The Vancouver Canucks kick off their season in less than one week when they take on the Calgary Flames. The club has had a relatively successful preseason, holding a 2-2-1 record. But what’s been most important is seeing the high level of play in some of the club’s prospects.
The Canucks’ most highly-touted prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki had a successful four-game stint, leading the Canucks in points this preseason with a goal and two assists. While he was sent down to continue his development in the American Hockey League, standouts Aatu Räty and Arshdeep Bains are still currently on the roster, with a strong chance of making the opening night roster.
Räty and Bains have a chance to make a team that shocked the hockey world last season. Heading into last season, Vancouver was a middling team, never finishing high enough to make the playoffs or finishing low enough to demand a high-end draft pick. Well, Canucks fans hope last year was just the start of what’s to come in Vancouver.
The organization had its third most successful season in franchise history, finishing with a 50-23-9 record and 109 points and the club’s first Pacific division title since the Canucks returned to the division in 2013. Not only did they make the playoffs, but they had success, winning the opening round against the Nashville Predators and taking the eventual Western Conference Champions to seven games in the second round, one goal away from advancing.
But this season, the book is out on Vancouver. Teams know the feistiness JT Miller can get to, how dominant Quinn Hughes can be with the puck, how many goals Brock Boeser can score, and how much Elias Pettersson can produce despite having a “down season.”
Here is how Vegas believes the Canucks will fair this season, along with player stats projections and the likelihood of the club’s award winners to repeat next season.
Odds and projections are courtesy of bet365
Team Stats
Canucks regular season points 99.5 (-105)
The Canucks have eclipsed this point total in 10 of their 53 years in the NHL. One of those seasons was last year when they blew this point total out of the water, finishing with 109 points. The Canucks will need another season like last if they want to surpass this total again.
However, it may be more attainable than it seems. The Canucks have the second easiest strengths of schedules, according to projected point totals on bet365 – courtesy of Andy McNeil of Canada’s Sports Betting.
Canucks to win Pacific division (+300)
While last season was Vancouver’s first Pacific division title, the team has 11 division championships under its belt. The reigning division champs have the second-best odds at winning the division, only trailing the Edmonton Oilers (+100).
The division title looks to be a three-headed race between the Canucks, Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights. Based on last season, the Pacific division has the lowest point percentage, and it isn’t close. Atlantic (0.570%), Central (0.562%), Metropolitan (0.558%) and Pacific (0.517%).
If the Canucks can repeat their success against the Oilers while fighting off the Golden Knights, they may have a clear lane at another Pacific division title.
Canucks to win the Stanley Cup (+1400)
We can all hope this is the outcome of the 2024-25 season. Vancouver has yet to win the Stanley Cup but has made three appearances in the franchise’s history. The teams that have better odds to win the Stanley Cup are the Edmonton Oilers (+800), New Jersey Devils (+900), Florida Panthers (+1000), Dallas Stars (+1000), Colorado Avalanche (+1100), Carolina Hurricanes (+1100), and New York Rangers (+1300).
Player Stats
Here are the top five Canucks players’ point and goal projections, according to Vegas.
Jake DeBrusk – 48.5 points
DeBrusk has exceeded this point total just once in his career, in Boston’s historic 2022-2023 season, when he had 27 goals and 23 assists for 50 points. Despite only registering 49 points once, he’s finished 40 or more in five of seven seasons, averaging 38 points per season.
However, injuries played a factor in some of these seasons. If we’re to project DeBrusk’s point total across a full 82-game season, he would have registered 49 points in three of his seven seasons.
Another thing to keep in mind is that DeBrusk has mostly played in a secondary offensive role, always playing behind Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak. Now, he’ll have the opportunity to play top-line minutes with an offensive wizard, Elias Pettersson.
Brock Boeser – 32.5 goals | 64.5 points
Boeser has only surpassed this goal and projection total last season, where he had 40 goals and 33 assists for 73 points. While this line may look high, Boeser has been knocking on the door of thirty goals, finishing with 23 or more goals in five of seven and 50 or more points in four of seven seasons as a Canuck.
Like DeBrusk, Boeser’s career has been plagued with injuries. He’s never played a full 82-game season – although he played a full 56-game season during the shortened 2020-2021 season. If we were to project his point totals out for a complete season, Boeser would have gone over his goal projection three times and his point total five times.
