Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
Nucks Fan Rebuild & Retool Center - Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
The Vancouver Canucks have a plan. Part of that plan is Zeev Buium leading the way on the blue line for another eight years. This better work.
While there wasn't a rush to sign the 20-year-old, there was a little bit of pressure from the NHL itself. After the 15th, players won't be able to sign an eight-year contract, and with that contract comes stability. Plus the ability to spread big numbers over a lot of years, which is nice for everyone.
Cap Hit: $9.38 million/year
Duration: Eight years
Buium didn't exactly light the world on fire with his scoring last season as a rookie. He had had three goals and 12 points in his 45 Vancouver games, and three goals and 14 points in 31 games with Minnesota before that. That hardly sounds like a $9 million man, but between the chaos of his new team and the skill he clearly has, he's a pretty safe bet.
If worst comes to worst, he's still going to be a good second-pair defenceman, if a bit light for one. At best? We'll see in a few years, but the money is literally on his becoming the unquestioned Number One on a contending team. So no pressure.
There are some curious details in this contract. Notably, the money is almost entirely in base salary, with bonuses being paid in the first two years alone. The bonuses are $6 million in the first year, $5 million in the second, then the base jumps to $10 million in the third.
That sort of structure is an agent's version of trade protection. Buium might not reach the numbers the team wants in those first few years, and if they aren't successful, it's a modest barrier against an easy trade/salary dump.
Buium doesn't get any protection until his free agent eligibility years, so not until 2032-33. After that, he has the expected no-move clauses. However, if the team does want to move him, his salary is a stable $8.4 million from 2030-31 on. Any team looking to buy will know what they're paying - and, at 25 years old, what they're paying for.
So what we have here is a deal that locks the player in for the next eight years, which the team wants, and gives the player trade protection, which he wants. It also gives him a truckload of money - if not a dump truck, at least an F-350's worth. But was it the right amount?
Is Buium half of a Cale Makar? Right now, somewhat less of one, if we're being honest. But Cale Makar is also seven years older and has obliterated the point-per-game mark since he was 23 years old. He's going to carry his $20+ million cap hit well into his 30s. One might better ask if Zeev Buium will be half a Makar in another three years. And that, at least, is the plan.
Now obviously, as any professional moves up in their field, the talent is rarefied and the paycheques get appropriately higher. It's the difference between the Hall of Fame and the Hallway of Very Good. Players at the very top can, and should, get paid a LOT more than folks in the next tier. But a team full of the Very Good is awfully dang hard to beat.
It's going to be hard for Buium to reach anything close to Makar's numbers anytime soon. Since the year before Makar joined the team in 2018-19, the Avalanche have had a .644 points percentage and have never missed the playoffs. Zeev is not joining such a team. If he did suddenly hit point-per-game numbers, you kinda gotta hope it's because he got injured after two games. Vancouver needs losses right now.
Which is the safety valve in the deal. We can wait for Buium to improve, along with the Canucks, because the plan isn't to win this year. Or next, or the one after that.
THIS year, he's going to keep learning the NHL game, with a skilled, longtime NHL veteran beside him. Ideally, he'll gain special-teams experience, eventually taking Filip Hronek's spot on the first power-play unit. If all goes according to plan, Hronek could be tradable the following year for a generous return in the offseason or at the deadline.
What, you're worried about a piddling $75 million?
Okay, yes, that's a good chunk for a player who's still waiver-eligible. But with it starting in 2027-28, his cut will be just 8.3% of the cap's projected $113.5 million. And it will only go down from there. By the time the Canucks are looking to actually compete - maybe in his final year of this deal - how little will this be?
None of this means the contract is without risk for Vancouver. Buium hasn't produced big numbers yet, obviously. And at six feet, 185 pounds, he's considered undersized for a team's top defender. Buium's play is built around deception and quick decisions. To get the most out of him, he'll need players who can take advantage of that, and frankly, that might be a while yet.
He thinks the game better than he skates it, which can lead to overthinking, which can get a player caught thinking. Assuming he stays paired with Hronek - which he should - neither has much of an intimidation factor. Another part of the game to watch coach Malhotra manage is Buium's minutes late in clearly lost games. Garbage time is when players further down the lineup look to make themselves memorable. Manny will have to make sure that doesn't come at Buium's expense.
The Canucks will want a player like the one Buium can be in a few years. He just has to survive until the team around him catches up.
Anyone who pays any attention at all to the Canucks knows last year didn't exactly go as planned. Off the ice, things didn't go much better, with Sportsnet 650 closing radio stations, leaving a city of 2 million+ without a sports station. That ended a lot of Canucks-centred podcasts as well, damaging a lot of careers on the way out.
The deal that Sportsnet had with the CBC has also expired, ending free access to any televised Canucks games. Which sucks, because this season is gonna be rough, but would be easier to tolerate if we could get at least a few free games.
There will be some games on Prime Video on Wednesdays, though we don't know which ones yet. It might be all eight games, which means if you don't add Amazon Prime to your cable plan, you don't get to see 9.3% of Canucks games this year. Pay Jeff Bezos, or lose one of the things that makes life a bit more bearable. Joy.
On the plus side, the radio play-by-play will continue, apparently on Kiss Throwback 104.9. There will be audio streaming on whatever your particular player is, such as iHeartRadio or RadioPlayer. Even with video, I like the radio cast more and usually have it running when I can. Nothing against John Shorthouse, who's very good at his job, but I'm an old. Radio's how I caught all Caucks games way back when. I imprinted on it like a baby bird.
But let's move on.
Last season, I actually gave someone advice to stop watching games. He was so, SO angry at anything and everything Vancouver did on and off the ice that every game was rage-inducing. Any mistake a player made - and hockey is a game of mistakes - was proof the player was the worst to ever skate. Any announcement the team made was doomed idiocy, no matter what it was or who made it.
Why'd he still watch? Couldn't tell you. But I could tell him that he needed to back off for his own health, 'cause that just ain't good for you. This season, allow me to suggest we flip the script.
It goes without saying that optimism about the Canucks is hard to come by right now in Vancouver.
-Travis Yost
Allow me to disagree.
In a perfect world, the Canucks play reasonably well early, get good offers for their veterans, and they go into Draft Day with another top-three pick. Their kids show signs of improvement; the younger kids do well in Abby/College/CHL/etc; and plans are finalized for a four-sheet facility. HUZZAH!
While that all isn't happening, some of it certainly will. Young NHLers are going to make some mistakes, and not every prospect will pull through. Injuries happen, veterans can stumble, and lord knows what's going on with getting a practice rink. But some good times are going to happen along the way, and those are the moments we're aiming for this year.
Low bar? You bet!
A big part of what made the fan I mentioned so angry was high expectations. There were big changes, and the team decided to walk the Rebuild-on-the-Fly tightrope a little bit longer, just to see if it had an end. Unfortunately, the end they were walking toward was on fire.
This season, no one has any such illusions. Vancouver acted on their belief that this was an actual, honest-to-goodness rebuild, and the team ended the year accordingly. Ownership has finally decided that the fans aren't complete idiots and can recognize the situation they put themselves in. Hearing management say they know the team is going to suck for a little while is a nice change, really.
Bonus of knowing the good times are off in the future? Any we get now are just gravy, baby!
Still, it's gonna be a long year. Here are some ways to protect your mental health during it.
What do the coaches of bad teams do? As often as not, you'll hear them talk about a 10-game block they're focusing on. Every ten games is a new, self-contained season. Or go in 21-game quarters, two-week stretches, however you want to break it up.
