Vancouver Canucks 2025-26 NHL Season Preview

Vancouver Canucks 2025-26 NHL Season Preview

Hello everybody and welcome to the hockey writer season previews. I’m Mike Thinken, usually in the hosting chair but now is uh covering the team that he covers. Matthew Zeter who covers the Vancouver Conucks and usually is on the hosting side of things. So uh I guess it’s a little weird that now I’m I’m on the side of things, but Matthew, uh how are you doing? How does it feel to uh be on the other side of the aisle? Every season I’m this way. So, uh, I never host the Kucks preview because I’m one of the only writers on the site. So, um, yeah, it’s a it’s weird feeling because I’m usually the host, but uh, happy to talk Kucks and, uh, upcoming season. Hopefully, it’s a better one than the last one. I was thinking about me hosting where it’s like I like being the backup back in the day when goalie started every game and they gave Ron to go the backup for just one start. I like taking on that role. But we’re talking about the Vancouver Conucks here and before we dive in, I just what’s the overall feeling around the Conucks heading into the season? Because every I guess the question is where where what how do they people view this season where either A is it like the 2023 24 season where they were the best in the Pacific or B where everything went wrong last season 24-25 and they missed the playoffs and of course they turn over everything. What’s the overall perception of this team before we dive in? Yeah, I mean it depends on what fan you asked, I think. And some are optimistic that, you know, all the injuries and the drama and all that stuff from last season is done now. JT Miller is not in the locker room. Leas Person seems to be good. We’ll obviously talk about him later on, but seems like he’s gone off season is uh going well for him. Seems like he’s reset. It’s I think the feeling is maybe cautious optimism. And then there’s others that are like, “Yeah, this this team’s nowhere. They’re they’re missing a bunch of stuff. They’re not they’re not going to be able to compete in the Pacific.” All that stuff. But I think it’s I think the overall feeling to me at least is is like a maybe a cautious optimism. I think that’s the word for it. And I think part of that cautious optimism, this leads into the forwards a bit, is the fact that they added they added a player like Evander Kane who I guess what’s interesting is that they added him. Vitalic Kraov’s there. And I think my opinion in addition is keeping Brock Ber because it looked like he was gone now he’s back. But the overall perception of the Ford unit is did it get better? Is it worse? I mean they lost JT Miller at the trade deadline. I think they traded away Dakota Joshua if I’m not mistaken. So what what’s the overall perception with when it comes to the Ford unit and more importantly does Vander Kane really change things where bringing him in uh as this wildcard type of player? Does he change things? Does he move that needle where all of a sudden the forward unit’s a great forward unit to watch out for? Yeah, Vander Kane’s an interesting one because well obviously didn’t play all of last season uh regular season. Did come back for the playoffs and looked okay like he did he still put up points but he took a lot of penalties. I think that’s was the biggest thing. He wasn’t as effective in that that he was just in the box too much. And I mean his physicality is is great but he’s got to stay out of the penalty box. that can’t be a thing this season. Um, but his his size, his physicality, um, potentially playing alongside Elas Patterson, which he hasn’t had a guy like that on his line. Um, I mean JT Miller obviously he’s a physical presence as well, but I most of the time they weren’t really playing together. It was kind of a separated thing unless they loaded up and played that W line. But, I mean, I think Kane is going to bring if he does stay healthy is one thing. I mean, he’s dealt with a lot of injuries the last couple seasons as well. If he’s healthy, he’s going to make a huge difference on that top line or even the top six. I I mean, there are projections that he’s going to play with Person. Others are putting him on the second line with Heedle. It’ll depend. I think they’ll try it in training camp, see where he fits. But playing with Person, I think, is going to be a big thing. I think I think that should be a duo because he’s physical. He’s he demands that attention. He can still score goals. It’s not like he’s that far removed from a 20 goal season. Um and then you’re looking at fact that he doesn’t back down. I mean, if if someone’s pushing Person around, he’s going to get in there and either fight him or, you know, throw a big hit some at some point. So, I think he could make a big difference maybe creating a bit more room for Person and he really hasn’t had that. So, we’ll see. But I I’m I’m optimistic with Kane because I’ve liked him his whole career. He’s of course played for the Vancouver Giants here. I watched him as a junior player when they won the Memorial Cup that one season. I I mean I loved him back then. I mean he’s gone through a ton of stuff since. But he’s still a really effective player. I think he’s going to make a big difference. That’s the big question I guess is um when you look at Evander Kane, is he the missing piece for Elias Patterson? because at least Person’s the player that now you’re building your forward unit around. It’s been you’ve seen the upside. You wonder what type of players you need to surround him with. And maybe that’s the maybe a Vanderane is that type of player. The big question I mean cuz Kov’s more of a depth type of skater that they’re adding to the forward unit. But the big one’s Vanderane where he’s a top six player, potentially a topline player. He’s a power forward. I mean the question I guess you could just ask Edmonton Oilers fans about him. They’ll say he’s a ticking time bomb and maybe worry about that. But if he’s the right complimentary piece to Elias Person, then it changes everything. I guess that leads into Elias Person. Elias Person and the forward unit because when I think of the forward unit here, the big question, the big thing is Elias Patterson and the question is what pieces you need to surround him with or what they have. Do they have the right pieces to work along around with him? And it like he is it seems like he’s the big story line because of that because he’s they haven’t had they haven’t been able to find that success and when you’re trade away