The Vancouver Canucks hit the halfway point for 2024-25 in spectacular fashion. Personnel conflicts, fans second-guessing the coach, management coyly hinting at a massive overhaul in direction. All in a day’s work for the most dramatic team in the league. And the past two weeks have been quite the day.
Canucks Reach Halfway in 2024-25, Question Future
This was supposed to be over. After a decade of wilder and wilder swings to keep ever more distant dreams alive, 2023-24 should have been it. A veteran management group, young stars hitting their stride, top-ranked goaltending, and a year to build on.
Then, right on schedule, the annual “Should the Canucks Panic” article found its place. Look, we don’t really print one every year, but we could. But for all the pointing of fingers at “the media” there’s a reason weird stories keep getting printed. This is a big fan base, and a whole lot of folks are trying to get their stories in front of those eyeballs. *ahem*
And the fan base, for all their insistence that they don’t, eat that drama up. For good reason, frankly – when you love your team, you want to hear about it, for better or worse. The downside is that any time something gets reported, the reporters are accused of fearmongering or outright invention.
How to stop stories from appearing seemingly out of nowhere is simple: the team has to stop providing them. And we’re not just talking management, here, but all the stuff on and off the ice from the players, too. Let’s recap just what we’ve learned as the calendars turned over, shall we?
Bottom-Clinching Bottom Line
How were we all feeling when Thatcher Demko pulled himself from that game against the Seattle Kraken? That terrifying moment was a scant two weeks ago if you can believe it. Hearing it was just back spasms was like getting a second win that night.
Kevin Lankinen came in for cleanup and performed well enough to win, even if they gave away a point to Seattle. That Demko has just one more season on his contract is already causing some consternation. His injury history, especially of late, casts not just a bleak shadow but a dark one over negotiations. His future career is an unknowable mystery.
Not only is Demko one popped knee away from potential retirement, but he’s also changed his goaltending style, deliberately or not. According to InGoal Magazine’s Kevin Woodley, he’s in a narrower, taller stance which will change his timing. It comes with benefits against high shots and is easier on joints than the low crouch, but Demko needs time to adapt.
But Demko’s no fool. Neither is he untalented, so a recovery to last year’s numbers is more likely than continuing this year’s somewhat erratic totals. And until he’s fully recovered, Lankinen is very capable of defending their net. Which lets fans engage in a real blast from the past.
D-Zone D-Tails
The Canucks are at the halfway mark of 2024-25 and have been looking for a defenceman for all of it. Erik Brännström being surprisingly useful when he was acquired in the Tucker Poolman contract dump was nice but wasn’t it? Indeed, when Brännström was recently waived after not playing this month, there was a minor uproar.
After watching the defence management originally planned to run with struggle to move the puck, someone who actually could be a breath of fresh air. But he isn’t the perfect player – he was available for a reason – and teams need players who match styles. In this recent discordant, uncommunicative stretch, coach Tocchet has closed things down considerably.
The Canucks are now playing a tight, slow game. Its focus is low-event hockey, safe plays, and hoping the chances they get will be good ones. Erik Brännström is pretty much the polar opposite of that. He is a player who yes, can move the puck, but he can also lose it in transition at the worst possible time. A high-risk, modest-reward kind of guy.
The same can be said of Noah Juulsen. His mistakes are more physical, though. He will take himself out of position to throw a hit. You can get away with that when you aren’t the last skater back, but Juulsen doesn’t seem to play that part out very well. A simpler game suits him better, and that’s a pretty easy thing to coach.
There are other options who are generally smarter players if providing neither the physical nor offensive peak of these two. Guillaume Brisebois and Mark Friedman are both classic “tweener”-status defencemen in that mould. And no one’s really sure about what Vincent Desharnais is just yet despite being 28 years old.
Foreward Hoo, Boy!
Going by our predictions, the Canucks should have 50 points halfway through 2024-25. They have – drumroll, please – 48 after 42 games. They’re three games below .500 with just 19 wins, but a double fistful of loser points is keeping them alive.
The goaltending has skimmed by, thankfully, and the defence is the defence, but up front should really make a difference. And, unfortunately, it has. Both of Vancouver’s best forwards’ names have come up as possible trade bait. It’s silly, but a reminder that the whole point of having a team is to have a team. Let the “Good in the room doesn’t mean anything!” crowd take notes.
The 1-B folks are doing well enough, all else considered. Jake DeBrusk could easily break 30 goals for the first time, a pace Brock Boeser is matching. Conor Garland is leading the forwards in ice time and points with 30 in his 19:30 per night. Around them, however, have been issues.
Kiefer Sherwood is going to obliterate his career highs and is hitting everything in an opponent’s jersey, which is great. Pius Suter and Teddy Blueger have been reliable, if unspectacular. But you want more from Danton Heinen given his paycheque. Dakota Joshua‘s return from cancer treatment has been anything but smooth, which is completely understandable. And it’s just not Nils Höglander‘s year.
No one has really grabbed the reins in the bottom six. Opportunities abound for Arshdeep Bains or Aatu Räty or Phillip Di Giuseppe to take a bigger role here. Daniel Sprong couldn’t do it and Max Sasson is a great story but one of the veterans should be stepping up. And Jonathan Lekkerimaki shouldn’t be anywhere near a fourth line if you’re asking. Not with his skill set.
Canucks Halfway Through 2024-25, Filled With Drama
The second half of the season is going to be pivotal for the future of the Canucks. There may be a huge, dramatic move or a few small ones. There may be a resurgence and climb up the standings, a modest solidifying of their position, or a disastrous miss. Whatever they do, we – and all their fans in Vancouver and around the world – will be watching.
We’re going to talk about this team, whatever happens. The Canucks want better press? Well, it’s simple. It’s not just about the team providing storylines, but better ones.
Main Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
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