Pro: No losing streak is longer than ten games.
Con: "I haven't scored in three seasons!"
Circle specific games on the calendar now, or maybe just come in when the mood strikes. Look at the boxcars the next day if you're curious about games you missed. If something made news, check out the highlights!
Pro: No carrying anger over from one game to the next.
Con: Missing miracle plays and big moments in a year where there may be few of them. Sure, Curtis Douglas only played 14 games for Vancouver, but his first career NHL goal was still a pretty big moment. Not for the season, but you can see how much the team loved it.
Narrow that focus down. You have one guy you're watching this year, and whatever anyone else does is almost irrelevant. Watch Thatcher Demko's movement whenever he gets back in net to see how comfortable he is dropping down. Look for Zeev Buium's decisions and control, and see if he takes on Filip Hronek's role as the year goes on. Spot when Elias Pettersson attacks a defending opponent. Or the first moment Luke Schenn drops 'em.
Pro: You're going to get to know that player's style, and that's pretty fun. Getting granular can help you stretch your knowledge of any subject - hockey included.
Con: Instantly regret not doing this in Physics class years ago, dammit.
Hey, I get it. The most important part of the season is coming once it's over. Moves in the offseason with whatever assets the team has managed to collect matter more for their long-term prospects, and that's what you want to see. Wake me up a month before the draft!
Pro: There's actual optimism when we're talking about prospects and players who aren't actually part of the team yet. They can't fail if they don't exist yet!
Con: Missing everything else. Like, EVERYTHING else. Big plays. Little plays. Player improvement, sure, but also the young guys finding their space. New arrivals, new departures, and what the team is turning into. That's a lot, but if the bad outweighs the good, more power to ya!
Buddy, we're here for you. Let's do this.
*Repeat as necessary
If figuring out the Vancouver Canucks' goaltending was tricky and their defence was obvious, then surely predicting what they'll do with their forwards this year will be a piece of cake! Right?
The wire-walk they've chosen is a mixed blessing. To fans and followers, just the acknowledgement that rebuilds exist is a breath of fresh air. The downside is now having the privilege of experiencing one firsthand.
Then there's the players themselves. From a player's perspective, the 2026-27 season is an interesting one, and it hasn't even started yet.
The fun of being an armchair general manager is building your dream team. Trades are a breeze, prospects all pan out, and all you see of the owners is their signature on your paycheque. It's a bit more frustrating in the real world, where every other team is also trying to win, few of your picks see professional games, and the owners want their money - NOW.
But some things are predictable. For instance, the Canucks defence looks pretty good and pretty set for the start of the year. The goaltending has fewer variables than some years, but a few question marks. And attendance is probably going to drop a bit this season, if everything goes according to plan.
As for the rest, well, here's our best guess.
It can be assumed that no forward is safe from being moved this year. If a good enough offer comes in, that player goes out. That being said, some are more obvious targets than others in the forward corps.
Jake DeBrusk has to lead off the list, despite the five years remaining on his contract. He said outright that a rebuild wasn't what he signed up for, and that's fair enough. But given how little motion there has been this month, it looks like he'll start the year in Vancouver. And that's fine. The Canucks need someone who can score, just so the team is worth watching. They barely broke the 200-goal mark last year, and might not hit it this one.
While it's a bit awkward, at least it's honest. DeBrusk knows the team is shopping him, and also that the better he plays, the more interest there will be. He's going to get plenty of opportunities to showcase his skills early in the year.
Drew O'Connor became a fan favourite in 2024-25, and for good reason. He earned his two-year contract honestly, and backed it up with an excellent 2025-26. His 17 goals were a career high, and he showed his versatility and ability playing both special teams. He also did it by playing with half the team. He had seven different linemates with whom he played between 60 and 85 minutes last year.
That's to be expected of a couple players in an injury-plagued, low-performing year. But O'Connor showed he could play in all sorts of circumstances with relative ease, even if he's not the name you want to see on your first line. His speed and opportunism make him an exciting player to watch, and if he has a decent year, he can get the Canucks a good return. He has a 12-team no-trade clause.
Paul Cotter is a new arrival, and if he shows up well, he can play his way off the team and onto a contender. He's got decent speed and some scoring, but mostly he'll be asked to disrupt opponents. He's a decent faceoff man, and there will be opportunities for it in Vancouver. A solid depth guy with the chance to show he can do more. A team heading to the playoffs will look for players like Cotter.
Brendan Gallagher is here for a reason. First, he wants to be here, which is great. Second, he wants ice time, which he'll get. And third, the team wants to trade him. A loving, harmonious threesome of intent is what that is. More seriously, he puts in the work, and that's a lot of what the Canucks are looking for right now.
Gallagher's a long-time veteran who has never shied away from anything on the ice, and he'll be looked to for leadership. He has a full no-move contract, but that's only to control where he'll go if he plays well enough to get multiple offers. Even with Montreal picking up half his pay, he's still not the cheapest addition, so he needs to earn the interest.
Linus Karlsson spent a lot of last year on the fourth line, but also a bunch with Elias Pettersson the Forward and Jake DeBrusk. This time around, he should get a more clearly defined role in the middle six, though he might start up top. He registered 31 points at even strength in 2025-26, leading the team. Yeah. And that was in 12:30 of average ice time.
Another player ready to take advantage of increased ice time is Max Sasson. I can really see him getting short-handed ice time specifically. His speed is a real threat, even if his hands aren't so much. If he works on breakaway scoring, he can find a niche. He'll get an opportunity, anyway.
I'm a big Liam Öhgren fan and am very curious to see where he settles in this year. Yes, the guy who scored zero points in 18 games with Minnesota before the Quinn Hughes trade. He then came to Vancouver and scored eight goals and 18 points in his 51 Canucks games! Which, okay, still isn't earth-shaking, but he also showed what kind of game he will play: a physical, trustworthy winger who can score some points in the middle six. The most likely guy to take DeBrusk's spot, or at least get first chance at it.
Aatu Räty is probably on his last shot here, and should play like it. While he's a very good faceoff man and solid short-handed centre, every player needs to get into the boxcars if they want to be an NHL regular. He's just 23 years old, so it's not like Räty's washed, but 14 points in 66 games ain't gonna cut it. Coach Malhotra likes him, but he needs to bring some of those Abbotsford numbers to Vancouver.
Marco Rossi didn't have a whole lot of opportunity to show what he can do last year. He came over from Minnesota slightly injured, and returned too soon, eager to join the new team. The spirit's there, but chill, big guy. He managed just two points in eight games before sitting down for twenty-ish. He played out the rest of the year when he returned, scoring seven goals and 20 points in the last 25 games - a perfectly good pace the team would love him to match this year.
Terrifyingly, Filip Chytil should start the year healthy and ready to go. The skilled forward played 12 games with the big club last year, and 15 the year before that when he came over from the Rangers mid-season. He has one year left on his $4.4 million deal, and boy, I hope he can spend that money happy and healthy. He has all the talent to be a 45-50 point player this year, but fans will be holding their breath every time he steps onto the ice.
A different kind of health issue is around Elias Pettersson the Forward, and no one's quite sure what it is. He's had nagging injuries for much of his career and has always been reticent to talk about them, but it shows on the ice. While I suspect most of his decline in scoring stats is mental, he's also skating a bit more gingerly and taking fewer shots to go with it. Can his scoring bounce back? Sure, he's still a very smart and skilled player, but he's not going to get a whole lot of help with this lineup.
