Rebuild? Retool?

These days, it’s really more about ‘reinforcements.’

The Vancouver Canucks are not in the midst of a youth movement. Not really. They’re still very much built around a core that has already entered their playing primes, led by Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson and featuring a supporting cast with the likes of Filip Hronek, Jake DeBrusk, Filip Chytil, Marcus Pettersson, and Conor Garland. It is on these players, primarily, that the Canucks’ hopes of competing at some point in the near future will rest.

But that doesn’t mean that the young players circling around the roster right now are unimportant. Quite the contrary. We’re here today to argue that said young players are actually a vital and necessary part of ‘the plan.’ So much so, in fact, that there should be an impetus to get these individuals on the roster and playing meaningful minutes as soon as they’re at all ready.

Right now, ideally. But if not now, then definitely by the start of the 2025/26 campaign.

Allow us to explain our thinking.

First, let’s define who we’re talking about because it’s not just any ol’ prospects. The players we’re talking about here are the difference-makers – those prospects good enough to reasonably make an impact on the roster within the next couple of seasons.

Folks may differ in who they include in that category. For this author, it’s probably a group of four: Tom Willander, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Elias Pettersson the Younger, and Aatu Räty. It must be noted here that, of that list, one has yet to sign his ELC (Willander), and another is just about to complete his (Räty.) So, it might be an oversimplification to use “ELC” in the headline, but just know that what we mean by it is ‘player who is on a cheap contract because they are young, not because they’re not good.’

Others might chop a name or two off the list. Some would not include Räty. Others might choose to isolate Willander and Lekkerimäki as the two prospects a tier above the rest, and that’s probably fair, as well.

In any case, the point to be made is that the Canucks really need some cheap, young players to start not just appearing but genuinely contributing to the roster on a regular basis soon, and these are the four most poised to do so.

We’ve spent some time post-deadline assessing the Canucks’ roster and cap space for next season and found the situation to be a little tight. In fact, the following mock roster contains all four aforementioned prospects…

…and still only has some $14.5 million left over to spend on the remaining four players required to fill it out.

Most will look at that roster and come to the conclusion that it needs some upgrades, particularly in the top-six forwards. And in order to have enough money on hand to go offseason shopping, the Canucks are going to need cheap contracts in place elsewhere.

Now, there’s no rule saying these cheap contracts need to be attached to young players. But the Canucks are also going for effectiveness here. Bang-for-buck. And the prospects we’ve mentioned definitely stand the best chance of making the largest per-dollar impact. There’s no way of stating with certainty, for example, that Lekkerimäki will be a success, filling Brock Boeser’s shoes in the top six. But he stands a far better chance of doing so than anyone the Canucks might pick up from free agency on a sub-$1 million contract.

The Canucks are going to need both cheap contracts on the books and for the players attached to those cheap contracts to overperform their worth. One way to do that is to get extremely lucky on a signing, like the team did with Kiefer Sherwood recently. The other way is to give those spots to young players and then give them the time and space to develop into greater contributors.

The Canucks are set up well to follow the latter path.

But it’s about more than just cost-effectiveness. It’s also about the timeline toward competitiveness.

Look, we know that some folks are tired of hearing about this “Quinn Hughes Competitive Window ™” and not just the local trademark office.

But it’s undeniable that the Canucks currently have a competitive opportunity in having the best player to ever play for the franchise under contract for a dollar value ($7.85 million) that is rapidly approaching being about half of what the player is actually owed.

If Hughes re-signs with the Canucks after this deal is up, there’s no reason to think the competitive window ends there. But he will be making about twice as much money at that point, and he will be older, and that will certainly make competing a little more difficult.

Suffice it to say, then, that the Canucks have a very unique and particular opportunity to compete with Hughes still under this same contract for 2025/26 and 2026/27. The kind of opportunity that must be made the most of.

Which is another reason why it’s important to get these young potential difference-makers on the roster as soon as is possible – meaning, as soon as they are ready. No one, outside of the chronically optimistic, is expecting Lekkerimäki to come in next year and score 30 goals. No one is expecting Willander to instantaneously become a top-four defender. These are great prospects, but such development takes time. Specifically, it takes time at the NHL level.

The sooner these players can get that necessary big-league experience, the sooner that experience will start paying off. In other words, if the Canucks truly want these players to contribute meaningful roles with that Hughes Contract Window ™, the clock is sort of already ticking.

Wait too long, and the risk is run of these players still developing when the team really needs them to be developed. It’s all about the timing, and the timing says the time is now.

There is a need to couch all this in a caveat of ‘if they’re ready.’ No one is ever well-served by pushing young players into roles they’re not fully prepared for, and that can sometimes hamper development as much as anything.

But let’s be honest here – these players are ready. Pettersson the Younger is playing in the NHL right now and looking terrific. Lekkerimäki is scoring goals at a near-unprecedented rate for a prospect of his age at the AHL level. Räty is up to a point-per-game in Abbotsford, making him one of the most productive under-23 players in the entire league.

And Willander has put together the sort of NCAA career that strongly suggests he’ll be able to skip the minors altogether and step directly into NHL minutes.

That could happen as soon as Willander’s season at Boston University comes to an end. And we hope it does. By the end of this 2024/25 campaign, we could reasonably see all of Lekkerimäki, Pettersson II, and Willander skating regular minutes in Vancouver. Räty could and should definitely join them for 2025/26, and we hope the quartet can stick it out for that entire season.

That would give them each at least a full year of NHL experience heading into 2026/27, the last year of Hughes’ contract. Everything gets a little less certain after that, but by having some well-developed young talent in place on their roster by that point, the Canucks can at least put a little more solid ground under their feet.