JT Miller you’re saying we are building around him. So I’ll ask you do do you think they first of all do they do they have the right pieces around him now? I guess Evander Kane is one of them. And second, is he really is it is it really when you look at this forward unit, it goes with him? Like it it comes and goes like with with him and how how well he’s playing. Yeah, I think I think you’re right. I mean, the forward unit goes as Person goes right now. I mean, he is the star player. He is the most he’s the highest paid player uh by far. 11.6 million in his second season under that deal. Um obviously everyone knows uh we don’t need to rehash it. He wasn’t good last season. He had a career low 45 points. And this is a career low in not just NHL, but his whole hockey career uh back in Sweden, back in junior, all that. He’s never had a season with 45 points or less. So, it’s like he had a bad season. Obviously dealt with a some injuries. Um the tendonitis was something that he kind of dealt with all season, I think, even though he didn’t really admit that. Um the drama again, the drama doesn’t have to be rehashed. We all know what happened uh with Miller and him. I I think like I said at the beginning, it’s he’s got a bit of a reset now. Uh he had got married over the off season, which is a that was kind of a hush hush thing, but they found out about it. Um so, and then he’s he’s also done a lot of training, a lot of offseason, um you know, to make himself stronger, faster, which is great. I mean, I think a lot of the time a lot of people are saying, “Well, he he falls down too much. He gets hit and it’s he just can’t fight through that physicality that other teams of course will put on him because he’s the one of the top players.” And now that Miller’s not there. He is. I mean, no one’s going to I mean, he’s the guy that everyone circles on the on the lineup card. This is a guy we can’t let got going. I think he’s still an elite player. I’m really optimistic with him. I think he’s he’s going to turn back to that 100 point guy that was a couple seasons ago where he showed everything of what he’s supposed to be in the NHL, why they paid him the 11.6 million to be the face of the Vancouver Conucks. That’s what they paid him for. And this season, he’s got to show it. And I think it’s just based on his offseason stuff. Of course, that’s all things that we won’t find out until the regular season starts of if that actually makes a difference. Um, but I I’m optimistic that he is back and we’ll see if uh the rest of the players can kind of compliment him because I mean some of the other guys are great. They’re good players, but he has the potential being the elite star talent that um that the Canucks were hoping for or saw when he did have that 100 point season. He’s the player, not only does he have the potential to be great, he has the potential to be one of those gamechanging centers that if he’s if he hits on that upside where he takes over games on shifts and the Cooks have seen flashes of that. And it’s interesting because you mentioned all the drama that’s uh not no longer there. I mean, probably no longer there, at least as far as we know. For now, it seems like the drama is in the rearview mirror where you could say now that all that’s passed, JT Miller’s gone. And another interesting one is that Brock Besser, who was a pending free agent, it weighed down on him and now he’s uh locked up long term. Maybe he could just settle down and uh be a regular there. It seems like those are the two big storylines. What other things though stand out when you look at this for unit? I think because aside from Patterson, which just like he takes most of the spotlight away and now that all that drama is gone, there’s a new coach and all that stuff. We’ll dive into that. And now that Besser’s signed up, what else stands out with this forward unit that really will make it a make it a a big um one of the better ones in the league? At least that’s the hope. Well, I mean, all throughout the off seasonason, they’ve been trying to get a second line center. Um I mean, Philip Pedle is set in that role right now, and it looks like that’s what he’s what’s going to happen. He’s going to be the second line center going into the season. So, the hope is that he stays healthy. I think that’s a biggest storyline with him. um is if he’s healthy, he’s shown flashes that he can be a good top six guy. He’s not had that opportunity. On New York, he was mostly a third line guy. Um and then he looked really good when he came to the Canucks and he seemed to change the offense a bit uh because he’s very good in transition. He’s got a lot of speed. He changed the complexion of that forward group, but then he gets a concussion again and he’s out for the rest of the season. So, I mean, it looks like that’s behind him. He’s healthy. I didn’t have any setbacks in the off season. It looks like he’s training properly, which is good. So, if he’s healthy, he can be a second line center. I think that’s the biggest thing is that can he establish himself as that? Because if he can’t, the Canucks are just very topheavy. Um, they’re Person or Bust. I mean, if he’s not Person’s not good, then the whole group is not very good. I mean, Brock Besser, if he can get back to that 40 goals, that’s another big storyline is he had 25 goals last season. That’s okay. And when he’s now he’s getting paid 7 million, 7.5 million. He’s got to be that at least 30. I mean, I don’t know if I’m expecting another 40 goal season. I think that might have been a flash, but I think 30 goals is definitely in his wheelhouse, and that’s I think what the expectation of him is. And then Jake De Brusk, he had a career year last season. He’s kind of flown under the radar, I think, in the offse. Everyone’s not really talked about him as being one of the top he is, he was their top goal scorer. Um, so I mean, he might play with Patterson. He might drop to the second line. And then I mean, the rest of the forward group, I’m looking at it, there’s not much room uh in training camp for some other guys to kind of step in. We mentioned Crafts off. He’s going to have a hard time cracking this lineup. I think that training camp’s going to be interesting to see who takes that last spot because I think there’s only one real spot left to take because you got the third line with Sherwood who had a great season. I’m looking for him to kind of keep it going. But I mean, I might be a little naive or maybe a fanboy or something, but looking at the forward group, I I look at