One player who might help is also under a huge amount of pressure to perform. It's ludicrous to say a 22-year-old is in a make-or-break season, but it's not about whether Jonathan Lekkerimäki makes the NHL. It's about what kind of player he'll be when he gets there. Billed as a scorer, Lekkerimäki has only produced five goals and nine points in 37 NHL games, and a good chunk of that was with the man advantage.
Then again, his total ice has averaged just over 12 minutes per game. No offence to Sasson, but if he's your centre, you probably aren't getting a lot of scoring opportunities. This season, he may well start in the top six alongside either Pettersson or Rossi. After that, it's up to him.
Now that 19-year-olds can be assigned to the AHL, Braeden Cootes is almost certainly pencilled in there. He could still pick up a few games, but getting 18-20 minutes in a pro league is a better option than 8-10 minutes in the NHL. Other forwards recently signed - Trey Fix-Wolansky and Akil Thomas - are good cover for injuries and will get called up before Cootes.
One guy who might make the team as a defensive specialist is Ilya Safonov. The 25-year-old has never been a big scorer with AK Bars Kazan, but has very good size and is a smart player. If he doesn't make the big club, he has the option to return to Russia. What he'll contribute here, who knows? He's never played in North America, but there's no reason to think he can't learn quickly.
Of course there's Brock Boeser. Brock Boeser is eternal. Rejoice in his name - and his 25-ish goals.
The Vancouver Canucks are walking a tightrope this season. They want improvement from the kids they're going to keep, good results from veterans they want to trade, and bad results overall. But still good enough to sell tickets to 42 home games.
How are they going to pull that off? We have even more thoughts! This time, about how they're going to use their defencemen.
The Canucks defence has changed in the past year, as you probably noticed. Not everyone has left, but enough surgery's happened to make the team update their passport pics.
The team has decided their anchor is Filip Hronek. Anyone from the Detroit region can be forgiven for double-checking the name, but yes, it's legit.
Hronek has been forced into the public eye with post-game interviews after the team's captain was traded away and the big name coming back was injured. Zeev Buium wasn't going to completely satisfy the media scrum, being a new arrival and all, but you have to know Hronek didn't want the mic.
Then a funny thing happened: he started to...well, not like it, exactly, but relax into it. His usual curt replies to questions started getting laughs among the fans - especially the ones who don't particularly like the media. He didn't make any obvious mistakes, and he does know what he's talking about. His answers started getting longer, and on a few occasions he'd even answer a follow-up.
And while that was happening, he got a little more attention for his work both on the ice and on the bench. Clips of him talking over the latest play with young defenders made the between-periods shows. He became more vocal on the ice, directing traffic during play and between whistles. He's even said outright that he wants to help the young players during the rebuild.
Now, there is an obvious argument for trading Hronek away: he's their most valuable chip, and the best way to get another first-round pick. But he also has a full no-move clause for the next two years, and if he wants to stay for both of those years, frikkin' keep him. He's been on an awful team, waiting for the Red Wings to finally get out of their rebuild. It's not like he doesn't know what he's getting into.
Slightly inconvenient is that Hronek is the de facto power-play quarterback after Quinn Hughes left. And that was fine - last year. This season, they need to hand the reins over to Zeev Buium. It could happen early or late, but it needs to happen sometime this season. As good as Hronek is, and as useful as he'll be throughout his contract, Buium is the future of Vancouver's blue line.
We didn't get a good look at Buium last year, unfortunately. He came to the Canucks injured, tried to play through it, and finally took a few games off during the league's Olympic break in February. If any player from the Hughes trade felt pressure to perform, it was Buium.
Make no mistake, Buium has plenty of skill. He's not as good a skater as Hughes is, but that bar is through the roof anyway. Buium's strength is in his planning before he needs to skate. You can see it both before he attacks and when he's reacting to an attacker. He's very much a disrupt-before-the-play-starts kind of defender, and can turn that into a counterstrike very quickly.
That all being said, he also needs to be the quarterback for Vancouver's top power play. That's where he's going to make his money, given the overall lack of scoring the Canucks are probably going to suffer for the next few years. You can't really have a number one defenceman without them playing the bulk of minutes available.
It's going to come down to just how willing coach Manny Malhotra will be to turn away from his reliable veteran. You can say you're willing to sacrifice wins now for future growth, but that's really hard to put into practice. A team five years from now needs him to be strong, which has gotta hurt when you're looking for a tenth win come December.
Tom Willander was the golden boy in Jim Rutherford's plans. Or at least as much of one as was needed when you already have Quinn Hughes on the team. Willander, like Buium, is entering his second NHL season. And, like Buium, couldn't possibly live up to the hype around him. And that's fine, actually. Heck, both players may well have some regression in their second years.
Willander isn't being looked at to replace Hughes, or even to play on a top pair during his career. If he gets there, great! But if not, well, teams need good all-around players in the middle of the lineup, too.
He's not devoid of offence - he just finished a five-goal, 21-point rookie season, after all. But that's not his ticket to the NHL. Mostly what he is, or should be, is a pain. He is a constantly moving disruptor. He's a very good puck retriever when he has a player to pass it to. Ironically, he had something of a lousy year defensively, but it really should get better from here.
One thing Willander could use is some time, and Jamie Oleksiak can buy that for him. Every team needs a giant from time to time, and Oleksiak's 6'7" frame works. He is a good enough skater to cover a LOT of ground in a short amount of time, and has enough skill to justify a middle-pair position.
Again, not a player the team should look to for a lot of points, but very useful otherwise. If Willander and Oleksiak are used together, it won't be Jamie holding the puck. But it will be him holding up players hunting his partner down.
Oleksiak signed a generous deal with Vancouver in the offseason, and it shows in his modified no-trade clause. Should he serve his purpose well, the team can shop the versatile defender easily enough. But if he doesn't, they can keep him around for another go, possibly sliding him down to the third pair if needed, with little harm done. Big guys retain their value well.
Elias Pettersson the Defenceman had a rougher second season than his first. Part of that could be his enthusiasm met the reality of a long NHL season. Part could be former coach Adam Foote's Defensive Encyclopedia being a bit much to deal with. In either case, he's inked in to start on the third pair come September.
Pettersson's geared to be a classic "shut down defenceman" if such things exist anymore. He has three goals and 13 points in his 93 NHL games, so he can, in theory, get the puck to the net. But getting it to someone else first is probably a better option. He's a good enough skater to carry the puck out of his own zone, but after that he thinks a bit too much.
He's an enthusiastic hitter, but may have overplayed that last year. His 28-game introduction in 2024-25 won wide praise for his physical play, and that might have brought different expectations. If he keeps it simple, he's at his best. It could well be that some offence shows up as he ages, and that would be a nice bonus. If he grows into a second-pair guy, it's all gravy. Keeping his spot om the third is all we need.
I don't really mean to mock Luke Schenn, but he is a beloved figure in these parts somewhat beyond his ability. He is perhaps the Ur-Journeyman Tale when it comes to veteran defenders you sign to teach young blue-liners "how to play the game the right way." He's done pretty much everything, from a top-five pick to a 30-year-old AHLer and back again.
In between, he's won two Stanley Cups and has spent time with ten NHL teams. THAT'S a veteran!
More specifically, that's a veteran who's 36 years old with a LOT of miles on him. But he knows that and understands what's going on with this team. He should, as it's his third go-round with them. The team wants a veteran who is, well, him, and he enjoys the city. His second job is to be the guy younger players have to unseat if they want to reach the NHL.