The long-time Canuck is entering a contract year. Normally, players elevate their game in contract years in hopes of earning a few extra millions to their bank account. Boeser was debatably the Canucks’ best forward during last season’s playoff run. If he can continue to roll that over and perform in his contract year, these projections might be too low for last season’s leading goal scorer.
Quinn Hughes – 14.5 goals | 84.5 points
Hughes is coming off a career season, boasting a 17-goal, 75-assist year, good for 92 points. The reigning Norris trophy winner has increased his point total in all but one year of his career, going 53, 41 (shortened season), 68, 76 and 92. If the trend continues, he’ll crush these projections.
The tricky one here will be his goals. His 17-goal season last year somewhat came out of nowhere. In his five-year NHL career, he never went over eight goals in a single season. But after the previous offseason, where he came into camp with a much-improved shot, he exploded by more than doubling his previous high.
The Canucks defence corps enters the year weaker than they started last season. This may mean they will need to rely on Hughes to play more, thus leading to more points and crushing his goal and point projection yet again.
JT Miller – 32.5 goals | 90.5 points
After narrowly missing the century mark in 2021-2022, Miller finally hit that total last season, finishing with 37 goals and 66 assists for 103 points. The Canucks’ leading scorer last season has only gone over this goal projection once and point projection twice.
Granted, he’s really flourished into a different player here in Vancouver, so it would be unfair to compare these lines to his time before he suited up in a Canucks uniform. While Miller has only hit this goal total in one of his five seasons in Vancouver, he finished with 32 the previous two seasons before last.
There’s no real reason why Miller won’t be able to hit these totals yet again. He’s found his consistent linemate in Boeser and welcomes Danton Heinen to their line, who has a higher offensive upside than they had of Pius Suter. And now the Canucks have hopefully brought in the left-shot sniper to play in the bumper that should help stat pad Miller’s point totals.
Elias Pettersson – 34.5 goals | 90.5 points
Pettersson finished just one goal shy of this goal projection and two points shy of this point projection with a 34-goal, 89-point campaign. The Swedish forward has gone over these projections just once each, in the 2022-2023 season, where he finished with 39 goals and 102 points.
With DeBrusk and Daniel Sprong currently slated to start the year on Pettersson’s wings, these may be the best offensive tandem he has ever started the season with – outside of Miller and Boeser on the lotto line, of course.
As we mentioned above, last year was a down year for Pettersson, and he still narrowly missed these projections. If these offensive wingers live up to their hype, Pettersson should be in store for much higher point totals than these projections.
Awards
Here are the odds for each of the Canucks award winners last year to repeat as winners.
Jack Adams Award
Rick Tocchet (+5000)
According to Vegas, Tocchet is tied for the lowest available odds with Ryan Huska, Greg Cronin, and Jim Montgomery to repeat this award for Coach of the Year.
Usually, this award is given to the coach whose team improved the best in terms of points percentage or overcame a setback yet made the playoffs. Once you’ve won this award, the book is out on you, and it’s nearly impossible to repeat as the winner. Since the award debuted in 1973-1974, there has only been one winner to win in back-to-back seasons: Jacques Demers of the Detroit Red Wings in 1986-87 and 1987-1988.
It seems like a long shot for Tocchet to do it again. But maybe a President’s trophy-type season from the Canucks could make Tocchet the second coach in the trophy’s 61 years of existence to do so.
James Norris Trophy
Quinn Hughes (+700)
According to Vegas, Hughes is tied with Adam Fox for the second-best odds to repeat this award for the NHL’s best defenceman. The two trail only Cale Makar, who is (+270), to win the award.
Now, this award has seen multiple repeat winners and, in some cases, more than two seasons: Doug Harvey (x4), Pierre Pilote (x3), Bobby Orr (x8), Dennis Potvin (x2), Rod Langway (x2), Paul Coffey (x2), Ray Bourque (x2 twice) and Nicklas Lidstrom (x3 twice).
However, there hasn’t been a back-to-back winner since Lidstrom in 2006-07 and 2007-08. In fact, there have only been two defencemen to win even his second Norris trophy since then (Erik Karlsson and Duncan Keith).
Hughes would need to outperform his efforts from last season and blow the rest of the competition out of the water to repeat as the Norris trophy winner.
What do you think, Canucks fans? How do you think Vegas ranked these Canucks players? And will they go over or under those totals?
