The Vancouver Canucks and their fans would probably like to forget the 2024-25 season. After winning the Pacific Division and getting within one win of the Western Conference Final in 2023-24, they fell hard from their penthouse and finished seven points out of the playoffs. Not only that, but they had to endure a campaign full of drama, centred around two of their biggest stars, Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, that ultimately led to the latter being shipped out of town to the New York Rangers. They also had their fair share of injuries, from their top two defenders, Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, missing 14 and 21 games, respectively, to their starting goaltender, Thatcher Demko, who only suited up for 23 games.
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The good thing is, every new season brings a clean slate and a chance to erase the dirt of the past. So with that, let’s look at five burning questions as we continue to count the days until the Calgary Flames come to town on Oct. 9 for the home/season opener.
It seems like forever ago that Pettersson recorded 102 points and was on track to become the first Swede to record back-to-back 100-point seasons. He is now being paid handsomely for those seasons, but has yet to live up to the $11.6 million average annual value (AAV) that is beside his name on PuckPedia right now. In his first year under that new number, he recorded a career-low 45 points, 21 points fewer than his previous low in his rookie and sophomore campaigns in 2018-19 and 2019-20, respectively. As mentioned, he was also part of the locker room drama with Miller, which became a distraction on and off the ice – even though they denied it at the time.
Now, Miller is no longer in the picture, and Pettersson has a no-movement clause that should keep him out of trade rumours. He can focus solely on his performance on the ice and bouncing back to the form that saw him hit that century mark in 2023-24. The Canucks need that Pettersson this season, the top-line two-way dynamo that could dance his way through opponents and blast his heavy one-timer past goaltenders on the power play. The forward that fans dubbed “Dekey Pete” and the late Jason Botchford exclaimed, “Petey, do your dekes.”
All indications are that Pettersson is taking his offseason training very seriously and…
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