Schenn is the sort of player teams like to bring in as they head into the playoffs, and he knows that, too. That's why he does have a full no-move clause, and if he decides to waive it, it'll be to the team he chooses. And fair enough, he's earned that level of respect.
About the guys who Schenn is keeping down.
Victor Mancini has good size at 6'3" and 229 lbs. He's got good speed, too, and some decent offensive instincts. Add in that he's a right-shot, and he should be everything you're looking for in an NHL prospect. But somehow, he leaves me wanting more. A touch more offensive recklessness would serve him well, I think, with a little less concern about making mistakes. He's 24 years old, so this is a big year for him. If not now, when?
Kiril Kudreyavtsev is something the opposite. He stands 5'11" and 200 lbs, and he uses all of it. He's taken his time getting to the NHL, and for good reason: seventh-round picks aren't supposed to make it this far. He's done it by being a smart player, if not a particularly quick one. He's learned to protect the puck extremely well while waiting for plays to develop, which helps. He doesn't look like he should be this effective, but he's got surprising numbers in the OHL and AHL.
Either of these players can be the next man up, and if everything goes well, they'll earn spots when veterans ahead of them are traded away. No one wants them to get their spots by default, or even worse, not get them at all.
The plan is pretty clear, as of right now. They just have to execute.
A half-dozen signings, a good-sized trade, and then - no offence to Matthew Steinberg - silence around the talent on the team. And that's fine, because lord knows there was enough to do off the ice as well. After taking some time off, let's look at the team and around the division.
The Vancouver Canucks needed coaches, both in Vancouver proper and for the AHL squad. They've rounded out their NHL roster with three-ish Abbotsford promotions and a former AHL head coach joining Malhotra on the big club.
Jordan Smith spent the past two seasons as an assistant on the bench in Abby, so his move is one of leagues, if not titles. Andrew Shaw (not the NHLer) moves from being Abbotsford's video coach to assisting Vancouver's Ian Beckenstein, so it's a promotion and demotion at the same time. I don't think he'll complain.
Jason Krog has been working with players in Abbotsford and Vancouver as a skills and skating coach, and is moving up to bench duties with Malhotra. He had a long professional career, mostly as an AHL All-Star but including four games with the Canucks. All three of these coaches were with Abbotsford for their Calder Cup win in 2024-25.
Ryan Mougenel is an interesting hire, as he was named AHL Coach of the Year in 2025-26. He's been the head coach of the Providence Bruins for the past five seasons, and an assistant there the previous two. The Bruins finished top-three in their division for every one of those years, but couldn't get past the division semi-finals in any of them. Well, he won't have to worry about the playoffs any time soon with his new job, anyway.
There have certainly been some interesting developments outside the Canucks.
The biggest is undoubtedly the offer sheet signed by Leo Carlsson and subsequently matched by the Anaheim Ducks. 'Sfunny how a player widely known as "The Little Ball of Hate" is a general manager that players and agents agree lives up to his nickname. Pat Verbeek and his staff developed a reputation for absolutely grinding any player who crossed his path come contract time. That engendered some resentment, it seems, and suddenly his star didn't want to go through it.
Daniel Briere is living up to his - or at least Philadelphia's - reputation, too. They are a team that has never been afraid of being hated by the rest of the league, and they'll drop offer sheets on stars if they think they can get away with it. It may not be the most effective approach - step up, St. Louis - but it's certainly fun to watch. And now a 21-year-old is being paid $18 million a season for the next five years, ending with him as an unrestricted free agent. You have to wonder if that's Philly's way of encouraging commissioner Gary Bettman's departure.
Cutter Gautier is still waiting for his contract, but Pavel Mintyukov had his on the table and signed VERY soon after Carlsson was resolved. Gautier had a 41-goal season in his third year, and whatever Anaheim decides to offer will be remembered at their next negotiation. Now, he's not a centre like Carlsson is, and isn't eligible for an offer sheet, but he's still a vital cog for a team that wants to improve this year.
The Ducks have $9 million in cap space, but their defence could use more than Nick Jensen to shore up their ranks. Jackson LaCombe has been a delightful surprise, but he's only on one side of the ice. It's definitely Anaheim's weak point. However, they might choose not to shore it up just yet, especially if the options are looking bad for a simple reason: they're in the Pacific Division.
The Pacific Division last season was a fine argument for eliminating the "pity point". The Los Angeles Kings managed twenty [20] overtime and shootout losses to squeeze into the final wild card spot. That meant the team with five fewer regulation wins than San Jose, six fewer than Nashville, and eleven fewer than St. Louis got in while the rest waited. That actually worked out okay for the Sharks, but still!
That the Sharks finished the season four points away from the playoffs and still won the first overall pick shows how weak the Pacific Division was last year. Anaheim and LA would have both missed the playoffs if the top-16 teams leaguewide played. Philadelphia had the fewest points of the Eastern playoff teams at 98, a mark no team in the Pacific reached.
San Jose certainly wants to get in this year, with their wild overpays on Jacob Trouba and Mason Marchment and trade for Darnell Nurse. They're going to be a very interesting team to watch again this year, at least. They can absolutely push into the top-three conversation.
Anaheim, of course, wants to stay in the playoffs now that they've finally made it back. Edmonton has the room to make a move or two with Nurse off the books. Interesting gambles in net, so maybe their eye turns to a bit more scoring depth up front.
And LA is... Okay, to be frank, I have no frikkin' clue what the Kings are doing this year. They made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, and only because the Pacific was so weak. It wasn't that long ago that they were considered to have one of the best prospect pools in the league. Unfortunately for them, either the players haven't panned out as hoped (Quinton Byfield), or the injury bug hit (Alex Turcotte), or they were moved on (Brock Faber). It's like they looked at their pool in 2020 and said, "Right! We're making a big push in five or six years!" and are determined to fit the timeline, reality be damned.
Seattle, of course, will want to get in there, too. They made big pitches to Jason Robertson and Artemi Panarin, so they're willing to take a swing. They have the money and the will, and there is plenty of time before the season gets underway yet.
Vegas, the supposed Cream of the Crop, didn't even hit 40 wins last year and still won the division. Their big signing so far was Rasmus Andersson, who is a very good player, but...that can't be it, right? That can't be all they're doing? Then again, they did just make the Stanley Cup Final, so maybe that is. A full year with Mitch Marner could do them wonders.
That pretty much leaves Calgary and Vancouver as teams that aren't all that bothered with making the playoffs in the Pacific. And outside Vegas and Edmonton, the rest of the division may be trying, but they don't look all that good yet. Sure, the Flames want to show their fans signs of progress as they gear up for the new arena, but that's probably going to be an incremental improvement. If the Canucks aren't careful, they could risk a wild-card spot by just playing better than last year!
Okay, probably not. But if they find a system that suits the team, they might hit 85 points, getting them well clear of the league basement, which they do NOT want to do just yet. Start the climb next season; let this one be another bottom-five finish.
The rule changes allow teams to send one of their 19-year-olds to the AHL. I have no problem if the Canucks decide to let Braeden Cootes cook for a year in Abbotsford. Heck, if they want Tom Willander to get top-pair minutes, he can go, too. Zeev Buium is probably here to stay, but otherwise, keeping the kids away from what's going to be a hard year? Livable.
Besides, if the kids are suddenly going to find their feet and take off? Let them do it where they can't risk Vancouver's draft position. For one more year, anyway.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and while I was rather skeptical of the Sedin twins/Ryan Johnson hiring from the outset, I’m prepared now to be wrong.
