Canucks 25/26 Season Post Mortem and look ahead.

[theman]

Been waiting for it to become official but think it is close enough. Last overall for the first time in team history, I believe.

Obviously this season was a train wreck pretty much from start to finish. Season Grade: F

Trades:

Major Trades (2026 NHL Trade Deadline Period):

Quinn Hughes Traded: In a shocking December 2025 move, the Canucks traded captain Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild for prospects Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren, Zeev Buium, and a 2026 1st-round pick.

Conor Garland to Columbus: Traded to the Blue Jackets for a 2028 2nd-round pick and a 2026 3rd-round pick.

Tyler Myers to Dallas: Sent to the Stars in exchange for a 2027 2nd-round pick and a 2029 4th-round pick.

Kiefer Sherwood to San Jose: Traded for a 2026 2nd-round pick, a 2027 2nd-round pick, and defenseman Cole Clayton.

David Kämpf to Washington: Traded to the Capitals for a 2026 6th-round pick.

Lukas Reichel to Boston: Traded to the Bruins for a 2026 6th-round pick.

Grading the trades:

Quinn Hughes Trade: B+. I debated giving it an A- but decided not to due to not getting another draft pick back. Mine got the best player but Vancouver still got a very good package back. If the Canucks got Minny's 2026 2nd or 2027 1st with the rest of the package I would have given it a higher grade.

Connor Garland trade: B. If one of the picks was a 1st, it would have been an A. Guess this was the price for no retention, which is still valuable moving forward.

Tyler Myers trade: B. Read above but Vancouver did retain, albeit only for 1 more season.

Kiefer Sherwood trade: A. A+ if the Canucks had managed to get a 1st but they still got two very high picks from SJ. Looks like this year's 2nd will be around the 40th pick.

Kampft and Reichel trades: meh. Cs. The fact the got something for them was great but in Reichel's case, they gave up an high pick to acquire him.

Trades not made at the deadline:

Blueger and Kane. Blueger I get, if they re-sign him to a decent contract not trading him was fine, if not, poor asset management. Kane, WTF? Still can't believe they could not have traded him for a late round pick when the Canucks were willing to retain up to 50% (reportedly). Poor asset management when they gave up a 4th for him.


Moving forward (trades):

F Petey and DeBrusk. Hopefully they can move them this off season for decent packages. F Petey should be able to bring back another 1st and a good young player or prospect. DeBrusk just get him and his lazy play away from the young guys.



Looking ahead to the line up for next season, with cap hits:

Salary Cap: $104 Million
Current Cap hit: $74, 436, 000
Roster: 20/23. 2 UFAs and 1 RFA listed below not included in this number.

Forwards: $44.161, 42.5% of cap

(Numbers are in Millions)

F Petey - 11.6
Boeser - 7.25
DeBrusk - 5.25
Rossi - 5
Chytil - 4.437
Hoglander - 3
O'Connor - 2.5
Karlsson - 2.25
Sasson - 1
Oghren - .886
Raty - .775
Blueger - UFA
Douglas - UFA

Think they will re-sign both Blueger and Douglas so I included them. Douglas should be around league minimum. Blueger probably for a slight raise on a 2 year contract, hopefully.

Defence: $16,500,000, 15.8% of cap

Hronek - 7.25
M Petey - 5.5
Buium - .966
Willander - .95
Mancini - 1
D Petey - .838
Joseph - RFA

Only included Joseph because he is an RFA but I would not be surprised if they let him go. There has been talk, on this board, about bringing in Gudas on a 2 or 3 year deal and I like that as a way to add toughness and protect the young players a bit more. Good news is all of our young guys are signed for 1 more year. Bad news is they are signed for 1 more year and all need new contracts at the same time.

Goaltenders: $13,775,000 13.2% of cap

Demko: - 8.5
Lankinen: - 4.5
Tolopilo: - .775

Umm, where to start. If healthy, goaltending is not a concern but how likely is that? Also, I have always thought goaltending should take up no more than 10% of the cap. Try to unload 1 of Demko and Lankinen. I know: "Thanks Captain obvious."


Moving forward for the offseason:

TBH, I think the most important contract to ship out, with no retention(hopefully), would be Demko's. He just can not stay healthy, but of course, why would another team bring him in? He would be a perfect goalie for Edmonton, yuck, but, again, why would a team bring him in. I would be happy if the Canucks could get a mid/late pick for him, with no or minimal retention.That being said, Lankinen would probably be the easier player to ship out, if he would waive but why the fuck did management give him a NMC?

Also, think it is important even just for culture sake to move out both F Petey and Debrusk. Only reason to keep F Petey would be the hope that he meshes well with 1 of the new wingers from the draft or you are assuming (Canuck org) Chytil never plays again. TBH, I think the Canucks are banking heavily on landing either McKenna or Stenberg and hoping either of them could reignite a fire under F Petey's add. A lot to put on the shoulders on a rookie and really it should be F Petey helping them out instead of the other way around.

I would keep Boeser as I think he wants to be here and he seems to have meshed well with Rossi and Oghren. Keep Hronek, quality RD do not grow on trees, for now but probably ship him out for a good package in 2 years. I think D is okay moving forward even if they just sign a plug to be #7 and spot in now and then.

