2024-2025 NHL team preview: Vancouver Canucks

LAST SEASON

This time last September, pundits roundly dismissed the Vancouver Canucks as too dysfunctional for their obvious talent to matter. The ‘Nucks spent their 2022-23 season publicly humiliating Bruce Boudreau, trading away erstwhile captain Bo Horvat, and shipping nearly 300 goals, so the media could be forgiven for overlooking a second-half surge under new coach Rick Tocchet (20-12-4). 

As it turned out, Tocchet and the Canucks were just getting warmed up. Heartened by Quinn Hughes’s Norris Trophy season and a 35-win effort by star goaltender Thatcher Demko, Vancouver took charge of the Pacific Division in January and never looked back.

Prognosticators went back to writing off the Canucks after they lost Demko to injury and labored through a first-round date with the Nashville Predators, but they nearly proved everyone wrong once more. J.T. Miller fired Vancouver to a 3-2 series lead over the high-flying Oilers and sent the eventual Western Conference champs reeling. 

They couldn’t keep McDavid and Co. down in Games 6 and 7, but after their first division title since Alain Vigneault was coach, the Canucks have rejoined the ranks of the elite. Can they stay there in 2024-25 without the benefit of nonexistent expectations?

KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES

Additions

Derek Forbort, D
Danton Heinen, LW
Vincent Desharnais, D
Jake DeBrusk, LW
Kiefer Sherwood, RW
Jiri Patera, G
Daniel Sprong, RW
Kevin Lankinen, G

Departures

Ilya Mikheyev, RW (Chi)
Sam Lafferty, C (Buf)
Nikita Zadorov, D (Bos)
Ian Cole, D (UHC)
Casey DeSmith, G (Dal)

OFFENSE

Vancouver got a lot of bounces last season: they finished sixth in scoring despite ranking 13th in expected offense. After an offseason facelift, the Canucks might not have to be so ruthlessly efficient (11.99 team shooting %) to dominate in 2024-25.

Patrick Allvin and Jim Rutherford added four wingers that should crack the lineup on opening night, and they would all love to start the season on the left side of center J.T. Miller’s line.

It’s laughable to think Miller’s $8-million salary was once considered a risk. A big, mean grinder who has averaged over 90 points per 82 games in Vancouver, the former Ranger is the top dog among Canucks’ forwards. He and Brock Boeser combined for 77 tallies last year despite frequent matchups against the opposition’s best. 

On the second line, Allvin and Tocchet have gotten star center Elias Pettersson (191 P since 2021) reinforcements to match his fat new contract. The Canucks’ brain trust hopes ‘Petey’ and newcomer Jake Debrusk (266 P in 468 GP for BOS) can develop chemistry akin to Miller and Boeser’s. 

DeBrusk has the size, speed, and two-way sensibility to keep up with Pettersson but was incredibly volatile in Boston. The 27-year-old’s seven-year, $38.5-million contract is a bet that Tocchet can get him to lock in the way Boeser, a similar talent who busted out for 40 goals last year, has under his tutelage.

Further down the lineup, power forward Dakota Joshua (245 hits), and speedster Connor Garland (20 G, 47 P) clicked with penalty-killing center Teddy Blueger last season as the trio dominated goals (21-10) and high-danger chances (88-51) at five-on-five. 

The line was set to stay together in 2024-25 before Joshua announced his testicular cancer diagnosis and subsequent surgery. The important thing is that the big man is okay, and until he’s back in game shape, Nils Hoglander (24 G, 100 hits) or Kiefer Sherwood (27 P, 234 hits in 68 GP) could be logical replacements.

For all the oomph Sherwood, Danton Heinen (17 G), and Daniel Sprong (43P in 76 GP) will add to the Canucks’ depth at even strength, Tocchet still needs more from his team on the man advantage. Vancouver finished 12th in that department despite a top unit that combined Petterson, Miller, Boeser, and Hughes (17G, 92P).

DEFENSE

Despite the popular perception that Demko propped up an average ‘D,’ Vancouver’s 2.84 GAA without him would have been the 9th best in the NHL. Tocchet’s structure worked, and though a large chunk of the ‘Nucks’ defensive success came from Selke-caliber centermen Miller and Pettersson, the guys on the blue line deserve some credit too.

Hughes, for one, hasn’t struggled to earn recognition. The American picked up a host of individual awards in his first season as captain, and his Norris win was the cherry on top. Hughes’s supernatural stickhandling and uptick in shots helped him pace NHL defenders in points, but his quickness pays dividends at the other end of the ice, too.

Filip Hronek was Hughes’s running mate and played his way into an eight-year contract at $7.25 million AAV. Though playing with the best defenseman in the world (last season, anyway) gave Hronek’s numbers (+33, 48 P, 54.26% of scoring chances) a healthy boost, the Czech’s role in his partner’s development shouldn’t be understated. 

Tocchet employs big, sturdy veterans outside his world-beating top unit, the best of whom, Carson Soucy and Tyler Myers, should complete the top four in 2024-25.

Despite injuries that limited him to 40 games last season, Soucy turned heads with his composure and reliability as a stay-at-home option. He won’t get any time on the power play, but Soucy’s burgeoning chemistry with Myers was an important factor in the veteran’s resurgence (career-high +16) last season. 

The question for the towering duo, both of whom stand at least 6’5, is whether they can continue to thrive as Vancouver’s main shutdown pair without a viable alternative. Last season, Nikita Zadorov and Ian Cole were the third pair in name only, but both players moved on in free agency.