In fact, some of the moves Johnson made in the last few days has put me in the uncomfortable position of feeling vaguely optimistic, which as a long-term Canucks fan invariably means I am failing to insulate myself from the inevitable disappointment that follows.
More than anything, I am heartened that the Vancouver Canucks do, indeed, appear to have fully embraced a rebuild.
Firstly, a wee while back, I listed the eight things I thought the team needed to do in order to move forward. In summary:
So, five out of eight, with bonus points for booting Jim Rutherford to pasture and moving Marcus Pettersson.
On Wednesday, Thursday rendered some opinions on recent moves, so I’m going to go another direction and make the declaration that the best move made July 1 that benefits the Canucks was one the Canucks had nothing to do with.
Hands up if you figured that the Edmonton Oilers would be able to unload the oppressive Darnell Nurse contract onto some other team dumb enough to overpay large bills for a second pair left-shot D-man. Yet the Oilers not only managed to unload Nurse to the Sharks, but a) gathered two prospects in return and more importantly b) didn’t have to retain salary.
To reflect on the Nurse saga for a moment, the Oilers signed a staggering $9.25 million annual deal, for a left-shot D-man who logged solid minutes but never really delivered the kind of numbers one would expect for a $9.25 million-per-year contract. Nurse was supposed to be an offensive threat, first-pair, lead-your-team kinda guy and never really was. Nurse wasn’t bad, but his efforts just could never match the salary, which led to all sorts of discontent with the fan base. Let me know when this sounds familiar, hmm?
The Nurse deal cracks open the window of potentiality to suggest – tantalizingly, perhaps – that at some point in the near future, some team might be willing to eat EP40’s contract and overpay for a defensively capable (when he doesn’t fall down) second-line centre who will probably chip in 70-80 points a year, but comes with baggage courtesy of a he-ain’t-worth-that $11.6 million price tag. The similarities are apparent.
It’s also somewhat refreshing to hear the new brass say, in fairly blunt terms, that Pettersson (the floppy forward) has not put in the summer work that a $11.6-million-per-year player should to meet the potential suggested by said contract.
My read at this moment is that the Canucks are going to give EP 40 one more chance to turn his failing career around, one more year to show something of the 100-point-per-year guy he once was. It is more than obvious that the Canucks had a woeful culture problem, and frankly, it’s also more than obvious that EP 40 is part of that problem. Now, I suspect, he’s going to have one year to change, to show that he hasn’t simply become the Canucks’ Darnell Nurse. But the Nurse deal suggests that if the right calls are mode, Johnson can move Pettersson to someone else without being utterly fleeced in the process.
The Hockey Gods have not been kind to Vancouver in the past, but the Montreal Canadiens gave Vancouver a prime prize in the form of Brendan Gallagher. Frankly, when I first read the details of the deal I had to pause for a moment and confirm with a secondary source because the idea of Montreal trading Gallagher for future considerations and retaining half his salary seemed absurd. Gallagher seems the kind of pepper-pot, never-stop guy that will do everything Conor Garland did on the energy-and-effort side of the equation.
Folks in the media have called the deal “free,” but I’m placing a lot of stock in the “future considerations” part of the piece, because it suggests that Johnson has made a quiet pledge to pick up the phone and call Montreal first if an asset feels like moving. Put a pin in that, because my spidey sense is tingling with a “let’s see if someone in Canuck colours moves to Montreal at or near the deadline if Montreal is in a strong playoff position at that time” kind of vibe. Think “hey, your goaltender is injured/not performing, but we have one we can flog you,” or – dare to dream – “we’ve got an overpaid but really good defensive second-line centre for that playoff run who is waiving his no-trade clause.”
Hands up if you were stunned at Marcus Pettersson being traded, because that came out of the blue. The fact Johnson peddled that for a 2030 first-rounder (which essentially means that Pettersson retained his value despite having a sucky year under Foote’s catastrophe of a “system”) tells me that the management is really thinking about the future. The player that pick will become is barely in puberty at this moment, and unless said pick is of the “can’t miss, plays at 19” class, won’t be in the lineup until the mid 2030s. That’s forward-thinking with vengeance.
Moving Nils Hoglander was good. Signing credible character athletes to short-term contracts that do not have full trade protection is a thankful sign that Johnson will not repeat the mistakes of the previous administrations. They didn’t hold on to Joseph. I trust Evander Kane won’t be involved in any future discussions, other than “good riddance to bad rubbish.”
Is there merit in re-signing Derek Forbort? The Jamie Oleksiak deal makes Forbort expendable, so probably not.
When will the team move Drew O'Connor?
Is Max Sasson a deadline trade chip?
Can EP40 be stripped of his alternate captaincy?
We got some picks, we got a trade, we're looking forward!
To be completely clear: I am not an NHL scout. Yes, I see some tape, but those tend to be highlight reels, which only show the best of a player, not the whole player. I read and heard a lot of scouting reports from folks who do the actual work, some public, some pay. What you're reading here is a combination of what I've read, heard, and seen, but it's other people putting in the real work. If you want more, hunt them down and definitely check out tape for yourself. It's fun!
Now, without further ado, what the Vancouver Canucks did done:
With the first draft under GM Ryan Johnson complete, what can we glean of their intent? Actions speak louder than words, and we haven't seen a whole lot of on-ice choices yet. This is, essentially, our first chance to see what the White Collars are thinking.
The odds-on favourite to go first to Vancouver went first to Vancouver. A lot of smoke was billowing in the week leading up to Draft Day, but when it cleared, Caleb Malhotra was their pick. There are loads of reasons to like Malhotra, on and off the ice. The phrase "future captain" comes up a LOT in his scouting reviews.
Clearly, the team decided to go to the centre instead of defence, but it is a rational decision. They didn't reach for him because there were a half-dozen players you could justify taking. Funny thing is, the player I thought of with last year's selection of Braden Cootes was "Bo Horvat light". With Malhotra, it's "imaginative Bo Horvat".
The same critique of Horvat sits on Malhotra: his skating. He knows where he needs to go, and he skates well enough to get there. And that's about it for criticism. He's very good defensively, proactive in breaking up plays and knocking people off the puck. He can pass it up and out, ideally following a teammate in and getting the return pass in the offensive zone. He protects the puck well, plays on the boards, and can score.
His floor is an excellent, third-line centre who desperate teams might move to the first. His ceiling is an excellent second-line centre that an average team has on the first. You know: Bo Horvat.
The Canucks got, possibly, a steal? Lots of scouting types were very happy with Vancouver picking up Adam Novotný at 24. Craig Button had him at 26, but the vast majority of pre-draft lists put Novotný in the mid-teens. He absolutely looks like an NHL player, little doubt there. Sturdy guy, decent skater, plays the body well, and his best offence is to get the puck off someone, skate in and shoot.
Hopefully, that straightforward game doesn't just translate well to the NHL but is the basis for some more imaginative play. Malhotra will occasionally take risks and try something different to see if he can pull it off, while Novotný takes a safer route. That "safer route" is for him, obviously, not his opponents. They're going to have a generally bad time getting past him/out of their zone if he catches them with the puck.
His NHL calling card might leave him in the bottom-six as a floor. With the right linemates, he can be the guy who plays puck retriever for the top line as his ceiling.