it and it’s a pretty good one. When you’re looking at the top three lines, that’s if Atu Ratu is another guy that I’m looking at. He’s got to fill a third line role really well. um you know him from the Islanders of course. So I mean if he can he looked really good at the end of last season. So if that happens I think their forward unit is actually pretty good and you you know we mentioned we didn’t mention Connor Garland who also flies under the radar who he’s been in very well in Vancouver. It’s interesting because I as you’re talking I was just thinking in my head we need a bell to ring every time we say that if they are healthy which is like it feels like that’s along with the distractions with when it comes to the Canucks it’s if they are healthy ding then they’ll be fine which which I guess you’re talking about all the depth that they have or all the players ready to come up. It’s not only that, just in the in the uh prospect pool, which in in the forward unit, it’s well, if they are healthy, well, someone gets hurt, then all of a sudden, one of those players does have to get called up. Uh for the forward unit where they’ll have to fill in and avoid a big drop off. But yeah, it’s you talk about it’s like it goes with Elias Patterson as well. He’s really the big the focal point there. And it’s similar where you talk about if they are healthy and on the defense. I think it’s the same thing you could say about with Quinn Hughes where he missed some time on the defense and the the unit fell apart. I mean, the team fell apart as a whole. Like the the the team as we talk about the forward unit going with Elias Patterson, the team as a whole, the Conucks, they go with with Quinn Hughes and when he played he almost brought them to the playoffs. So you look at him and then you look at Ronic who wasn’t healthy. That’s again ring the bell if they’re healthy. Heronic wasn’t Heronic wasn’t healthy. I think Tyler Myers might have missed some time. You look at this unit overall and it looks like it’s a I mean again it’s if they are healthy it’s one of the best units but what what stands out to you of this because I mean I mentioned Quinn Hughes and obviously we know he’s one of those gamechanging defenseman who can take over a game on any shift and really put if he plays the full season put the Canucks near the top of the standings. But when you look at this unit right now, they got Marcus Person as part of the uh JT Miller trade tree where, you know, they got the first round pick, they sent it to Pittsburgh. That’s a very Jim Rutherford, Patrick Alvine type of thing to do and they did it. Uh they also got Philip Ronic that way, ironically enough, where they got a first round pick and then they traded him to Detroit. But overall, what do you think of this unit? I mean, the defense is their strength. It’s one of them. I think when you’re looking at the depth they’ve got, when you’re looking at, like you mentioned, Queen Hughes of course leads the way. He was hurt 14 games. I mean, I say 14 games, that’s not a lot, but it seemed like half the season with how much of a difference he makes. When he’s not in the lineup, that defense looks so much different. Uh they don’t move the puck as well. You’re putting guys into high minutes where there shouldn’t be. Um Hughes plays close to 30 minutes a night in all situations. He plays in the power play. He plays in the penalty kill. Not as much, but he does get time there. I, you know, I think this unit is one of their biggest strengths. Um, Heronicanin Hughes will probably play as the top pairing again. They’re one of the most effective duos in the NHL. Um, you’re looking at Marcus Patterson and Tyler Myers. That’s second pairing right now. And then the third pairing is going to be interesting. Um, because you got other guys like Tom Vander who signed signed his ELC. It looks like he probably will start in the AHL, but he might be NHL ready. So, we’ll see how the training camp goes there. He might be on the third pairing. You got, you know, we brought back a few other guys that veteran guys like Derek Forbert who didn’t look like he was going to come back, but then he signed when they got his assistant coach in Boston. So, it’s like it it seemed like he likes him, so that’s why he’s resigned. So he’s on the bottom pairing and they signed him a pretty good deal. So it’s is it’s probably going to be he’s not going to be a healthy scratch seventh defenseman guy. So where’s another one? Looks like there’s only one spot on the defense for the guys like Elias and he looked really good his first season in the NHL. So and then you got like I mentioned then you’ve got Pio Joseph who they signed for depth. Yeah. So, I mean, this defense is very deep. It’s also very mobile and seems like it could could be the reason they make the playoffs. We’ll talk about the goalending to be anotherish thing, too. But, I think the defense is their strength and I’m really excited to see how it kind of goes because again, they got a new head coach um who ran the defense of course uh last season. Yeah, it’s I mean that’s the interesting thing is that their defense is their strength and it there really isn’t a lot of roster spots available to the point where the only spots are going to be available are if someone really underachieves maybe like age catches up to Derek Forbert or something like that and then you need a prospect to get called up are of course injuries but yeah you talk about you mentioned goalending there and I think what’s interesting about goending is that’s the one position I think we obviously know the duo that’s the one position where you don’t have that prospect now who they can bring up because a trade that I guess went under the radar for most people but for I guess people who follow the prospects a lot uh everyone noticed it is that they traded Arur Celovs to Pittsburgh and he was the young goalender to potentially come up through the ranks and uh be the young goalender of the future and he was the Calder Cup MVP led the Abbottzford Canucks to the Calder Cup title the first title in Van Vancouver franchise history actually interestingly enough but they trade him and was interesting is that they resigned Kevin Lankan in I think last off season or early on uh this past season and they resign they extend Thatcher Demco and the message is this is our duo now. So I mean I’m kind of throw out the seal thing but which is an interesting part which when they resign Demco I guess the message was we don’t we’re not high on seaf trading away. Do you think