Canucks 2025-26 Season Outlook: Recap, Offseason Moves, and What’s Next.
Okay, so after taking a break for the rest of the season to reevaluate how I want to continue this page in terms of the game article, I’ve decided to change the way I do them. But before I get to that, let’s talk some Canucks!
2024-25 Season Recap
So this past season was pretty crazy in reflection of the year prior; everything went wrong. Injuries galore, losing key players in trades, and blowing leads at a consistent pace. Losing Miller was the biggest part of last season. Even with all of that, though. They were still only 6 points out of a playoff spot. With all the things going wrong, to be that close is a win.
Offseason Review
They entered the offseason with the goal of keeping the team around the same or even better, in order to push for the playoffs. The first move they made was bringing back Forbort, which is a good move for our depth. 2 mil for one season isn’t bad, as if he falls out of the lineup, he can be sold for a low draft pick. The next move they made was acquiring Evander Kane from the Oilers in exchange for a fourth-round pick. Although they helped the Oilers with cap space, they end up getting a low- risk high-upside player that can slot into the top 6 and potentially put up above forty points potentially on a line with Pettersson. They entered the draft with the 15th overall pick and drafted Braeden Cootes, a great pick in my opinion. He's a perfect 2C potential and also a Canadian player. The rest of their picks were pretty solid as well, with Medvedev highlighting the class. They went into July 1st with Boeser, Suter, and Juulsen as UFA’s two of them in Suter and Juulsen, left to St. Louis and Philadelphia, respectively. Boeser returned on a 7.25 million dollar deal for 7 years. Great news, as we didn’t lose a valuable asset for nothing, and on a good contract that was less money than we expected. They also extended Garland to a 6-million-dollar deal across 6 years, which he rightfully earned. They also gave Demko an 8.5 million dollar deal for 3 seasons, which, if healthy, is a great deal but the injury concern is the only downside. Both extensions kick in on July 1st, 2026. They also brought in Pierre-Olivier Joseph on a one year league minimum deal; he adds depth to the defence and will probably split time in the NHL and AHL. The two trades they made were trading Silovs and Joshua to the Penguins and Leafs, respectively. They got two fourth round picks and Chase Stillman, who is a former first round pick, but his development hasn’t gone well he’ll probably end up in Abbotsford whilst he’s with the team. They did well in those trades, as the goalie market isn’t great for third strings who haven’t done well in the NHL but have had great success in the AHL. Joshua was a cap dump so good that they got something for him. The last thing they did was signing Vitali Kravtsov to a one year league minimum deal that’s a two way deal. That gives them an extra forward body who had a good year in the KHL last year and can add some depth to the team if he impresses at camp and if he doesn’t then he can go to Abby or be sent back to the KHL at no loss. That’s all they’ve done this offseason so far. There could be one more move before training camp but the roster will probably stay as is.
What’s Next
Now that I've gotten that 425 words out of the way, I can talk about what my plans for the season are. They mostly remain the same as last year. I’ll be continuing the This Week in CanucksLand articles every Monday to update on news and the games that happened that week. I’ll also be continuing the Game Reviews, but they will be different. Instead of just describing the game in a play by play style, I’ll be taking notes and reviewing the games in terms of what I thought about the game. It will allow me to delve into player performances deeper and talk about the game in more detail. Should make the articles more enjoyable and fun to read. I will also be trying to do fun articles that will go in-depth on specific topics that will allow me to work on other stuff in this field, such as scouting, analysis, and storytelling. In order to better myself in terms of all my work across each platform. Now I’m not sure how often I’ll be doing those special articles as some weeks I might be more busy than the others. So be patient with me as I navigate through this upcoming season, as my plans could change, but for the time being, the plan at the moment is what I talked about. So let’s get ready for a great season of Canucks hockey with hopefully some great Canucks content.
Conclusion
If you made it this far in the article, thank you so much for reading and I hope that you come back to read the future articles for this season. I’ll be trying to write more before the season commences, but in terms of the first article for the season will be on the 21st of September, which will be my review of the first preseason game against Seattle, with a This Week in CanucksLand following it the next day. See you guys soon and Go Canucks Go!