An 18-year-old giant at 6'7" and 236 lbs, it's a bit tough not to give Brooks Rogowski some grace. There's being awkward after a growth spurt, then there's being 6'7" at 18. At the start of the year, he looked like a guy who could reliably put in the work on the defensive side. As the season went on and he got more comfortable, he started doing things like controlling mid-air passes and no-look passes.
He's confirmed to Michigan State in two years, staying in Oshawa for 2026-26. Oshawa was lousy offensively last season and the worst team in the league. That situation can give Rogowski a lot of opportunities. It will be very interesting to see how he develops from here - and what his coaches ask of him.
Who's up for learning the Viking Row? Niklas Aaram-Olsen is the first Norwegian drafted by Vancouver, and if he makes it, will be the first to play for them. But he wasn't drafted for Pokémon reasons. Here's what he does:
I don't put a whole lot into the draft combine, but Aaram-Olsen shows up in the results repeatedly. Third in the Wingate power output test; third in the 10 metre sprint; first in the shuttle agility test, both left and right sides; seventh in bench press; tenth in hands-on-hips, no arm swing jump; and first in the standing long jump. The guy's got a physique, and he's not afraid to use it! But what's all that mean on the ice?
He's decently fast, but more than that, he's very quick. He breaks ankles when he's carrying the puck. He also has a variety of shots and gets it off at different angles, leaving goalies guessing. The risk is that he might think that those skills are enough. He played 16 SHL games last year and takes the defensive side seriously when lined up against men, but it came at the cost of his offence.
Dmitri Ivchenko played in the MHL (the Russian equivalent of the AHL) as a backup for a very good Omskie Yastreby team. He has a .922 goals against average, which sounds incredible until you realize that puts him 30th in the league overall. It's still good, but make sure you know what the stats mean when you read them.
His selling points are being a calm character. When he's in position, he has excellent control of his extremities, snapping his hands and feet into a blocking position. He does have issues outside the posts, losing track of the puck up high, and if he has to move side-to-side, he can go past his posts. Everyone remembers Arturs Silovs' second year, right? Thing is, we probably won't see Ivchenko for another three years - and that's if he agrees to go to Abbotsford. Who we'll see then is a bit of a mystery.
So first things first. Yaroslav Bryzgalov is not a good skater. And he also plays a fast game. These aren't the opposites they seem.
Bryzgalov is big in a phone booth, a player you can trust to win the puck when the battle takes place in four square feet along the boards. He's also a very good passer and knows where the puck should go before he gets it. If any opponent isn't paying attention, he'll make them play. One or two hits from him, and the entire team starts looking over their shoulders.
If he can get his foot speed up, even a little, he can get NHL minutes, though probably on the fourth line.
What's an NHL team without a Connor these days? Connor Davis is a perpetual motion machine, always skating after the puck. He likes to attack defencemen directly, and when the puck gets to the net, he'll buzz around it, looking for a jam, a wrap-around, any opportunity to get it across the line.
A re-entry, like Bryzgalov, he's a bit older than most players taken, so there's some concern he's as big as he's going to get. Still, 6' even is plenty big enough for an agitator, and he's heading to North Dakota next year to improve his skills.
When the draft gets past the 150-mark, you get players like Lucian Bernát. The 6'4", 200 lbs Bernát had an excellent statistical year in the Finnish U20 league for a rookie. His shoot-first mentality led to him being the second-highest scorer on the team. But that scoring dried up in the playoffs, and he ended up in penalty trouble instead of helping the team. He does love making contact as part of his game, but it's also a matter of timing.
We'll get a closer look this season when he joins Owen Sound.
"It's late, grab a big Swede and let's go."
-Imagined conversation among Canucks scouts at every draft
That's not entirely fair, but there are years when it feels like it. Eriksson is, indeed, a 6'6" Swede, and his focus is on defence. His first thought is to pin some poor forward that's fallen within his reach, but his second thought is to overthink it. His physical tools are plentiful, but his mind is not up to speed just yet. Practice and time might get him there, but he's drafted in the sixth round for a reason.
Yes, GM Johnson pulled off his first NHL trade on Day Two of the draft! It was:
A sixth-round pick from the 2026 draft, #161 overall, for a fifth-round pick in 2027, TBD
That is, technically, moving up in the draft. Eh, we'll take it.
Well. THAT was interesting.
Nine - NINE - first-round picks changed hands in the past three days. go back to Friday, and it's been a half-dozen big moves in the days leading up to the 2026 NHL entry draft. The Vancouver Canucks haven't dipped their toes in yet, but you can bet they're paying attention.
Vancouver is probably the only team that is starting a rebuild this year. They should be pure sellers on talent, but they don't need to sell everything now. This is a long-term project, and the first phase of it will be done over a few years, not a few weeks.
That all being said, these prices have been something amazing. A relatively weak draft year plus a predictably increasing salary cap should have been plenty of impetus for trades, but this shit's crazy. This website being what it is, let's take a look at what those moves were and how they affected Vancouver's plans.
To Toronto Maple Leafs:
Darren Raddysh sign-and-trade
To Tampa Bay Lightning:
2026 5th round pick, #133 overall
So, most players who don't make it to the NHL until they're 25 don't get 8 x $8.5 million contracts. Raddysh has played three full seasons, and they've been good seasons. Last year was his breakout, getting 22 goals and 70 points with Tampa Bay. He's also 30 years old, which is an interesting age at which to sign an eight-year deal.
They got this one in early enough to get that eight-year deal, as the rules are changing for 2026-27. Tampa essentially got an agent's "finder's fee" for arranging the deal with Toronto. And now the Leafs can move the slightly older Morgan Rielly.
Effect on Vancouver:
If the Canucks do get a fortune offer for Filip Hronek, Rielly could fill in to some degree. But neither one of those is likely to happen. He apparently has given a list of four teams he'll agree to move to in the West, so I suppose that's an effect?
To Seattle Kraken:
To Florida Panthers:
2026 1st round pick, #25 overall
2027 2nd round pick, TBD
We covered this deal last column, and it's a swing by a team looking to make an impression soon. If Samoskevich pans out, that'll help Seattle. It's a bit hard to see him as a first-line guy, but if it worked for Vancouver getting JT Miller out of Tampa Bay, maybe the younger version will work for the Kraken.
Effect on Vancouver:
I mean, we're all expecting Seattle to be better than Vancouver for a few years, right? In an ideal world, Samoskevich is starring on a Kraken team trying to keep the Canucks out of the playoffs in three or four years. Otherwise? *shrug*
To Florida Panthers:
To Ottawa Senators:
2026 1st round pick, #9 overall
2026 1st round pick, #25 overall
2027 2nd round pick, TBD
2029 1st round pick, TBD, top-10 protected
For a forced deal, that's a pretty good haul for the Senators! They want to improve quickly, and draft picks this year aren't going to do that. But those same picks are cash money, as we'll see.
Effect on Vancouver:
Since the Canucks have neither a Brady Tkachuck, nor an interest in giving away picks, not much. A very specific situation at a very specific moment in time.
To Calgary Flames:
To New Jersey Devils:
Etienne Morin
2026 2nd round pick, #35 overall
2027 1st round pick, top-10 protected
2028 1st round pick, top-10 protected twice (it's complicated)
The Devils are losing a guy who isn't all that happy with them in 22-year old RHD Nemec. Fair enough, they keep bringing in better defencemen. Or at least ones they've given more opportunities to, which is where the unhappiness lies.