Management?

Not sure how much I believe the rumours of Alvin being let go. I also think Foote will be back for 1 year more, the tank just wouldn't be the same without him.

[Madcombinepilot]

yeah.. this offseason, I want to see them move on from the two guys who hinted (or the media stirred the shit on), that being DeBrusk, and M Petey. (both were rumored to 'not have signed up for this'). If they move on from 11.6EP - and find a top 30 center in the league to replace him, fine.

I agree to resign Blueger. He is a great 4C, and plays the same. We need a few veterans around.

Then go hunt a team that is looking to be over the cap (Ahem: Anaheim) and see if you can poach a top 6 forward somehow (Like McTavish) for some of our cheaper assets (Mancini, Hoglander, heck, I would even throw Raty into that - all 3 need a change as their development seems to have stalled here, and all 3 are cheap enough for Anaheim - just try and not give away draft picks is all).

Draft top 3,
move the 33 and 40(ish) seconds to move up and grab the Rucks back to back, use the our picks and the picks from Mpetey and Debrusk to reload the farm.. heck, we could potentially shave a year off the rebuild if we pulled that off and hit with Cootes and this years pick...

<edit>
Oh Fuck.. if the Baldies read this, and sell it to auqua man, they might keep thier jobs!

[Meds]

Yeah, I think I agree with most of that.

Players I wouldn't look to move this summer.....

Boeser - His apparent chemistry with Rossi and Ohgren of late, combined with him wanting to be here.....the latter is important.
Rossi - We need a 2C and over the past 15 games he has as many points as our 1C.....also see comment on Boeser.
Ohgren - Young and showing that he can handle the NHL game.....and hey, this is a Swede that Mëds is OK with, so he's gotta be a keeper, right?
Karlsson - Bottom 6 forward who puts in the work and has very good hands around the net (he's our Swedish Alex Burrows).
Hronek - Wants to be here, is a top pairing RHD on almost every team in the league. Enough said.
Buium - Young, promising top-4 D.
Willander - See Buium.

Not NHL regulars in the system.....

Cootes - I think this requires no justification.
Kudryavtsev - Seems to be doing well in the AHL, I'd like to see what he can develop into over the next 2 years rather than move on.
Medvedev - He's only 18 and definitely way too early to give up on considering we have no other young netminders of note in the cupboard.

The rest of the roster I could care less if they are back or not.

Wildcard thought.....

Evander Kane back on a $2Mx2. Would ya? For him to do that it would mean that he actually wants to play in his hometown, and while his season has been disappointing, I think it would have been less disappointing were his cap hit half of what it is. I also think his play hasn't been horrid considering the quality of the roster he's playing on.

[Cornuck]

Wildcard thought.....
Evander Kane back on a $2Mx2. Would ya? For him to do that it would mean that he actually wants to play in his hometown, and while his season has been disappointing, I think it would have been less disappointing were his cap hit half of what it is. I also think his play hasn't been horrid, considering the quality of the roster he's playing on.

Interesting thought. He obviously didn't live up to his contract this year, and he's likely pegged in on the 3rd line for next year if we keep him - and 4th line the following year. I'm also impressed that for all the drama this team has produced this year, his name hasn't come up much. I'm a little surprised by that - perhaps he's learned to be a pro now?

He got his 1000 games, and will get a nice celebration in front of his family and friends when he gets back to town. That might be a good time to discuss a hometown discount.

I'm not against this idea, but would have to see what UFAs are available that might have more upside at the same price.

[Madcombinepilot]

Wildcard thought.....
Evander Kane back on a $2Mx2. Would ya? For him to do that it would mean that he actually wants to play in his hometown, and while his season has been disappointing, I think it would have been less disappointing were his cap hit half of what it is. I also think his play hasn't been horrid, considering the quality of the roster he's playing on.

Interesting thought. He obviously didn't live up to his contract this year, and he's likely pegged in on the 3rd line for next year if we keep him - and 4th line the following year. I'm also impressed that for all the drama this team has produced this year, his name hasn't come up much. I'm a little surprised by that - perhaps he's learned to be a pro now?

He got his 1000 games, and will get a nice celebration in front of his family and friends when he gets back to town. That might be a good time to discuss a hometown discount.

I'm not against this idea, but would have to see what UFAs are available that might have more upside at the same price.

Regarding Kane, Rumor mill has it his teamates have loved him since he left W'Peg. I guess he grew up in San J and became an outstanding teammate in Edmonton..

so sayeth the rumors..

[Madcombinepilot]

Mëds, I agreee we are not in a rush to move on from Brock.

I have trouble with his +/- (career numbers), but I will say since this last TDD, he has actually won board battles, made plays and contributed. I will totally give him a pass for his first 2/3 of the season stats as he didn't have an NHL center to play with, or a winger who could get him the puck..

I would consider not moving him, Depending on his exit interview this year.

[Topper]

Monkeys with razor blades

[Carl Yagro]

1Kaner+ waterproof tracksuits available in the Canucks store.