3 Changes that Canucks need to make to return to the playoffs – Hockey Writer – Vancouver Canucks
What’s the difference in a year? Entering the 2024-25 season, the Vancouver Canucks won the Stanley Cup with +2200 online betting. Now, they are +5000, and only the boldest gamblers can place them, eliminating the Florida Panthers from the throne they have sat on for the past two seasons.
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From Grace’s fall to Canucks Nation around the first collapse on Opening Night, when they led 4-1 to Calgary’s flames to dramas surrounding two biggest stars JT Miller and Elias Pettersson. At the end of the season, Miller was traded back to the New York Rangers, while Karnak lost 19 points and missed the playoffs. They also completed one of the worst offenses in the league and scored a horrible record on the home ice.
So, what things do the Ganaks need to change to back up the rankings and regain their position among the NHL elite? Let’s dive.
Rogers Arena needs to become difficult to play again
Last season, the Canucks struggled at home and ended with a record of 17-16-8. Their fans disappointed Rogers Arena 25 times and had to endure a lot of blowouts. Choose a statistic and they suck it. From 127-112 to 3.10 goals to losing eight times in overtime/gun battle, it was a blessing to get on the road. Their Jekyll and Hyde’s performances continued through most of the season as they looked like two completely different teams between family and road.
This is in stark contrast to last season, where the Knacks were almost unparalleled on the home ice, keeping one number in the 27-9-5 loss. Their dominance on the walls of Rogers Arena is a big reason why they not only made the playoffs, but also won the Edmonton Oilers’ Pacific Division. If they can regain this somehow, it would be a big help to attribute last season’s drama and disappointment to the past.
Without Miller, the Canucks’ top six didn’t look as shocking as the league talked about in 2023-24. But that doesn’t mean it’s not capable this season and lead the team back to the playoffs. If Pettersson and Brock Boeser can rediscover their former elites themselves and reach 100 points and 40 goals again, the top six’s turn from average to boundary elites. Why? Because it also means Evander Kane or Jake DeBrusk could also have 30-35 goals, which brings three 30-target scorers to Ganak. And if the combination of Filip Chytil, Conor Garland, Nils Hoglander and Kiefer Sherwood can score 20 goals with at least a few, the bottom offense of 2024-25 quickly rose to the height of 2023-24.
Most importantly, Pettersson and Boeser need to return to the NHL’s top 20 scorers to get the Canucks to smell it in the playoffs. If they don’t do that, and they’re similar to players last season (particularly Paterson, as Boeser still scored 25 goals), then there’s a big shoutout on where this team is going. The two are now locked as their core striker, both of them signing until 2032. It’s time to make them the Canucks leaders and faces and help create a perennial playoff contender similar to the same positions Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi and Todd Bertuzzi and Henrik and Daniel Sedin in the 2000s and 2010.
Thatcher Demko and Filip Chytil need to stay healthy
Entering the 2025-26 season, the Canucks have two players with huge question marks on health: Chytil and Thatcher Demko. The good news is that both are reportedly able to train properly without encountering obstacles. Demko played only 23 games last season as he first started to get a muscle injury that plagued him from last offseason, then handled the linebacker and low body injuries, and then ended up being shut down due to illness. He issued a considerable 10-8-3 record with 2.90 goal average (GAA) and .889 percent savings (SV%), but obviously never 100%.
When Demko was healthy, he was one of the best goalkeepers in the NHL, which was his 2023-24 season, when he was a finalist for Vezina Trophy. If he can leave his previous injury history behind and start at least 50 games, with Kevin Lankinen playing the rest, the Canucks will have one of the highest tandems in the league. His return to full-time crease alone could push them back to the playoffs.
As for Chytil, he is currently inserted in the second-tier center on the deep list, with all signs that he will stay there to start the season. He certainly has the ability to seize the opportunity and compete with it, as he seemed to have acquired his attack status from the New York Rangers in February, thus changing the Garnerx’s offense. His speed and transitional game make the team look faster and more dangerous, which will be key to participating in this season’s tough Western Conference.
According to NHL Edge, Chytil ranked 90% of the 90th percentile at the highest skating speed (23.15 mph), and the 93rd outbreak of speed exceeded 20 mph (184), making him one of the fastest skaters on the roster. If he can stay healthy for most of the season, that speed will be valuable to the top six. However, if he last played 70 games, it was a big game, which was in the 2002-23 game, when he hit a career-high (74), goals (22), assists (23) and points (45). But if he did, and could copy or surpass the offense he showed that season, the Karnaks wouldn’t have second-line center issues and would be closer to returning to the playoffs.
The Garners may be surprised this season
The Canucks will push them back to the playoff conversation this season. While Pettersson and Boeser are the top 20 scorers and Demko and Chytil staying healthy is a recognized optimistic and best scenario, it is not like the area where it is possible. At the end of the season, we might be surprised and see playoff hockey again in Vancouver in 2026.