maybe first off, do you think maybe that’s like the a move that can backfire or maybe he wasn’t good for the NHL and he only only was good in the playoffs? Like somehow he got better when the playoffs came around. But second, is this duo now that they have they’re relying on two veterans? Uh Demco, who again wasn’t healthy last season, ring the bell. And do you think that this is a good enough duo though to uh rely on? It definitely is. I mean, I think the again the biggest question is, is Demco gonna stay healthy? If he is and Lanin can take maybe a it’s like a 6040 split, that’s one of the top tandemss in the NHL, especially if Lankin can play the same way as he did last season as the starter for for the most part at the beginning of the season. It I mean, Sheilov’s I’ll mention him a bit here. I mean, I was a little disappointed when he was traded, but I knew that that was probably going to happen when Demco was signed. Uh, that extension. Um, I’m happy they extended Demco because I think he is a Vzna Trophy caliber goalender. Lankin, he’s a backup. I mean, yes. I mean, aside his great season last year, he’s not a starter in the NHL. He is he is a backup. He’s a really good backup or a 1B or whatever you want to call him. I I don’t think it would have been a very good thing to have Lanin as the starter and Sheil as a backup. Nothing against Sheil. I just wouldn’t have as much confidence in Lankinan being the starter and and you’re hoping that both of them can come together and be a starter. I guess that’s what the hope would have been. So, I’m h more confident in the goalending with Demco resigned um and Lankin as his backup. Sheil’s had to be traded. They got I didn’t think they got enough for him. I mean, a pick, but I mean, goend is so interesting to see what value you place on these guys. You weren’t gonna get a first round pick. Probably not a second. Um, so I mean, maybe I’m a bit high on what he should have got for for him, but whatever. I Demco and Lankin are a strong tandem and I think they’re defense and them he’ll be the reason they make the playoffs again because they they’re just two great goalenders and Demco if he can be back to that VZNA finalist form he is a top goalender in the NHL. So yeah the interesting part with COVID that they could not rely on a trio just because if they let’s say called him up and then put him on waiverss then you’re really losing him for nothing potentially where a team could claim him. So they had to trade him. It was either that or they had to keep him around and then potentially uh trade Demco. But it’s better to build around Demco. But one question I would follow up on with this is what is the ideal split if you’re you have 82 games. So let’s just round down to 80. So you could pick 50 30 40 just easier for math reasons. But what what is the ideal split when you look at Demco and Lincoln? And because obviously Demco is your starter, Lan is your backup, but how much do you want want to rely on Demco, especially since he’s been injured and you need him, especially for in the big picture for a playoff run? Yeah, I I really when you’re looking at the split, I think it should be close to half and half. I mean, personally, I don’t think that’s going to happen, but if Demco’s going, he’s the starter. He’s probably going to play 60 games. Um, I don’t agree with that. I don’t think that he should be playing that much because of his the injury. I mean, yes, it seems like it’s behind him, but this polipotus uh muscle that I’m probably saying it wrong, but this knee muscle that kind of supports the knee, they said that it may never be something that goes away. He just has to be able to manage it. So, that could come up at any point and all of a sudden he’s out for two weeks. So, it’s like Len’s have to step in. So, I mean, ideally, we’re looking at an ideal scenario here. I want to say it’s a 50 50. Is that right? Wait. Yeah. With 80 games. 50 and 30. Yeah. 5030. Right. Yeah. So, Demco playing the 50 games and then you’re going Lanken playing 30 32 whatever he kind of looking at because I mean even less. I I wish it was just a half. You just go half and half. You get get the 41 other gets the 41. There you go. But I I don’t see that happening. I think that’s the interesting thing because that’s going to be one one of the interesting things when it comes to coaching these days is how you have to manage goalending in a league where there are very few elite goalenders. Having a coach who can understand the position slash knows when to start one, when to start the other. You look at what’s happening in Edmonton. Obviously the discussion with Edmonton is if they don’t have an elite goalender or not to manage the position but not credit NBlock is he’s managed the position where he knows who’s the hot hand and who’s not and he knows okay I’ll pull pull Stuart Skinner and go with uh uh what’s the Calvin Pickard if that makes sense. Uh and maybe that’s the that’s going to be an interesting thing with uh with the new head coach Adam Foot who one of his one of the things at least that’s what’s interesting about him is that he’s going to have to manage the position where ride the maybe you ride the hot hand maybe not but but it’s going to be one of it’s going to be one of the challenges for him. It’s also just there’s a lot of interesting uh he’s kind of thrown in where he’s got a lot of stuff to figure out right away. But what is what’s what’s interesting is what do we think of the hire overall because I don’t think we really I don’t think it was really talked about it kind of went under the radar a bit where I mean Rick Taka getting fired that everyone everyone knew about that and I guess the question was whether he wanted to leave slash uh whether Vancouver wanted to move on just move away from the mess that was last season but they hire from within. And I think we’ve seen this kind of this kind of hiring before where an assistant coach comes in and then the question is whether that whether they can have a good control over the locker room. What do we make of the Adam foot hiring and I guess like uh what what what we could expect from him early in this first season. Yeah, I mean I I was a little in between when they when they hired from within and didn’t go with more experienced guy, but I mean Adam Foot, he’s you’re it’s the continuity you you keep the same thing. And the Conucks have changed coaches way too often in the last five years. I I mean they they got they had Budro, they went to talk. No, they first had Green, they went Green, Budro, and