettersson said he is looking for “revenge” this season and bulked up in the offseason. The microscope will be on him this season.
With JT Miller gone, him earning trust from Foote, and bulking up and impressing in the preseason, the stars are aligning for a bounce-back season from Pettersson.
We’re going to predict he will get revenge hugely. Pettersson will get over 100 points and be nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy. It is not as outrageous as many may seem it is. Remember, Pettersson managed to get 102 points and 39 goals in 2022-23. If Vancouver had made the playoffs that he probably would’ve been in the Hart conversation. In fact, he received a vote for fourth and another for fifth for the Hart that season.
Revenge is a dish best served cold, and Pettersson will cook a good one this season.
#2: Filip Chytil stays healthy and gets over 60 points
Since coming into the NHL in the 2017-18 NHL season with the New York Rangers, Chytil has had trouble staying healthy.
He has not played a full 82-game season in his career. His career high in games played is 75 in 2018-19. That year, he managed to score 11 goals and tally 12 assists for 23 points. Chytil also played 74 games in New York in the 2022-23 season. That was his best season of his career so far, as he scored 22 goals and tallied 23 assists for 45 points.
Of course, it is hard to predict injuries, and Chytil’s concussion history is a concern. But for the sake of this article and being optimistic, we’ll say Chytil has a career season and stays as healthy as he can. We’re predicting he hits 60 points.
Chytil will definitely get lots of opportunities in the top six and on the power play. He has looked very sharp and silky in the preseason.
60 points for Chytil is a dream, but we are saying he does it.
#3: Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk both score over 30 goals
Brock Boeser scored 40 goals in 2023-24 and 25 in 2024-25. The regression felt inevitable, and 25 goals in 75 games is not bad at all.
Jake DeBrusk led the Canucks with 28 goals last season. That was also a career high for him. However, DeBrusk was inconsistent and went long periods without scoring.
It was surprising that Boeser re-signed to a seven-year deal on July 1st, with the amount of speculation leaving Vancouver in the final months of last season. But he is here to stay and score more goals.
Foote wants the Canucks to play an aggressive and fast brand of hockey, which contrasts with Rick Tocchet’s dump-and-chase system. That could mean more goal-scoring opportunities.
“I’m ready to get going, I want to play. I want score, I want to celly and score,” said DeBrusk to Canucks.Com’s Lindsey Horsting. “Lots of people like saying ‘identity’. But it’s more so just the way we want to play, what Footey wants us to be as a group, and it’s buying in.”
DeBrusk played with Boeser and Pettersson in the preseason, and those three could potentially create some chemistry.
“Brock is looking really fast; he looks really good. Petey’s been better [than last season],” said DeBrusk. “Obviously, he’s been doing things that he does, he’s been holding on to pucks and trying stuff a little more. Everyone loves to notice the shots and everything, but just day-to-day, he’s come to play. So, I just need to do my job. I need to be fast. Honestly, I think the best thing I can do to help the line is getting pucks on the forecheck.”
With a system that looks to bring more offence, it is bold to predict that both DeBrusk and Boeser score 30 goals. Both aren’t known for shooting the puck from distance, but mostly their goals were off rebounds and very close in front of the net. Both DeBrusk and Boeser look poised for big seasons.
#4: Thatcher Demko scores a goal
This one is more outlandish than bold.
There have been 20 goalie goals in the NHL to date. Alex Nedeljkovic with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ilya Sorokin with the New York Islanders were goalies who scored a goal last season. (Sorokin was credited with the goal as it went off Steven Stamkos of the Nashville Predators.)
Two goalie goals have been scored against the Canucks at Rogers Arena. Evgeni Nabokov with the San Jose Sharks scored on the power play on March 10, 2002, and Linus Ullmark with the Boston Bruins on February 25, 2023.
Goalie goals don’t happen often, but goaltenders tend to give it a try more nowadays. Demko tried to do it against the Red Wings on February 15, 2024. Unfortunately, Shayne Gostisbehere had to get in the way and ruin the moment. Demko said after the game that it was probably the last time he was doing that.
If the Canucks are up by three or four, there is no harm in Demko trying, right? He has to. We say he will try again, and this time, he scores and etches his name into a very unique part of NHL history.
