Vancouver missed the playoffs and faces roster questions heading into 2025-26. The club needs improved production from top forwards Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser after notable statistical regression and injury interruptions in 2024-25. Pettersson dropped to 15 goals and 45 points in 64 games, including a 15-game stretch with just four points, while Boeser scored 25 goals and 50 points in 75 games while managing lingering injuries. Both players have demonstrated 30-goal and elite-point potential in recent seasons, and team success hinges on their resurgence. The departure of Pius Suter leaves a second-line center vacancy likely requiring a trade amid a thin market; Brayden Schenn has been mentioned as a possible target.
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.
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