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 Co-Conspirators

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.

Duck Hunting

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.

LAME!

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.

Define "Coast"

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.

What About Us?

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.