By: Brayden Fengler / July 24, 2025 After the dust settled on NHL Free Agency, the Canucks retained not only Brock Boeser, but also extended Thatcher Demko and Conor Garland. They may have lost Noah Juulsen, Pius Suter and, most recently, Dakota Joshua, but they have retained key pieces that give this team its identity for the better.
With big components of this Canucks team staying the same, and the fact that this season ended so poorly for the Canucks, is it crazy to feel like the “vibes” around this team are improving? Is the summer heat and the distance from the season changing perspectives, or have the Canucks actually made the right steps so far this offseason to set themselves up for next year?
Boeser and Others Aren’t Done Yet
Like many who have followed this team closely, I had written off the possibility of the Canucks re-signing Brock Boeser months before free agency. If they were going to give him a deal, doing so before the trade deadline seemed like the most logical move.
So when the Canucks didn’t go that route and there was no extension signed shortly after the deadline, it seemed clear that Boeser’s time in Vancouver was over.
The problem is that even if he were to leave, they still needed someone to fill his role. So when plan A with Christian Dvorak didn’t work out, as reported by Rick Dhaliwal, it made sense for the Canucks to reconnect with Boeser. The Canucks are just lucky that he was willing to listen to an offer.
It’s not unheard of for players to renounce re-signing with a team even if the team changes their minds on them, simply because that team left them hanging for too long in the first place. Thankfully for the Canucks, Boeser’s love for the city and the team was stronger than any discomfort he had about being strung along until Free Agency.
As stated in my pre-free agency article, the Canucks could’ve even tried for FA Nikolaj Ehlers. But at that stage, they would just be making a bet on a player with virtually the same pedigree as Boeser without knowing all the intangibles about how he’d fit into the team. It would have been a big gamble for a lateral move.
As previously mentioned, Conor Garland and Thatcher Demko also signed extensions with Vancouver. Garland has trade value due to his low price tag of $4.95M, but he is also such a unique player and has become such a key part of this team’s identity. Losing Garland, even if his return would’ve been significant, would’ve been a big shake-up to the team’s fabric that the Canucks were wise to avoid.
On Demko, yes, the questions around his potential for injury are still there, but if Demko can stay healthy, it’s hard not to be excited about a locked-down goalie tandem of Demko and Lankinen. It’s been a minute since the Canucks have had two goalies that can comfortably and interchangeably start for this team. It’s always been Demko and a question mark.
Or at different times when Demko was hurt, it’s been either Lankinen or Silovs stepping up with another AHL goalie behind them and nothing but a prayer keeping the team together if another injury was to occurr. Now, with the Canucks making the move of selling off Silovs for a pick and a prospect and locking down their two starters, there finally seems to be a clear path ahead for the team’s Goalies.
Current Canucks Line-up
With the recent shake-ups, the Canucks’ depth chart now looks like this:
DeBrusk – Pettersson – Boeser
Kane – Chytil – Garland
Sherwood – Blugers – Lekkerimaki
Hoglander – Aman – O’Connor
Hughes – Hronek
M. Pettersson – Myers
Forbort – E. Pettersson
Demko
Lankinen
Aman
Bains
Karlsson
The team’s recent pick-up of Stillman for Silovs does add some depth to their right-shot forward category, as they were and still are lighter on right-shot personnel. However, Stillman’s addition is developmental, not something that will plug right into the Canucks’ line-up. But as much as it looks like the forward core is running it back next season, I don’t think this is entirely a bad idea.
In general, the Canucks are likely to have some bounce-back performances, and with the addition of Evander Kane and the still somewhat new addition of Filip Chytil, the top six looks strong. Even if the Canucks still have more off-season moves up their sleeves after trading away Dakota Joshua, the current forward group looks strong enough to start the season without too much worry.
Upside
There is a fear that the off-season optimism felt right now comes from the thought that surely next season cannot be as bad as last season. But it’s also refreshing to see that the moves that were made this offseason so far show restraint and are not just seeking change for the sake of change.
The retaining of key players that you know have a fit here is great, the sale of a goalie that you can no longer confidently say you need is tidy business, and a hopeful new coach bump and a fresh start for many players will give the Canucks a strong opening month to the season.