Welcome back to WDYTT, the only hockey column on the internet that’s always a safe bet – to entertain, that is.

Speaking of bets, we don’t know if GM Patrik Allvin of the Vancouver Canucks is a gambler, but he’s certainly showed an affinity for rolling the dice on roster moves.

Once again, in the 2025 offseason, Allvin has taken chances, with the most obvious being his choice to bring in the mercurial Evander Kane as the ultimate high-risk, high-reward move.

But Allvin’s biggest bets of the offseason were in-house bets, so to speak. We’re talking about two decisions to stick with players already on the roster who are each just absolutely riddled with question marks at this point: Elias Pettersson (the senior) and Thatcher Demko.

These bets aren’t quite identical, either. With Pettersson, it was just a matter of turning down whatever trade offers must have come their way and deciding to let his full no-movement clause come into effect as of July 1, essentially locking EP40 into Vancouver for the foreseeable future.

Demko, meanwhile, was entering the final year of his current contract before becoming a UFA. Allvin got ahead of that by extending Demko to a three-year, $8.5 million AAV contract that will kick in as of 2025/26, but will prove impactful long before then – first and foremost, when it necessitates the trading of a goalie sometime later this summer.

These are two big bets on bounce backs, and we’re not just saying that for the alliteration.

Pettersson’s struggles have become a near-daily talking point, with his production declining from 104 points to 89 to just 45 over the past three seasons, a stint that unfortunately coincides with Pettersson’s salary jumping up to an $11.6 million AAV.

Now reportedly fully healthy and already deep into offseason training, Pettersson’s future challenges appear to be largely mental. But in any case, his returning to true 1C status is vital to the Canucks’ hopes of success.

Demko, meanwhile, is facing a far more bodily challenge. He’s been through an absolute injury wringer over the past few years, with last season being by far his most-plagued. He, too, however, says that his injuries are as behind him as they’re ever going to be, and Demko has been engaging recovery specialists all summer long in a bid to get back to his best.

So, we thought we’d put these two bouncebacks-in-progress head-to-head for this week’s call-and-response.

This week, we’re asking you:

Let it be known in the comment section.

You answered below! (Note: With so many responses this week, we had to be choosy. Apologies to anyone whose responses were not featured.)

Rate it as unexpected. Even surprising.

C+. Satisfactory. Nothing exceptional. Room for improvement.

I will give the Canucks two different grades. They get an ‘F’ for providing anything to be excited about next season. The coach hiring is boring. Their draft picks are boring. Re-signing Boeser is boring. Adding nothing beyond E. Kane is boring. Even the young guys who might crack the line-up are pretty boring. EP25 and Mancini aren’t boring, but they didn’t arrive this offseason. Adding nothing and still being out of cap space is boring.

In fairness, the main objective of the offseason isn’t to be exciting. It is to make the team better. You have to make the team worse to fail this measure so they get a ‘C’. The team may be better but that relies entirely on returning players being better and not offseason moves. Could happen, likely will to some extent but how much better, probably not a whole bunch.

Where I will give management some credit is for making 6 of their 7 picks and keeping all their better prospects so there can be some optimism for the future. Unfortunately, holding on to these future assets probably has a lot more to do with trade market conditions than a plan of building for the future.

D.

The team did not improve and are capped out.

Same old, same old. Looks like the master plan is to rely on elite goaltending.

Mediocre snooze-fest. C.

Pleased they kept most of their draft picks and while not flashy selections, their first two picks were smart bets that will definitely help build the team for the future (Cootes is a character Canadian-born player with a floor of 3C and potential to be a matchup 2C; Medvedev will help build from the net out which is a good recipe for success). If one of the other drafted centers hits that would be a huge bonus.

Free agency and re-signings is a whole different story… Bringing in Kane as a stopgap Boeser replacement was an interesting bet with potential upside for some gritty entertaining play, but then to resign Boeser to seven years(!?!) was a complete panic maneuver sacrificing the ability to improve team speed and grit while spending any and all cap space for a legitimate 2C – big failure.

Garland extension while on paper looks good cap wise, six years was two years too long. Demko resigning is a risky bet, but if he regains his form he is elite and will pay off, but at the cost of cap flexibility in the upcoming seasons (unless Lankinen waives his NTC).

So overall, I’m not super excited about the upcoming low-event hockey season with pretty much the same roster as last year under coach Foote. But ever the optimist, if everything goes right for this team (EP40 comes back jacked and regains his form; Chytil stays healthy and doesn’t sustain a career ending hit to the head; Höglander and Joshua find consistency; Kane plays his best and is not a distraction; etc.) then a wildcard spot is possible…

‘B’ for Brock.

In a very small FA pool and obviously high-ask Trade Market, the FO did some tidy work.

As the cap rises, these deals will be bargains and allow the team to acquire higher end talent

But unless a surprise and unexpected trade happens to land a quality 2C, to quote the Talking Heads, “Same as it ever was…”

I’ll grade them as a C-. None of the moves are going to push the team out of the mushy middle, either up or down. I’m a big advocate of the draft-and-develop strategy, but there are times when it is not the best approach. Like now, after the team has spent several years chasing short term success by depleting the draft/prospect pool.