Tsyplakov is an interesting player. He's only been in the league for a couple seasons, starting his career on Long Island with a bang (and crash) before getting moved to New Jersey. From 35 points in his first year to just four in his second, we don't really know where he'll end up. He is a very physical player, strong on the boards and as a net-front presence.
Morin split time between the AHL and ECHL last season, but he is just 21. There's time for the young defender to course-correct yet.
Effect on Vancouver:
The Flames just got a bunch more annoying to play against. Great.
To Ottawa Senators:
Kasper Halttunen
Brandon Svoboda
To San Jose Sharks:
2026 1st round pick, #9 overall
I don't think I've mentioned it here yet, but Sharks general manager Mike Grier has, I think, done a phenomenal job with San Jose. His teardown of the team was remorseless when needed, but his thoughtfulness about protecting the young stars is also exemplary. He's taken swings when he can, but importantly he's had the resources to do so. We'll see how he continues with the tougher portion of the program: returning to contention.
Eklund is the draw here, obviously. Halttunen put in a good showing in the AHL, but he and NCAA forward Svoboda are still prospects. Eklund won't replace everything Brady Tkachuk brings, but that's for better and worse. He's a bit younger, a bunch cheaper, and not as prone to penalty trouble. But he doesn't have anything like Tkachuk's physical presence, and hasn't put up the same scoring numbers - yet.
Effect on Vancouver:
San Jose will almost certainly pick the best player available - they usually do - so Ivar Stenberg isn't making it to #3. Sorry, Canucks fans.
To Washington Captials:
To St Louis Blues:
Milton Gästrin
2026 1st round pick, #16 overall
Seriously? Kyrou FINALLY got traded? Smoke 'em if you got 'em, folks! It's been, what, five years he's been on the trade boards, either at the deadline or in the offseason? Maybe six? Well, he's got to be relieved that it's over, whether he wanted to get dealt away or not.
McMichael has been a decent young centre, but he's been passed on the depth chart by similarly-aged players. He should be a top-six centre with the Blues. Gästrin has played a single game in North America, so it's wait and see for him.
Effect on Vancouver:
The Blues moved Kyrou, which is great for the Canucks. But they also have four first-round picks this draft. They aren't finished yet.
To Chicago Blackhawks:
To Buffalo Sabres:
2026 1st round pick, #4 overall
2026 2nd round pick, #45 overall
Chicago certainly got tougher to play against, and their defence certainly improved a large amount. How much, you ask? Louis Crevier was the Blackhawks' highest defensive scorer last season, that's how much. Crevier isn't a bad player, exactly, but he's not going to be a needle-mover.
This looks like a deal where someone told management that Connor Bedard was considering how long to sign his second contract for and they panicked. Byram and Greenway make their team better, but they are both unrestricted free agents next year.
Effect on Vancouver:
Counting the days until 2030 when Bedard becomes a free agent. Still, maybe Chicago will improve enough that the Canucks won't accidentally pass them this season.
Alex Tuch to Washington? Hoo, boy. I'm gonna be doing a few of these this week, never mind a draft recap.
Hat tip to PuckPedia, of course
Interesting times, with a week yet to go before Draft Day(s)! The NHL announced not just an increase in the salary cap, but what that increase will be over the next three seasons. Rich teams are looking for innovative ways to spend it, and smaller teams are trying to take advantage. Vancouver is in the in-between, being a rich team but also selling players. The only question is who, and when. Okay, fine, two questions.
Jason Dickinson isn't a bad player.* The 30-year-old centre has pretty good speed, runs around 50% in the circle, and can kill penalties in a pinch. He'll get you about 25 points in your bottom-six, which is...some. That he is also, apparently, a five-year, $20 million man to the Edmonton Oilers certainly highlights what effect the increased cap space will have on the league.
Darren Raddysh's sign-and-trade let the Tampa Bay Lightning salvage a fifth-round pick for a player they couldn't keep. How delighted he'll be with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the next eight seasons is unknown, but for $68 million, it's worth finding out.
Looking at those numbers can give any of us Olds sticker shock. Since when is $4 million a year the going price for a mediocre, bottom-six centre? And since when are teams giving bottom-six players five-year deals? And wasn't Edmonton in a perpetual cap crunch? And... Wait, where's Jack Roslovic? And as for Raddysh, at least he's been a top-pair defenceman and has a hammer of a shot. But he's also 30 years old and has all of three full NHL seasons under his belt. Toronto currently has $32 million tied up in their top-six defencemen. That's probably going to change soon.
The common thread between these teams is their stars. Auston Matthews has two years left on his contract; Connor McDavid has two left on his. The free agent lists are sparse, to say the least, so a team feeling the pressure to improve finds other ways to do it. How can Vancouver take advantage of that?
For the Canucks, neither of these deals is a good example of what they can do in moving players. Dickinson was already with Edmonton, and Raddysh was unrestricted and had the hammer. If he didn't want to go to a team, he couldn't stop the deal, but he could wait two weeks and sign anywhere else. No one on Vancouver's roster matches those conditions.
Useful as Teddy Blueger is, if he gets offered Jason Dickinson money (can't believe I typed that), it won't be by the Canucks. And given the total lack of interest at the trade deadline, Vancouver's not getting a big return from someone wanting to talk to him early.
Much more interesting is the recent Seattle Kraken - Florida Panthers deal. Mackie Samoskevich brought Florida a later first and an unknown second. Samoskevich is a 23-year-old, fourth-line winger who played some centre in junior. Seattle is almost certainly going to offer him a long-term deal in hopes that, as he ages and gets more opportunity, he will become a good value contract. He's been very productive in limited ice time, so maybe it'll translate, maybe not. But even if it falls through, Dickinson set the salary bar for guys who get limited ice time.
Seattle paid a high price, but Samoskevich's age warranted it. Yes, they're taking some risk in giving up two picks, but they also believe they are ready to improve. They want to become playoff regulars and are willing to pay for it. It's not a position that Vancouver will be in for at least four or five seasons, but when they are, they'll need Seattle's currency: draft picks.
Florida isn't a team that's building for the future. Look at their PuckPedia page, and "23" isn't an age that appears until you reach ECHL defenceman Evan Nause. This is a team of 30-year-olds and a few who are close to it. Anton Lundell is their youngest player of consequence at 24. Their first-round picks over the next three years are gone. So, no, this isn't a team thinking of winning in four or five years. Closer to ten.
Don't get me wrong! They're going to ride their current horses until they break a leg, but the team knows that's only so far. Father Time remains undefeated, no matter what the weirdly glisteny billionaires tell themselves.
This is the sort of time frame I want to see the Canucks employ.
New GM Ryan Johnson and new coach Manny Malhotra each have three-year deals. That's fine, so long as no one pretends this team will be good in three years. In three years, we want to see progress on the foundation of a team ready to compete. Depth in the minors, young stars establishing themselves under the guidance of a few veterans who know they'll get moved on, that sort of thing. But I also want to see draft picks waiting for us in the future.
We need them now, yes, and I want to see them get some more if they can now. They can come in 2027, 2028, or beyond; I don't particularly care. The ones in the next few years are getting used by the team, ideally on picks, rarely in trade. I don't want to see them bundle later selections so they can move up a few spots, I really don't. Certainly not in this draft, where even the top five prospects are all over the place on scouting lists, never mind the top fifty.
My priority here and anywhere else I've written about the Canucks has been trying to understand management's decisions. No one does things that don't make sense to them, so why did they trade for Erik Gudbranson? Why did they choose J.T. Miller instead of Bo Horvat? Why did they give Bruce Boudreau an option year, shocking the general manager they wanted to hire?
