logo
CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Diving into some questions facing the Canucks in 2025-26: Canucks Conversation
alt
Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Clarke Corsan
Sep 5, 2025, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 5, 2025, 14:29 EDT
Comments
On Thursday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal tackled some of the big questions the Vancouver Canucks will face in the 2025-26 season: whether the Pettersson-Myers pairing can hold steady, how the club’s defensive depth might get tested, and what the right goalie split looks like between Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen.
On the Pettersson–Myers pairing
Quads kicked things off by asking: “Is the Pettersson–Myers pairing going to be as good as they were down the stretch last season, and were they even as good as we seem to think they were?”
Harm said the duo delivered exactly what was needed. “They were solid but unspectacular as a second pair, which compared to what the Canucks were icing in the first half of the season, was a massive upgrade. Beyond that, you can look at their underlying numbers and see they’re about breaking even in controlling shots, chances, goals for and against were 10 a piece at five on five; you’ll take that. When your first pair is Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, if Pettersson-Myers sustains those results, your top four as a whole are going to win their five-on-five minutes to the degree you’d expect from a playoff team.”
The real difference-maker, Harm added, was Marcus Pettersson’s penalty-killing work. “The way he was shutting down passing lanes, in-zone defending-rock solid and it’s no coincidence that the Canucks PK, which was already rounding into form before he got there, took that next step once he came into the fold.” While there were occasional lapses defending the rush, Harm stressed that the pairing “didn’t play at such a high level together to where I’m concerned if they can keep it up. I expect them to more or less be an average second pair in the NHL, which again when you have Hughes and Hronek- the number one or two pairing in the NHL, all you need is average play from your second pair.”
On defensive depth
Quads pointed out how often injuries have forced lineup changes in Vancouver: “They had the most skaters dressed in the league last year, so we’re going to see some bodies. They’ve got a good pipeline down in Abbotsford, but the biggest question is who’s the next man up?” He noted players like Tom Willander, Victor Mancini, and Elias Pettersson would get looks, though he doubted fans would see a “kid pairing” right away.
Harm wasn’t too worried. “Of course if you run into one of Hughes, Hronek or Pettersson going down, that’s going to sting a lot but that’s true for basically every team in the NHL. When I look at, overall towards the bottom end of the lineup, how many defencemen do you have that you feel comfortable playing regular NHL minutes, the list is fairly long.” He pointed to Mancini’s strong playoff run in Abbotsford, Kudryavtsev’s standout play, Brisebois’ call-up experience, and newcomer P.O. Joseph’s NHL reps as examples of depth options.
The real test, Harm admitted, comes if injuries push Elias Pettersson into higher-leverage minutes. “That’s going to put some pressure on D-Petey who crushed it on the sheltered third line role, now can he have success playing higher leverage minutes? But again, that’s a concern every team has if one of their top defencemen goes down.”
On the goalie split
Finally, the guys debated how the crease should be shared between Demko and Lankinen.
“I was looking at something like 40-45 games for Demko and Lankinen picking up the other 35 or so,” Quads said. “I can’t stress enough that it can’t turn into this ‘Demko is playing marginally better than Lankinen so we’re going to ride him’ and play him 55 plus games. You made a five-year commitment to Lankinen that starts this year, so use him.”
Harm agreed, with a caveat. “If you can keep Demko under 50 starts, I’d be a lot more confident that he can stay healthy and productive come playoff time. But come playoff time, there likely won’t be a split, you’ll be riding your number one guy until he shows signs you can’t trust him anymore.”
Sponsored by bet365

Canucks Conversation

Shows

Breaking News