With the short term window of QH’s contract, the team needs to either go all in to materially improve the roster by moving out prospects and picks to free up cap space for FA’s and trade for current roster upgrades, or off-load good players in a seller’s market to kick-start a renovation. The team did neither.

I didn’t award a D grade just because there is a good opportunity for many of last year’s under-performers to rebound, in which case there is still the potential to go all in for the playoffs.

Overall, while I have disagreed with the team’s strategy over the past 10+ years, I at least want them to properly implement their (misguided) strategy.

C+

Kane was a good addition, even if I can’t stand the guy. Can’t give management too much credit for it though, he’s from Vancouver and gave the Oilers a short list of teams he’s be willing to relocate to.

Re-signing Boeser long term was controversial depending on who you ask, but $7.25 mill is good value and it’ll only look better with time.

Demko is making Hellebuyck money now. Some are happy with the shorter three-year term, but I don’t see it as a positive. If he returns to form and the cap continues to rise, his next contract will be astronomical and it’ll carry him through his 30s. If he doesn’t return to form or can’t stay healthy, it’s a disaster.

Overall, it’s good for morale to keep the band together, and a step in the right direction towards keeping Hughes. I think everyone agrees the Canucks need more high-end talent up front, but with very limited options in free agency and a tough market for trades, management deserves some recognition for not overpaying on July 1st, trading out their prospects, or succumbing to desperation trades.

Calgary/Edmonton/Vancouver really didn’t change a whole lot…

My goal is Stanley Cup or bust and I have not seen anything to date that has improved their chances of obtaining this prize so it is an ‘F’ for me.

The good has been drafting Cootes who is a character guy that should be a long-time Canuck. I also like the addition of Kane, who at the every least will provide some spark and entertainment value to this fairly generic looking team. I am also pleased that they didn’t succeed in a regrettable bidding war for an expensive UFA, but it sounds like they tried to with Dvorak, which would have been very bad.

The not so good… Demko getting too much money per season. At least they have a full year to move him before this deal sets in. Also, re-upping other guys who will only help maintain the status quo. Brock has been a good Canuck but should have been moved at the TDL, It was also a failure to not capitalize on whatever Suter could have brought in.

Finally, more should have happened at the draft to move up or try for another first or second rounder. They need more high end prospects. The Canes traded their first for two seconds, maybe the Canucks’ second and first OA of the third round should have been in the mix for a similar deal.

Sure the Canucks resigned Demko, Garland, and Boeser, and I was definitely surprised that Boeser signed with the Canucks and for a reasonable cap hit.

The Canucks also acquired Evander Kane who I thought was Boeser’s replacement.

With all that said, I don’t feel excited by what the Canucks have done this offseason.

I don’t think they did anything to truly improve the team.

They did good work last year in finally producing a competent defense, so we should see the benefit of that this year.

Demko should be healthy for the year, and so Canucks are set in goal.

But when it comes to offense there are too many question marks. Will Pettersson be better? He set a low bar last year, so he should be better.

But the rest of the top 6 forwards don’t really excite me, so I think scoring will be a problem this year.

Can Chytil, Kane, Demko, and Pettersson stay healthy for the year? If two of them go down with long injuries, the Canucks chances of making the playoffs will definitely be in jeopardy.

I think the Canucks are still a bubble team to make the playoffs and they need to the team to stay healthy to make it.

It was nice they kept their draft picks for a change instead of trading them away for overpriced, overaged veterans.

So far, neutral. We won’t be any better.

The teams playing in the Cup Final were ranked 9th and 11th overall. In the East, teams 7 to 14 were separated by 12 points, with the West not being much different. Some teams had 25% of their games be three-pointers, for many others it was 20%. On top of it all, the NHL doesn’t play a balanced schedule, and the next season will be two games longer.

Based on all that, treading water seems like the safest path to the postseason.

I give the brain trust an F. They failed to move the one piece that is dragging down the group. They said that they would acquire a top-six through several trades, and that didn’t happen as there is still a hole at 1st and 2nd line centre. The draft was also meh for me, because they always complain about playing heavy teams, but they never draft heavy. Same old, same old. No Cups for this franchise this century or next…

A team builds towards a Cup run using basic principles and then gets lucky when a high draft pick becomes a monster to push the team over the top – most often a defence monster like Pronger or Chara – big, mean, stilled with the puck, hard shot. The most basic principles: value for money & character quality.

This off-season? Value for money – decent, nothing crazy. Character quality – all strong. A trade won’t produce a monster. If one comes along, the rest of the team must be ready.

I am underwhelmed by management’s moves this offseason. They established stability in the team’s core by signing Demko, Garland, and Boeser. They added some toughness in Kane. They picked six players in the entry draft, including picks in all of the first three rounds of the draft. They lost a good centre (Suter) from the team’s weakest position, i.e. centre. Most of all, my impression is that they did nothing to improve the team or get better. If good health prevails and Petey makes a come back, we may make the playoffs. It’s a coin toss, in my view.

Great. They have yet to lose a game, knock on wood.