The Vancouver Canucks finished outside of the playoff picture this past season, leading to some unanswered questions regarding the future of the club. With holes in the lineup still needing to be filled and certian players being relied upon to produce more, the 2025-26 season will be defined by whether the club can find answers to the lingering queries.
Can Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser have a resurgence?
A big part of the team's gameplan hinges on its top two forwards contributing at the highest level they're capable of, which saw some regression during the 2024-25 season.
Pettersson dropped from 34 goals and 89 points the year prior all the way down to 15 goals and 45 points in 64 games in 2024-25. The lowest point was a 15-game stretch during which he managed just 4 points right in the heart of the season, which was ultimately shortened due to injury. Boeser also dealt with a lingering injury at various points, lighting the lamp 25 times for a total of 50 points in 75 games.
Both of these players are proven 30-goal scorers, with Pettersson even cracking the 100-point mark just in 2022-23 and Boeser being one season removed from reaching the 40-goal plateau. The Canucks were an incredibly strong team when these guys were buzzing in the 2023-24 season, finishing as the Pacific Division champions, and the club's success is shaped around whether they can rise to the challenge.
How will the Canucks fill the gap in the second line center position?
With the departure of Pius Suter in free agency, Vancouver is now looking for a player to step in down the middle on the second line, and that's one area that has not been addressed during the offseason so far. It's a problem that will have to be solved via trade, which is going to be no easy task based on the thin market right now.
One player that could be a viable target is St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn, who has been rumored to be available dating back to the trade deadline in March. Schenn is an eight-time 20-goal scorer known for his two-way abilities, and would slot in perfectly alongside someone like Conor Garland. If the Canucks can find a way to accommodate his $6.5 million AAV salary out of their $3.27 million in cap space, that could be one of the best case scenarios.
Can promotions from within rise to the occasion?
Young prospects like Aatu Raty and Jonathan Lekkerimaki are poised to make the transition to being full-time NHLers this season, and after successful stints with the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks, there is reason to be optimistic. Raty tallied 40 points in 43 AHL games, chipping with with 11 points in 33 games with the big club in a fairly limited role. Especially with the concerns about depth at center, Raty has the perfect opportunity to play his way into a larger role.
However, Lekkerimaki in particular had his struggles adjusting to North American hockey at times and watched a few games from the press box before returning to the lineup with a two-goal outing en route to Abbotsford's Calder Cup championship. In the end, he tallied 28 points in 36 regular season games and 7 points in 16 playoffs matchups. Despite faltering a bit, Lekkerimaki is arguably the club's brightest prospect and could earn a consistent spot in the lineup this season.
Is this Quinn Hughes' last full season with the Canucks?
As the Canucks captain enters the penultimate year of his contract, there is speculation that he could be sent away via trade before he hits free agency in the summer of 2027. If that winds up being the case, it will affect the direction of the entire franchise.
Vancouver is at a fork in the road with Hughes and the team will need to prove to him that it is a desirable long-term destination. How can they do that, exactly? By stepping up and rebounding from a disappointing season that saw them miss out on the playoffs by just six points.
Is Vancouver a playoff team?
After being in the race until late in the season, even despite lackluster performances from the top stars, there is hope that the Canucks could make a return to the postseason in 2025-26.
The biggest obstacle is going to be how competitive the Western Conference and particularly the Pacific Division is. The Calgary Flames finished tied with the Blues in the standings, but missed out on the postseason due to a tiebreaker. That's a somewhat rare situation to be in, and it just further proves how tight the race is expected to be out West this year.
With perennial contenders like the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, and Vegas Golden Knights to battle it out with in the Pacific -- plus the Central Division's potential Wild Card clubs -- it will take a consistent, full-season effort to be in the mix for the playoffs. But if even some of these questions can be answered in an optimistic way, then Vancouver will be challenging other teams for a postseason berth.