then within another season, and then another couple seasons now Foot. But at least Foot’s been here in the last couple seasons. So it’s like the players know him. He just gets elevated to the head coaching position. He admitted himself it’s gonna be a different thing. He’s going to have to maybe manage it a little differently than when he was assistant coach. He says assistant coach he wasn’t the, you know, the hard, you know, hard guy to, you know, he was more the support guy. It’s it’s it’s an interesting dynamic between assistant and a head coach where it’s like mom and dad type thing. It’s like you go to mom and dad. It’s like the classic is good cop bad cop which is you’re a player friendly assistant but then when if you’re if you’re a player friendly head coach you could easily lose the locker room which I think we’ve we’ve seen in the past with a lot of assistants that become head coaches. So I guess that’s like that’s the challenge for him now. Yeah. So, I mean, he’s admitted that that’s what’s going to be something he’s going to have to deal with, but I think, you know, is, of course, we all know his experience in the NHL. He’s one of the best defensive defenseman uh probably ever. Um, and, you know, he knows all the the stuff that players go through and all that. Um they off obviously talking about what he’s going to do with Person and all that stuff, but you know it seems like the players are okay with him coming in as head coach. A lot of them and of course Connor Garland signing that extension. Demco signed the extension. If Garland wasn’t wasn’t uh confident in the coach, he probably wouldn’t assign. So it’s like I think he he’s going to be able to be be good. But it’s just going to be interesting what type of system he’ll bring. Is he going to bring the talket type system back or is he going to make his own? I don’t think it system worked in certain areas. I I really think the Canucks were a little bit more. I don’t know. It there were times it’s just a weird because between the two seasons it seemed like they were really good offensively in the 2023 24 season and this past season all of a sudden they couldn’t score. So it’s like and kind of tried to become more defensive. They tried to change his system and apparently he tried he changed his system after the all-star break last year and you saw it. The Canucks offense just do took a dive and they were losing a lot of the time. So I’m hoping that foot kind of sees that and says, “Well, that didn’t work. Let’s go back to how we were playing, the system we were playing at the beginning of the last of 20 through 24 and be more of a fast um transition type team because I think the Canucks can still be that they have they have a lot of speedy guys. Maybe not Besser. I mean Person I wouldn’t call him fast but he’s very good um edge wise ed with his edge work and finesse and stuff like that. So, I just hope they bring that system back or maybe a M. I mean, defensively, they still got to be good. I mean, don’t get me wrong, but I just hope that they get more they have more offense or a system that can get more offense. I think what’s interesting is you talk about having more offense there because you could go back to Bruce Bedro where they scored a lot there was too much offense and they could not defend. And it’s it’s going to be interesting because I think you look at Cal, he’s a defense. He has a defensive background in defense. I think you could almost say that that’s what they’re going to work on and that’s what they’re going to focus on. Maybe they win a bunch of lowscoring games. I think what’s interesting is when you have is he his background is is on the defensive unit. Maybe he runs the offense through that which isn’t the worst thing when you have Quinn Hughes Heronic. You have these puck movers on your defense. So maybe you he’ll want to push the pace but with through them and not necessarily through the forwards. It’s going to be interesting. And I think what another thing to add with the coaching hire taking a step back to going from an assistant to a head coach is that when a lot of times people want to run into hire from within, how attractive was the destination slash with the Canucks, they kind of they rushed the hire, not rushed the hire, as much as they were the early team to make decision, they hired uh they hired Adam Foot well before other teams were even making their decisions. And the question was, okay, maybe there maybe they didn’t have a lot of people to choose from or maybe a lot of people weren’t looking at the pos at the opportunity to coach the Conucks. But one thing to consider here is that Adam Foot, it’s possible he becomes a head coach somewhere else where if he doesn’t get hired by the Canucks, he’s going somewhere else to become a head coach. And if that happens, you want to be the team that keeps your coach from within. You don’t want to be again throwing it back to Chris Knoblock who was an a Flyers assistant back in the day and they didn’t realize what they had and now all of a sudden he’s coaching the Oilers. Yeah. Uh he was obviously went to the AHL for a few years in between. But the point being that you don’t want to lose that great assistant who was in your backyard and then uh they’re coaching somewhere else. So uh with the you really hope that with um their new head coach that he gets off to the on the right foot, but I digress. Uh let’s kind of let’s move into the quickfire here where um I’ll rattle off some things and then you tell me real quickly quickly where um where you stand on them. Uh where do the Conucks stack up in the Pacific Division? I think they’re in a wild card. I don’t think they’re cracking their division. One of my bold predictions was they were but I mean that’s a bold prediction. I think that’s not going to be one of my bold predictions later on, but I think they’re right there. wild card. I mean, they’re going to be in the same position as this past season where they were kind of flirting with that. Um, I think they’re going to make the playoffs, but in the division itself, I I think they’re still behind like the Kings. Um, I think they’re on par with the Flames at this point. I think they’re right there with them. Um, probably be fighting with them for the wild card spot. It’s interesting because there’s the big three. I mean, maybe the Kings take a step back. You have the Oilers, the Golden Knights. Kings maybe take a step back, but then you have the Flames, Canucks, and then the Ducks are slowly chomping at the bits. Maybe they’re