Understanding their decisions is harder with some moves than with others, but they always make sense to the person who does them. What I want from the team is to see understandable moves. I don't want to work hard at this anymore. I'm inherently lazy. I want it to be not only easy to follow along, but I also want to smile while doing it. Something long-term, outlasting Johnson's and Malhotra's contracts, but earning them renewals. The playoffs can frikkin' wait.
Beyond anything else, I want to see a plan. And I want to see it take shape with this draft, right now.
Let's go!
*I hesitate to call anyone who makes it to the NHL a bad player. Go watch John Scott skate with university players, and you'll see what I mean.
A resolution to the biggest question for the Vancouver Canucks' future might not be a big deal after all.
Lemme explain.
On straight talent, Elias Pettersson is the most skilled skater the Canucks have. With Quinn Hughes gone, it's a one-person list. The good news is that he's signed for the next six seasons. The bad news is the previous two seasons.
Two years with just 15 goals in each is atrocious, given who he is supposed to be. He scored 27 in his rookie and sophomore seasons, just by comparison, and those are his third and fourth least productive years. Even Pettersson's much-vaunted defensive game slipped, with his even-strength Corsi dropping below 50% in 2024-25. It plummeted to 46.8% last year, but whose didn't?*
It's been a precipitous drop from the century-mark high of 2022-23. Successful as it was for him, the year felt...odd. The new management had decided to go with J.T. Miller instead of longtime captain Bo Horvat, signing him to a 7 x $8 million extension before the season began. They left Horvat dangling for months before finally trading him away at the end of January. Management announced that coach Bruce Boudreau was a lame duck before the season began, but waited 48 games to fire him, a week before the Horvat trade.
Obviously, a huge "changing of the guard" happened. Rick Tocchet came in, Hughes was named captain for the 2023-24 season, and Pettersson was going into his RFA year. Now, he said in the off-season that he wanted to wait until the season was over before negotiating a new deal. Management seemed to agree. But both management and Pettersson were asked about a potential deal repeatedly throughout the year. That made sense, as the team had obviously improved, and it was going to be the most expensive deal in Canucks history, whenever it happened.
It was still a flat cap world then, and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin wanted to know what they could spend in the coming years. Getting Pettersson's deal done was vital. Meetings carried on between the White Collars and his agent from July 1st in 2023 right until the end of February, a week before the trade deadline. But a month before the deal was done, things got really interesting.
Just after the All-Star break, rumours leaked out of a potential trade with the Carolina Hurricanes. Then of possible short-term contracts instead of an eight-year one. In public, Rutherford and Allvin said how much they wanted Pettersson to stay. Pettersson, for his part, continued to say he wanted to wait until the season was over before he talked contract.
On the ice, clearly, Miller was feeling the pressure of being The Guy early. Regular outbursts, breaking his sticks, and taking bad penalties had him riding pine early in the year. But Tocchet still heaped praise on him, calling him an "emotional leader" for the team.
We know early in the 2024-25 season, Miller and Pettersson had a confrontation at practice. Word got around that the coaching staff - with the approval of management - encouraged players to "toughen up" Pettersson. It's unlikely that it started in the 2024 training camp, but well before then, and we don't know what was said in the dressing room. But we do know there were factions, with Horvat on one side and Miller on the other. Given how each player approaches the game, that's hardly surprising. We also know how much Tocchet loves Miller and who he would back if there were a divide on the team.
It's not hard to add Pettersson's reluctance to sign, the pressure to do so from management, and his treatment at work together.
Gonna talk about myself a little. Skip this bit if you want.
When I was very young - ten-ish - I was a pretty good student. School was fun, and I liked the challenges there and all the new things to discover. Not the best student in the world, but pretty good. Went into Grade Five and had a seat at the front of the class. (Don't worry, this will be over soon.) Teacher assigned some "circle the answer" homework on the first day, and I forgot to do it. Next day, he asked where it was, and I said it wasn't done.
He threw my desk across the room. Leaned into my face and bellowed for me to get out of his class.
So I was crying outside his classroom - two other kids joined me there - when he came out and chuckled at me. "What are you crying for?" He explained that he wasn't going to hurt me, obviously. He just needed to make an example of someone at the start of the year. Now I should go on back to my desk, and we'll carry on with the day. Well, with an explanation like that, what would your average ten-year-old do?
I moved myself to the back of the class and never did homework for him. Always tried to get the work done during the school day, however much was assigned. If I didn't get some done, too bad, it didn't get done. Studied and did great on tests, which helped average out my grades enough to pass. Then I got him again for Grade Six, so that sucked.
What I DIDN'T do was become a better student, because fuck him. I didn't respect him, and he didn't deserve it. I also didn't tell any other students or teachers, or my increasingly frustrated parents, because I was raised to handle stuff by myself. A terrible, self-sabotaging decision, but whaddya want? I was ten.
You can probably see where I'm going with this.
Late in January of 2024, Tocchet gave a rare public rebuke for Pettersson's play. It was deserved for the game, an overtime loss to St. Louis, where he was held pointless. But Tocchet also said he hadn't liked Pettersson's play "for the last three or four games." "We gotta get him going," and "we'll get him going" sound slightly ominous in retrospect. In the next game, the last in January, he scored two goals and three points. After that, well, it changed.
For that one month, Pettersson scored 14 goals and 21 points in 13 games. For the rest of the year, he scored seven goals and 25 points in 33 games. He pulled a few three-point games, but a lot more zero-point ones were showing up. That the best stretch of games he's played since that January was the fifteen points in ten games when Miller took a personal leave in 2024-25 doesn't seem like a coincidence.
Speaking of which, that 2024-25 season was a disastrous, turmoil-filled year for a team that somehow held on to respectability, finishing out of the playoffs with 90 points. But it was pretty clear they were going nowhere fast.
For 2025-26, Tocchet declined a return. Management took a couple high-risk swings at Filip Chytil and Evander Kane. They hoped some stability would emerge by keeping Adam Foote behind the bench. The injury gods were not kind, resulting in Linus Karlsson being the team's second-highest scoring centre. Great for him, but not so great for the team. Hughes was traded, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Petersson's form was slowly returning. In his first 28 games of the year, he scored a reasonably solid eight goals and 22 points. Then, not only was he injured, but his wife of six months suffered a miscarriage. After that terrible personal loss, a team reduced to one and a half centres, and a comically condensed schedule, this season hasn't been the best gauge of his abilities. He managed just 12 points in his first 21 games back after the Christmas break, then another 12 in the 16 after the Olympic break, then just five points in April's nine games to finish the year.
Here's the crux: if you want to trade Elias Pettersson the Forward, then this is possibly the worst possible year to do so.
His offensive numbers are rock-bottom; he's got another six years to go and a No Move Clause for all of it; and he's getting paid less money this season than he did the last or will the next. With the team expecting to lose some casual fans during the rebuild, paying $3.5 million less for one player sounds great!
There is simply no way to recoup the level of talent he has in a trade because no one knows if he can get back to that level again. You're not trading a 100-point player; you're trading a former 100-point player. And in this, of all years, there certainly isn't a free agent worth pursuing to fill the gap.
Can Pettersson come back to what he was? My opinion hasn't changed since last season's preview: I think at his best, he'll be close to a point-per-game, very good defensive centre. But before he gets to being his best, there's a very important question to ask: Does he respect who he's playing for?
*Of the players who played more than 45 games? Linus Karlsson's. That's it.
