The end is near. Just two games remain for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2024-25 National Hockey League regular season. Fortunately there is no end in sight to the great questions our loyal readers submit on a weekly basis. With the off-season nearly upon us, the inquiring minds are already turning their attention to an off-season of the draft lottery, injury recovery, roster reconstruction and dreams of brighter days ahead. So while the Canucks play out the string, we here at CanucksArmy still have plenty to play for. It’s time to answer a new batch of questions for the Monday mailbag.
While details remain murky at best, it has been reported that Pettersson is once again dealing with some sort of wrist issue. He left a March 22nd game against the New York Rangers and was sent home off the road trip. We learned over the weekend that he will not return for either of the final two games this week. So the final line on Pettersson is 64 games played, 15 goals and 45 points which, for the time being, puts him in a tie with Pius Suter for fifth in team scoring. After practice Sunday, Rick Tocchet had an interesting answer to a question about whether Pettersson’s injury will limit his offseason training in any way.
The coach said the injury shouldn’t prevent Pettersson from starting his summer workouts which suggests surgery is not in the offing. Tocchet added while the organization can’t tell a player what to do over the summer, he made it readily apparent that there are fitness and conditioning standards that players must meet when they arrive for camp. Reading between those lines, it seems there is room for improvement in that regard for the team’s highest paid player. However, to the second part of your question, I also suspect we see EP40 in the Canucks lineup again sooner than three years down the line.
I think there is a considerable chance Thatcher Demko finds a new hockey home over the summer. I could see the Canucks packaging Nils Höglander with a first round pick in an attempt to bolster their centre ice position. And if the organization has faith in some of the younger centres in the system and needs to find a place for them on the big league roster out of camp, might the Canucks part with Teddy Blueger for a draft pick?
Blueger’s penalty killing utility would certainly have value around the league, but his 5-on-5 production seems capped at around 25 points. Could that be replaced? None of this means these deals will happen. But this management group needs to be creative in an effort to upgrade the hockey club. So expect the unexpected this summer. 
What a great time for this question. As the Canucks season winds down and management conducts its annual state of the franchise exit address later this week, the practice facility question is bound to arise. It always does. If the team had put a shovel in the ground the first time President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford was asked about it when he was hired three and half years ago, the players would be skating in their new facility by now. Of course, that hasn’t happened yet. So it all remains on the team’s to do list. But there have been whispers around Rogers Arena lately of a new plan with a new partner. Let’s see what management has to share with the fans in the days ahead.
Well, it’s possible the team could be looking for its fourth head coach in less than four years. And if Rick Tocchet walks, there is a strong likelihood Adam Foote will go with him. Even if those two are back, it’s always conceivable that a new assistant coach will be added and that the staff will have a different look when training camp rolls around. I’m not anticipating anyone in upper management being jettisoned based on the disappointments of the season.
But the front office has had its share of missteps this season and for the franchise to move forward the chief administrators of the operation need to have a laser-focussed and perfectly executed off-season. A miscalculation on defence cost this team dearly in the early going last season. A similar misstep simply can’t happen as the Canucks build out their roster for next season.
At the top of the list. No doubt. Obviously, watching the Canucks drop a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on home ice ranks as the greatest singular disappointment in my 25 years on the job. That’s followed by the spring of 2012 when after repeating as President’s Trophy winners the Canucks were bounced in five games in the opening round by the LA Kings. Add in the 2003 second round exit after squandering a 3-1 series lead to Minnesota with a clear path to the final waiting for them. But those are all playoff letdowns. As far as regular seasons go, this one stands alone based on both expectations prior to the season and also the way things spun off the rails.
There’s very little wriggle room for movement now. It’s conceivable the Canucks could still pass Calgary. But they could also be passed by Utah and Columbus. The simple answer is they could drop to 16th, but are far more likely to finish with the 14th or 15th pick. Of course, there is no guarantee they actually pick in that slot. If they move their first rounder, they could very well make their first selection of the draft on the second day. They didn’t pick until the third round last year and I could very well see something similar happening again this June. So where they land in the lottery and where they wind up actually picking could very well be two distinctly different places.

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