making some noise and they could sneak up on them. What’s the biggest storyline or question mark uh as you look ahead into the season? Leas Patterson, I mean that of course it’s the biggest one. Can he become uh and bounce back from last season, become that 100point guy again? Um because like I said before, where the Canucks go is especially forward-wise, it’s where Person takes them because and I’ll I’ll throw Besser in there too. I think that duo, they’ve got to be star players. They got to become those guys, the face of the Canucks like Bratusi and Naslin were uh way back when because I don’t think the Canucks have they haven’t established themselves as those two guys yet. I think they need to do that this season. There’s a lot of Person questions I feel like in here just because so much of the Conucks revolves around him. He is their best player and he has not hit that potential. But I digress. Uh not a breakout star, but maybe um someone else is a breakout star here. Who do you see potentially being that breakout star on the Canucks? I’m going to go with Atu Ratu. I think he was, like I said, very good at the be end of last season. and he started kind of uh established himself as a bit of a good third line center. Uh his faceoff percentage was around 57% which I mean that’s what the Conucks need is a great faceoff guy because JT Miller’s not there anymore. Person’s okay on faceoffs. They need a guy that they can just go and you take a face off, you’ll win it. Okay, we’re good. They started to do that last season with him. He was just out there taking faceoffs and they’d leave. So, it’s like I think he’s going to break out and be I I don’t want to say 20 goal scorer, but he’s going to hit that 15 mark around there and be a a really good third line and kind of say we don’t we’re not as worried about our center depth as it was before. So, I’m going to say Ratu. This is the season where he could get a lot of ice time and probably that’s where they lean into it where you’re the third line center. You really tap into that role. Maybe he’s not a scoring player, but he’s a two-way type of center, which I guess they would really round out their unit. I’ll ask this question a little differently because I think we have an obvious answer. So, we’ll say aside from Elias Person, who needs to bounce back this season? That’s the obvious one. We don’t say. Yeah. One player needs to bounce back is Leas Patterson. Okay. Aside from Person, let’s go for it. Yeah. Neil Hoglander. Um he had a horrible season last he he had 24 goals uh 23-24 and everyone thought ah he’s a 20 goal scorer now. All right he just single digits last season. He he’s got to bounce back. He’s got to be more of an effective player because now he’s starting his new extension which is over $300 million. So he’s getting paid to be a 20 goal scorer now, not an eight goal scorer. Um he was pretty good at the end of last season, but he’s got to be really good this season and depends on where he’s going to play. He’s probably gonna play in the top nine, might even be alongside Ratu and they could potentially work well together. So I I say Holander as aside from Person of course, but Holander needs to be so much better than last season. That’s a that’s another story line. I think but a big difference between the 2023 24 team and the 2425 team is along with the star players taking a step back is that the 2324 team you had a lot of these 10 goal scores quietly it was like oh this guy secretly had 10 goals or this guy had 20 and it was like all of a sudden when you add all that up yeah it was you had a lot of depth or you came at they came at team the conducts came at team in teams in waves with their forward unit and all of a sudden that wasn’t there. Uh who’s an X factor here? I don’t know. Can we count Person as an X-factor, but who maybe maybe he’s not because he’s obvious he’s the front and center there. So, who’s a player that can really make or break their season? Aside, I guess. I mean, maybe Person is that, but who’s the X-actor on the Conucks uh when you look ahead? Well, Patterson is again an obvious one. He he is an X-factor of what what he does because he is a big question. He’s a big X. He’s everything. So, and a lot of these questions you could say Person easy answer, but I’m going to go a different direction, not say a player, just health. Uh, that’s just going to be an X- factor in itself because if a lot of these guys are healthy, the Canucks are a really good team. Quinn Hughes being 100% all season like he was when he almost hit 100 points and won the Norris Trophy. if he’s back to that guy. I mean, it’s not like he was bad last season, but when he he’s his health was I think a big issue even when he was playing. Um, so I mean it’s just health. I mean that’s going to be a huge X factor throughout the the lineup. Heedel uh Besser was hurt last season at times. You’re looking at like you mentioned Heronic you Demco out for most of the season. Um, if everyone’s healthy, this team is is a playoff contender. But that’s a big X factor is that are they gonna be healthy? And that’s not a guarantee. It’s ring the bell for if they’re healthy, it’s a great team. I think I’ll just add a little bit to that which is if there the team chemistry which is like if they could find a top six which actually works and they find the right players to go along with Person. But also um Brock Besser has a playmaker on his on his line that gets him open looks. If they have a top six that works then all of a sudden a very different story. the defense has that chemistry certainly on the top pair, but uh it’s really when you look at that um when you look at the chemistry and that’s another thing Adam Foot’s got to work at which is finding the right combinations to get the most out of the group because the talent is there. I think we agree that the talent’s there. It’s just a matter of finding the right pieces. Um they’ve got a lot of prospects too. So, I’ll do a two-pronged question, which is the prospects to watch because I think what’s interesting, you watch the way Abbottzford had their Calder Cup run, and everyone got to see, at least everyone who watched the Calder Cup playoffs, which probably not everyone, but a decent number of people saw. They’ve got a lot of prospects there and a lot of intriguing names to potentially watch down the road. Um, so who who’s who who are some of those players that to watch maybe who can make the team this season, but also who can make the team right out of camp or early on on the in the farm