The Vancouver Canucks are still on the hunt to add another player to their lineup ahead of the 2025-26 season. Based on current personnel, however, let’s take a look at who the team will slot into the team’s power play units.

The obvious answers that will be seen on the Canucks top unit will be Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk. The final spot, however, is up for grabs, and we could see a battle between Evander Kane and Filip Chytil.

Before we slot in either Kane or Chytil, it will depend on where the four main pieces fit into the setup. Hughes, of course, will be quarterbacking the top unit at the point. On the right flank, it’s expected to be Pettersson, allowing him to unleash his deadly one-timer — something fans craved last season, but didn’t get the chance to see a lot of. The opposing teams did a good job of shutting down this option for Pettersson, so having another deadly shot on the opposite side with Boeser could be the best setup to open up scoring chances from both flanks. This would force teams to choose whether they want to leave one of the two elite shooting options open, to shut down Pettersson’s one-timer.

Having DeBrusk as the net front guy had lots of success last season, and although Boeser was a great net front threat, the lack of someone like J.T. Miller likely pushes him to the flank while DeBrusk becomes the main guy tipping pucks and banging home rebounds.

Based on these four players in their positions on the power play, it would make sense to add Evander Kane to be the other member on the top unit. His size and grit in either a bumper spot or another net front spot would be a better fit than adding Chtyil, who plays more of a skill and finesse style.

This top unit would have a good mix of playmaking, shooting, and grit to be able to create chances and score from all over the ice on the power play.

The second unit wouldn’t have nearly as big a role, but we’ve seen the Canucks aren’t afraid of mixing things up when the top unit isn’t producing.

Quarterbacking the second unit would be Filip Hronek, with Chytil and Conor Garland likely being on the flanks. The bumper spot and net front positions would likely be taken by Nils Höglander and Kiefer Sherwood.

This second unit would be a different look from the first; rather than having the shooters on the flanks, it would be coming from the middle of the ice with Hronek’s big shot from the point and Sherwood’s coming from the bumper spot. Chytil and Garland would be great playmakers from the flanks, with Höglander taking the net front and bouncing out on either side to create chances down low.

This unit doesn’t have the same level of grit; however, adding a player like Sherwood brings that tenacity, while the other have the skill and playmaking ability to create scoring opportunities, especially with a dangerous shooting threat like Hronek from the point.

Last season, the Canucks had a fair bit of success on the power play, scoring 22.5 per cent of the time, for 15th best in the league. This is despite all the moves the team made throughout the year, forcing the Canucks to change personnel and looks on the power play.

Coming into this season, which should see less drastic moves evolving key players, the team’s power play units should be able to create more chemistry as the year goes on and improve on the numbers they managed to put up last season.

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