Canucks Face Early Challenges: Can They Regain Control of the Pacific?

Photo Credit: Bob Frid/Imagn Images

The Vancouver Canucks have had an eventful start to the 2024–25 National Hockey League (NHL) season. With Thatcher Demko's lengthy knee injury still casting a shadow over the team, among other hardships affecting the Canucks' performance, Vancouver fans have been left questioning whether the team can replicate last season’s success.

The 2023–24 season was a standout year for the Vancouver Canucks. They finished first in the Pacific Division and third in the Western Conference, with 109 points. Although the Canucks beat the Nashville Predators four games to two in the first round of the playoffs, their season came to an end after a second round Game 7 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

After the successful playoff run, Vancouver had a busy offseason. The Canucks signed left-wingers Jake DeBrusk (Boston Bruins), Kiefer Sherwood (Nashville), and Danton Heinen (Boston), along with defensemen Derek Forbort (Boston) and Vincent Desharnais (Edmonton) via free agency. 

DeBrusk has performed well, scoring 14 goals and nine assists, the most of any player on the team this year. Sherwood, a skilled sniper, is known for his physical play. He leads the NHL in hits (physical contact between players that results in a change of possession) with an impressive 184, while also contributing 17 points. Sherwood scored his first career hat trick (three or more goals in a game) on Dec. 16 against the Colorado Avalanche, with the final score being 3-1 in favour of the Canucks. Danton Heinen has also looked good, tallying 12 points. On the defensive side, Derek Forbort was in the injured reserve with a lower-body injury for a while, so he’s only collected one assist. Desharnais is struggling to make an impact, recording just two assists.

The Canucks also signed right-winger Daniel Sprong from Detroit. He got off to a strong start, scoring the Canucks' first goal of the season in their home opener — a 6–5 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames. 

Despite that, Vancouver decided to trade him to the Seattle Kraken, his former team, on Nov. 8, in exchange for future considerations. Before the Sprong trade, the Canucks made another move on Oct. 6, acquiring Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Brannstrom in exchange for Tucker Poolman and a fourth-round draft pick. Brannstrom has been fitting in well in Vancouver, with three goals and four assists.

Goalie Thatcher Demko finished last season with a career high of 35 wins, including a 2.45 goals against average (GAA), and a save percentage of .918. His dominance fell short when he injured his knee in the first round of playoffs.

Since Demko’s return date was unknown during the offseason, the Canucks turned to Kevin Lankinen, signing the Nashville goaltender to an $875,000, year-long deal as the main starter. He was a key player in helping Vancouver stay competitive without Demko, maintaining a record of 14-4-3, a 2.52 GAA, a save percentage of .912, with the addition of three shutouts. Lankinen also became the first goalie in NHL history to start a season 10-0-0 on the road.

Arturs Silovs, who was the star of last year’s playoff run, had a hard time in the net, registering a disappointing record of 1-4-1 as the previous backup goalie before 

Demko’s recovery from his injury. He has a 4.11 GAA and an .847 save percentage with Vancouver. Silovs was sent down to the Abbotsford Canucks, the Vancouver Canucks’ minor league affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). This move was made ahead of the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 8.

Forward Elias Pettersson has been another one of Vancouver’s hot topics recently. His rough performance during last year’s playoffs and the first few games of this season have left Canucks fans doubting that the 26-year-old is really worth an eight-year, $11.6 million contract. In his first ten games the year, he recorded just four points, with one goal. Last year, he had five goals, tallying 19 points. Due to this slump, fans have left negative and discouraging comments on his social media. 

Then, in mid-November, Pettersson stated in a Swedish interview: “I have removed all [of] my social media, which is nice because I’m not walking around wasting time on scrolling the internet. I also get more [work] done at home. It’s very nice not to read [comments] and check Instagram. I [will] live my life and try to turn my season around.” Since he “logged off”, it’s evident that he’s improved to his usual showing. So far, he has eight goals and 18 assists.

Additionally, Captain Quinn Hughes surpassed Alex Edler for the most assists in franchise history by a defenseman, with 318 in his career. Hughes currently leads the Canucks in points this season, with 35.

Four Canucks have been selected to play in the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off, a round-robin tournament between teams from Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the US, held in February 2025. Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller have been picked to play for the United States, Elias Pettersson was chosen for Sweden, and Kevin Lankinen will represent Finland. In addition, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet will serve as assistant coach for the Canadian team.