system? Well, I’m going to say for for a surprise, I’m going to go with Tai Mueller. Um, he was really good in Abbottzford taking over. He started to become more the he was the clutch guy that Mal Holtra would just throw out anytime he needed to win a draw. Anytime they needed to protect the lead, he was out there. Um he also scored quite a few goals in the Calder Cup run. Not as much as like Lennis Carlson who hit a record of 14. Um but he’s no longer really a prospect. He’s 25 years old now. Um so but he will be on the team. Uh, I’m going to say Mueller could surprise and maybe push a guy that should be making the team like like Kov who he’s going to have to clear waiverss go down to the AHL even though he’s on a two-way. Um, but he’s going to have to clear and I’m not sure he would. Depends. I guess if teams think, oh, maybe he’ll be good on our team, but I want to say Mueller is a surprise. I as for like other prospects to watch, I there’s there’s a lot like you’re looking at at guys like Archie Baines who again he’s going to have to clear waiverss as well. So he might be on the team. You’re looking at Lennis Carlson, he has to clear waivers, so he’s might probably on the team. That whole like dynamic of which prospects are going to try to to make that make that one spot or maybe three. I guess they’re looking at that spot plus the extra forwards depending on how many they take. Um Tom Bander is another one. Of course, he’s going to have his first AHL season or maybe his first his NHL debut depending on how well he does in training camp. I think he starts in the AHL and and see how he does because I think he’s going to dominate down there and then he’ll be called up like really fast because Troy Ster had the same thing a number of years back where I think it was an injury that got him in. But I think it’s going to be the same situation where he can’t make you know because he can clear waiverss they’ll send him down and he’s just too good to be in the AHL so they call him back up. Um, Lramaki is another one because he’s just he’s our top prospect still um or one of their top prospects, especially forward-wise. And now that Besser’s resigned, he doesn’t have a top six spot anymore. So, if he’s not going to be forced into a top six spot is my thing. And he might make the team. He probably won’t. He’ll probably be in the AHL again, but I I see him still being in the NHL at some point. But there’s just and I I’ll mention one more. There’s so many good pro actually the Conucks have a pretty good prospect pool. Um some underrated guys. Braden Coots you everyone knows watch prospect corner how much I love this guy in training camp. I’m going be interested to watch how he does how close he might be because there’s there’s some guys it’s like well maybe he’ll be ready for the NHL. Maybe he’ll play the nine games. But the Conucks have to have spot a open roster spot for him is the biggest thing. But even though he if he does get sent back to Seattle, he’s still going to be um a guy to watch. So just a smattering of them. But yeah, there there’s quite a few to watch this season. Yeah, the one I was waiting for you to say and you finally said him at the end is Leer Macki because he’s the one. Yeah. You saw the flashes from him and you’re like there’s a potential top six forward in him and maybe he’s the one who because Person just seems to struggle to find the right player to work alongside him. Um maybe Leer Macki is the one oddly enough that can uh he’s he’s out he’s got speed. Yeah, I think he he plays a very similar type of game, I think, or maybe from a distance you see that where he can make plays in space. So, is it is he’s an interesting name to watch as well, but they they have a lot of players there. And I think that’s kind of what’s interesting about the Canucks system is that you have all this quantity and maybe if you’re a contender, maybe you want to move that for for some quality for NHL quality on your roster. It’s it’s going to be interesting to see what they do with all these players that the other hand maybe if they start trading more players away that they could give these players a chance these prospects a chance to make the roster does make for an interesting sort of uh dynamic there. Uh let’s we’re almost wrapping up here, but let’s uh look at the who is going to lead the team in goals, assists, and for both positions. I guess we’re you don’t have to answer for defense because I think we we know who know who the answer I think we know the answer for goals, assists, points is going to be you might as well throw in the other stats like defensive point shares and stuff. Any stat that who’s going to lead the defense in that? I think we know the answer. It’s I I’ll I’ll say I’m guessing Quinn Hughes prediction there. But from the forwards, who’s going to lead the team in scoring goals, assists, and then total points? All right, I’m gonna go with um Besser uh leading the team in goals. He’s going to hit 30. So, I’ll throw in a number there. Um Person is going to lead the team in points. He has to. I mean, it just if he’s not, there’s something wrong. Uh he’s got to lead the team in points. It can’t be Quinn Hughes. I mean, he’ll be there, but I don’t think Hughes has he shouldn’t be the leading scorer this year. Um even though he probably will hit 90 points again. Um, so I’m gonna just go Person uh points, which you’ll have the assist mark then. Um, and then what do we got else left? Well, you we have point Yeah, we said we kind of said for forwards is who’s going to lead it in points and assists. So Besser leads goals and then uh Person has enough assists and points. I guess you’re saying he probably I’d say has 20 goals and then 60 assists to put him at 80. Well, that would put him at 80. So maybe he doesn’t. Maybe then he wouldn’t uh have more. That’s a better question then, a follow-up question, which is who leads the team in points? Is Quinn Hughes maybe hit the 100 point mark or a 90 point mark where he leads them in points or does Person get enough goals and assists combined where maybe he leads the team in points? Well, I’m hoping that Person returns that 100 point guy and he did lead the team in points that year. So, and and then um Hughes was like at 80 I think that season. Um or he might have been the 90 point one. I can’t remember. I No, 90 points was the his Norris Trophy one. So I I think it’s it’s Patterson with the 100 points and then uh Hughes close behind. I want to say Hughes is going to hit 100 points this season, too, which would be great. Um but