The Vancouver Canucks have emerged from their offseason slumber. From Vasily Podkolzin getting traded to the Edmonton Oilers and Quinn Hughes being named as a cover athlete for NHL 25 to Thatcher Demko missing training camp and the preseason and NHL Network’s positional rankings, we have plenty of things to discuss. With that said, let’s dive into the first Canucks’ 3 Up, 3 Down of the season.
Plus One: Jack, Luke & Quinn Hughes Named Cover Athletes For NHL 25
For the first time in EA Sports history, three players will grace the cover of the NHL video game series as it was announced last week that brothers Jack, Luke, and Quinn Hughes will be cover athletes for NHL 25. Usually, it’s only one or two players that are bestowed the honour, but EA decided to be different this year.
The three brothers are rising stars in the NHL. Jack and Quinn have already established themselves as cornerstones of the Devils and Canucks respectively, and Luke had a promising rookie season with nine goals and 47 points in 82 games. While Jack didn’t burst onto the scene right away after being drafted first overall in 2019, he has come into his own over the past few seasons. His coming out party came in 2022-23 when he scored 43 goals and 99 points in 78 games, and despite injuries that kept him on the sidelines for 20 games last season, he still scored 27 goals and 74 points.
As for Quinn, he has been a revelation for the Canucks since making his debut at the end of 2018-19. Since his first full season in 2019-20, he has never fallen below 41 points and already has four 50-plus point campaigns, culminating in a career-high 17 goals and 92 points last season when he won the Norris Trophy. He will become the Canucks’ all-time point leader among defencemen this season – and he will do it at only 25 years old.
All in all, the Hughes brothers are here to stay and might have already joined the ranks of the Hulls, Sutters, and Staals as iconic families in NHL history.
Minus One: Thatcher Demko Expected to Miss Training Camp & Preseason
Thatcher Demko was reportedly going to be ready for the Western Conference Final if the Canucks had won Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers. But given the recent news from insider Rick Dhaliwal, unless he re-injured something or had surgery in the offseason, he was still miles away from returning to the lineup.
Demko was healthy for most of last season until he injured his knee against the Winnipeg Jets on March 9. He returned for the final two games of the regular season and Game 1 of the playoffs against the Nashville Predators but wasn’t seen for Game 2 and beyond. He is now expected to miss training camp and the preseason with even opening night being a question mark. The Canucks are now searching the goaltending market for options to pair with rookie Arturs Silovs should the ailment keep him out for longer than a few games.
Silovs should be ready for the challenge of being the number one. He started every game in the playoffs after Casey DeSmith went down in Game 2 and looked good posting a 2.91 goals-against average (GAA), .898 save percentage (SV%) and a shutout. However, the Canucks are still a better team with Demko in the crease. He’s a bonified Vezina Trophy-caliber goaltender, so hopefully this injury doesn’t keep him out too long and he can return 100 percent healthy without having any more setbacks during the season.
Plus Two: Elias Pettersson, JT Miller & Thatcher Demko Land on NHL Top Player Lists
The NHL Network has been releasing top player lists for different positions since the middle of August and they just published their top 20 centers with JT Miller and Elias Pettersson making the cut at 11th and 10th respectively. It’s no surprise Miller landed just outside the top 10 with the season he just had. He joined the century club in 2023-24 with his first 100-point season posting 37 goals and 103 points in 81 games, and now has 143 goals and 402 points in a Canucks uniform. Since coming over from the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-20, he has become one of the best centers in the NHL and is rightfully being recognized as such after getting snubbed last year.
Pettersson, on the other hand, stayed at 10th even after struggling to produce following his monster January where he scored 14 goals and 21 points in 13 games. Most of his points came in the first half of the season as he only put up seven goals and 25 points in his final 33 games. He still finished with 34 goals and 89 points but failed to repeat the dominance he showed in 2022-23 when he had his own 100-point season with 39 goals and 102 points in 80 games. He is definitely still an elite center in the NHL, but I would personally put Miller ahead of him after the events of 2023-24.
In the first part of the series, they ranked the top 10 goalies for 2024-25 and Demko was sixth behind Ilya Sorokin, Jeremy Swayman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Connor Hellebuyck, and Igor Shesterkin. I feel that’s a spot or two too low as he deserves to be ahead of Sorokin who was mediocre last season and lost his job to Semyon Varlamov, and possibly even Swayman who hasn’t been a primary starter yet in his career. So, that would place him fourth, just one spot below where THW’s own Rupert McDonald ranked him.
Minus Two: Brock Boeser Snubbed From Top 20 Winger List
NHL Network also released their top 20 wingers list and no Canucks were featured, not even 40-goal man Brock Boeser. Looking at the list, eight of the top 20 didn’t eclipse 40 goals, and there were even some that didn’t hit 30. Mitch Marner, for example, only scored 26 goals and he was ranked 10th. What does Boeser have to do to get some recognition around the league? Score 50? Regardless, he will be the team’s top winger again this season and will likely score 30 or more goals. Canucks Nation knows how valuable the Brockstar is, even if NHL Network’s “experts” haven’t taken notice yet.
Plus Three: Ice Goes In at Rogers Arena & New Logo Looks Amazing
Hockey is almost back in Vancouver as the ice in Rogers Arena was installed on Friday. It also came with a surprise re-design of the centre ice logo. I’m sure many fans were hoping it would be the flying skate instead – me included – but this still looks clean and sharp, and much better than the previous version.
The moment there's a chill in the air: install the ice. 🧊 pic.twitter.com/DWQUvQwD8V
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) August 23, 2024
The Canucks’ home opener is set for Oct. 9 against the Calgary Flames which will be the first of a two-game homestand that will also see the Philadelphia Flyers come to town. They will then embark on a four-game road trip against the Steven Stamkos-less Tampa Bay Lightning, defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, the Flyers again, and finally Ilya Mikheyev and the Chicago Blackhawks. Their next bout at Rogers Arena will be on Oct. 26 when Sidney Crosby comes to Vancouver for the start of a three-game homestand.
Minus Three: Vasily Podkolzin Traded to the Oilers For Low Return
Our final minus of the week comes from the second trade general manager Patrik Allvin has made this offseason. In a bit of a surprising move, he sent Podkolzin to the Oilers for only a fourth-round pick in 2025. Many fans were shocked by the return he got for the 10th overall pick in 2019, but insiders like Dhaliwal weren’t, saying that the Canucks couldn’t afford to wait around for him to become an everyday player. Considering he was going to likely be claimed on waivers after not making the team out of training camp, they weren’t going to get anything more than a fourth-rounder for him.
As I said in a previous article, I don’t like the return or the fact they traded him in the first place. The Canucks could have kept a spot open on the roster to compete for by not signing so many forwards in free agency. While I like the additions, I think Podkolzin could have been a valuable part of the bottom-six and might have thrived in that role. But now we will never know.
Even though the Oilers are a division rival, I wish Podkolzin all the best in the next stage of his hockey journey.
Hockey Is Just Around the Corner, Next Stop Penticton!
As we enter the final week of August, the Young Stars tournament in Penticton is only a few weeks away. It all gets started on Sept. 13 at the South Okanagan Events Centre with the Canucks taking on the Oilers at 7:30. Training camp is then only a few days later, also in Penticton, Sept. 19-22. The dog days of summer are almost over Canucks fans, let’s drop the puck!
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