However, injuries have become a major setback for Vancouver. Luckily, Dakota Joshua has returned from cancer treatment. 

Additionally, right-winger Brock Boeser was called out of the lineup for a few games, after being illegally checked in the head by Los Angeles Kings forward Tanner Jeannot. Following the incident, Jeannot was suspended for three games. Last season, Boeser scored a career-high of 40 goals, and his absence has impacted the team’s performance. 

“I think [Brock’s] the best goal-scorer, and obviously a huge part of this team in terms of special teams and just the threat he is out in the ice,” DeBrusk said in an NHL press release. “So, obviously any time that he's not here, I haven't been accustomed to it, but you definitely feel it.” Luckily, Boeser made a quick recovery and returned to the ice on Nov. 26 in a game against the Boston Bruins. He has eight goals and 11 assists this season.

On Dec. 3, General Manager Patrik Allvin said that defenseman Filip Hronek has completed a successful lower-body surgery, and that he’lll return to play in about eight weeks. He suffered the injury during the final minutes of a game lost 5–4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 27. 

According to Sportsnet, he went shoulder-first into the end-boards after a hit from Penguin blueliner Jack St. Ivany. Allvin surgery for his injury won’t be needed. It’s still unknown when the treated lower-body incident occurred. Hronek is playing his third season in Vancouver, and has one goal and eight assists this year. 

Demko has made good progress in his recovery from the injury. Kevin Lankinen’s terrific performance made sure he didn’t rush his recovery. “First of all, I want to give ‘Lanks’ all the credit in the world, he's been unbelievable,” Demko said, according to an NHL update. “For me, I'm managing my expectations a little bit. I think it'd be foolish to say that I'm going to come back and be perfectly sharp [like before],” 

Demko has practiced with the Canucks for over a month, and on Dec. 6, the team announced that he had returned as backup goalie for Lankinen’s start against the Columbus Blue Jackets the same day, a 5-2 win. 

Fans in Vancouver got to see Demko’s first game back in Rogers Arena on Dec. 10 against the St. Louis Blues. Regardless of his 21 saves, the final score was 4-3  for St. Louis in overtime, and Demko started his season with a 0-0-1 record. ​​When asked about Demko’s comeback in a press interview, forward Conor Garland said, “Everybody knows his capabilities, I think he's the best in the world, so just to add a player of that stature back to your lineup is huge, and obviously we're super excited to have him back,” Demko is currently 1-1-1, has a GAA of 3.32 and a save percentage of .881 this season.

Derek Forbort’s 2024 season has been turbulent, with the 32-year-old blueliner playing a minimal amount of games. As previously mentioned, his lower-body injury has kept him sidelined, and the passing of his father led to him missing an additional six games in October. After an extended period away from the ice, Forbort made his return on Dec. 12 against the Florida Panthers, a 4-0 shutout win.

As if the injuries weren’t enough, the Canucks posted an official statement on Nov. 19 saying that J.T. Miller has left the team indefinitely for personal reasons. In the statement, Allvin said, “Right now, our sole focus is making sure that J.T. knows the entire organization is here to support him […] Out of respect to J.T., we will have no further comment [about it] at this time.” 

“Obviously, [J.T. Miller has left] a very big hole to fill. But we wish him well in his personal matter, and we're here to support him, the whole organization," Elias Pettersson told CBC News.

Then, on Dec. 12, Miller himself publicized that he will be playing against the Panthers on the same day. "I am playing tonight, and I really would appreciate [it] if we just stayed away from the reasons why I wasn't here," Miller said in a press interview. "I'm not going to dive into the reasons why I wasn't here the last three, four weeks. I'm excited to play. I want to play. And [it is] obviously a fun game to play against the defending champion [Florida].” 

“I'm excited. He's excited. The players are excited,” Rick Tocchet told reporters. “He's one of the best players in the league. So, when you get a guy back in the lineup like that, [it] means a lot.” Miller collected two assists in the 4-0 shutout.

As of publishing, the Canucks have a record of 16-9-5 (wins-losses-overtime losses), accumulating 37 points. They are fourth in the Pacific Division and seventh in the Western Conference, trailing behind the Oilers, the LA Kings, and the Vegas Golden Knights. On the same date last year, the Canucks had 44 points, and were ranked second in the Pacific Division and second in the Western Conference, demonstrating a more consistent start to the season.

Having passed the quartermark of the season, the Canucks must build on their strong 2023 performance to avoid taking a step back this year.