he’s gotten so much so close this the past few seasons. Um and if he was healthy last season, I think he would have. Yeah. So, one thing that will happen is with Hughes is that he will become the defense leading scorer in uh alltime franchise history because he just needs one point to do it. So, yeah, that’s not that’s the least bold uh prediction. But yeah, I guess that leads us into uh some bold predictions. Uh which uh fire away if you have any. Well, I mean, my bold prediction I had an article come out with with some of the bold predictions, but I’ll throw a couple other ones that weren’t in there. Um, I’m gonna say Patterson hits 115 points uh this season and that that’s a that’s bold a prediction because no one is doesn’t have a lot of faith in him right now. Um, so I’m going to put that out there and he’s going to have 115 U which would be I believe that would be the franchise best because that the last time someone was um I believe it was Henrik Sadine. He has the one. Um, and he won the heart trophy that season, too. So, I think I might I might not be that bold that is gonna win the heart trophy. But, um, I’m going to say Demco also as a bold prediction is that he wins the VZNA trophy. Um, stays healthy all season because obviously you have to to win the VZNA. Um, so those are my two I think big ones. I could throw a few more, but I’ll I’ll go Oh, I Okay, one more. I I’ll go with the Conucks making the playoffs as uh a three seed uh in the division. Yeah, that’s the more bold. I like when you were go talking about Patterson was almost the parlay bold prediction which is that’s where you really start getting intriguing which is he clears the 100 point mark. Not only that he gets 115 points and on top of that he was in the heart trophy discussion. That’s like a parlay bold prediction which is one leg hits then the next leg hits and then the next. That’s I want to I like bold prediction culture how we’ve kind of gotten there which is also that you can’t just make a there’s a bold prediction and then there’s a bold prediction a really bold prediction which is like Quinn Hughes winning the Norris isn’t a bold prediction but it’s if Quinn Hughes wins the Norris and sets the record for goals scored then you’re really getting bold you’re you’re towing the line on some of the bold ones. I think Kucks being the three seed is also slightly bold and there there’s a ton you could go down uh here, but I guess we don’t we don’t have enough uh time for them. Anything else on your mind we wrap up for uh wrap up the Conucks preview? Just any quick thoughts to throw out there? Maybe I’ll throw maybe I’ll throw out one which is um that Quinn Hughes doesn’t get traded. That’s just one that’s not even a bold prediction, but just like one thing to maybe just put out there cuz he’s free agent after next season, but that’s all the talk that’s all the smoke and mirrors going on there. But any other quick thoughts to throw out there before we wrap up? Yeah, I I one thing about Quinn Hughes, I I want this stuff to stop because I want him to come out and say, I don’t want to leave. I’m staying here. But I don’t see that happening. I mean, they haven’t talked to him since that um they haven’t really talked to him since Rutherford put that thing out in the press in that one press conference saying about he wants to join his brothers. Um I want Hughes to just shut it down. I mean like I don’t know my that’s my final thought. I want just Quinn Hughes to he can’t sign an extension yet, but I want him here for the next decade. So yeah, that’s the the one last thing to throw in there. I mean, maybe it’s uh Quinn who’s speaking up and Jim Rutherford maybe not spilling the beans on everything, but I mean for us for us hockey fans in general, we actually like one we like uh the fact we have at least one GM who’s willing to say whatever’s on it whatever’s on his mind or whatever is true. So, we actually um don’t stop Jim Rutherford for at least the Hockey fans in general. Maybe for Vancouver people are a little people want the drama to quiet down a bit, but I digress there. Um, all right. I guess that’s all we got. Um, Matthew, I’d say thank you for joining, but more it’s like thank you for having me on because usually hosts these, so uh, but it was, uh, this was fun. Yeah. Uh, happy to be here. Happy to to preview the Canucks season coming up, but off seasonason’s been way too slow. So, uh, it’s good to get hopefully get, um, some action here soon. Yeah. The good news is that by the time this is uh up on YouTube or wherever you’re listening to this, it will be September and hockeyy’s around the corner. It’s just uh it’s under it under a month away at this point. So uh exciting stuff. Uh make sure to check out all of Matthew’s work at the Hockey Riders. A lot of preview articles coming out about the Vancouver Conucks. And he’s also the one previewing every team at this point. So he’ll he’ll he’ll know everything about all the teams at this point as well. But check out all of his work at the Hockey Riders. Check out all the great preview content at the Hockey Riders. And check out the Hockey Riders Substack, which is emailed to you every day. And um make sure to tune in next time. We’ll have another great season preview on the way. Um thank you.

Host Mike Fink welcomes Vancouver Canucks writer Matthew Zator to the show to preview the 2025-26 season.

They go through everything from the addition of Evander Kane and burning questions/storylines surrounding the forwards, defence and goaltending to where the Canucks stack up in the Pacific Division and expectations for new head coach Adam Foote. They also highlight some potential breakout stars, players that need to bounce back from last season, prospects to watch, X factors, bold predictions, and more.

Check out Matthew’s writing – https://thehockeywriters.com/author/mzator/

And the rest of the Canucks writers at THW as they preview the season in written form – https://thehockeywriters.com/tag/canucks-season-preview/

Check out The Hockey Writers Vancouver Canucks Substack for all the best Canucks content – https://thehockeywriters.substack.com/s/vancouver-canucks

Follow The Hockey Writers:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/TheHockeyWriter
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thehockeywriters_
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TheHockeyWriters/
THW Substack – https://thehockeywriters.substack.com/

Graphics by Vince Richard – https://www.behance.net/vincergraphics

#vancouvercanucks #canucks #nhl