Shot blockers Derek Forbort and Vinny Desharnais will round out the defensive corps in sheltered even strength minutes. The lumbering duo’s main function is beefing up the Canucks’ middling penalty kill (79.1%). 

GOALTENDING

Thatcher Demko is one of the best goalies in the world when he’s fully healthy, but those instances are frustratingly rare. The runner-up for the Vezina Trophy, Demko saw his brilliant season (2.45 GAA, .918 SV%) end in frustration when he missed most of March with a knee injury before going down again after a single playoff appearance. 

Demko is now shelved with an injury no one’s ever heard of, and an extended absence would be an early gut punch to Vancouver’s division title defense. 

All indications are that the cage is Artur Silovs’s to lose until the Demko is 100%. The Latvian has now played more playoff games (10) than regular season ones (9) at the NHL level after replacing veteran Casey DeSmith during the 2024 postseason. 

Silovs can make the big save, but avoiding soft goals and navigating screens proved difficult for him against Edmonton. This is his chance to prove he has the focus to match his athleticism. The ceiling is there, and now, so is the opportunity.

Kevin Lankinen is on hand to step up if Silovs buckles. Lankinen bizarrely spent the offseason unsigned despite a .908 SV% as Nashville’s backup last year before the Canucks brought him in as insurance.

COACHING

In his first full season after replacing Bruce Boudreau in January of 2023, Rick Tocchet led the Canucks to their most points since 2011-12 and their first series win in front of fans since 2011. 

The Jack Adams Award sometimes defaults to the coach of the most overachieving team, but the Canucks never looked like overachievers in 2023-24. They were one of the most dominant outfits in the NHL, and Tocchet’s hardware reflects his role in their return to relevance.

The biggest difference between the directionless team Tocchet inherited and the division champs of 2024 was a newfound commitment to physicality and responsibility. Vancouver learned how to grind out the sort of ugly games that got it past Nashville in the playoffs.

Tocchet’s next goal is to replicate the chemistry Miller and Blueger’s units have achieved on all his lines. That starts with figuring out where Sherwood, Sprong, and Heinen fit into the lineup.

ROOKIES

At least one rookie, Silovs, will get minutes with the Canucks from day one. The 23-year-old is already well known in British Columbia for his valiant postseason effort, but he wasn’t without his faults in relief of Demko. If Lankinen blows him out of the water in the early season, a return to AHL Abbotsford isn’t out of the question.

Sniper Jonathan Lekerimakki could play his way into a role while Joshua is on the mend, but he’d have to look like an absolute superstar during the preseason to make the team. Either Phil di Giuseppe or Nils Aman could hit waivers if the 20-year-old beats them out, and as Vancouver’s top prospect, Lekerimakki might have more to gain from top-six minutes in Abbotsford than a bit part role on the big club.

The same goes for defensemen Elias “no, not that one” Pettersson and Kirill “copy-and-paste” Kudryavtsev, both of whom look great in camp. The Canucks would be reluctant to waive extra righty Noah Juulsen after a strong 2023-24 season, but one of the kids could get a look if a left-handed shot goes down hurt.

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Should Hughes and Hronek split up? It might frustrate Hughes to lose the best partner he’s had in years after only a season, but it’s hard to see another way for the Canucks to win minutes when their captain is off the ice. They couldn’t last year in the playoffs, and that was when they still had Cole and Zadorov. Hronek makes too much money to be a sidekick forever, and coupling his puck-moving skills with Soucy’s steady defense is probably Tocchet’s best bet at crafting an effective pair that doesn’t feature his best player. Hughes and Myers, meanwhile, have been dominant in the rare moments they play together, outscoring the opposition 36-21 over the past three seasons. Could a straight swap be in the cards? 
2. What’s Elias Pettersson’s ceiling? Pettersson spent 2023-24 lugging around Anthony Beauvillier, Sam Lafferty, and Ilya Mikheyev, journeymen who have since been traded. It took him three-quarters of the season to iron out a contract extension, which was only agreed upon after the organization made clear a trade was not off the table. After that, Petey limped to just 20 points in his final 33 games including the postseason. It had all the makings of a nightmare year, but the big Swede still finished with 34 goals, 89 points, and down-ballot Selke votes. If that’s the “embattled” version of Pettersson, what will he do with steady linemates and 11 million reasons to sleep easy in 2024-25? The league should be on red alert.

1. How hurt is Demko? If Demko suffered a high-ankle sprain or tore his meniscus, we’d have some idea of his timetable. We’ve seen those injuries hundreds of times. The popliteus muscle, on the other hand, is a new addition to the vocabulary of anyone who’s not in med school. It’s in the knee, which seems bad, and Demko is still recovering five months after his initial injury, which seems worse. Maybe Demko will be back and better than ever by November, but the radio silence from the team and Lankinen’s subsequent signing doesn’t scream confidence. Silovs’ audition as the starter might be more significant than anyone is letting on.

PREDICTION

The Canucks will make the playoffs easily in a weak Pacific Division. Losing Zadorov, Cole, DeSmith, and Elias Lindholm could have been a damaging exodus, but Allvin and Rutherford turned it into an opportunity to recruit talented wingers in bulk. With headliners Pettersson, Miller, and Hughes still in place, that’s a dangerous proposition for the rest of the West. Defending the division title from the Oilers and Golden Knights will be difficult, but if the Canucks have proven one thing over the past 12 months, it’s that you can doubt them at your own peril.

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