{"id":468898,"date":"2026-02-09T17:31:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T17:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/468898\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T17:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T17:31:14","slug":"what-is-the-canucks-offseason-priority-going-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/468898\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Canucks\u2019 offseason priority going to be?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the Olympics now underway and Vancouver Canucks<\/a> hockey on hold, we put out the call for your questions for a new Monday mailbag. We fully understand if you are trying to take a break from the Canucks. It has been a trying season to say the least.\u00a0Hopefully, the\u00a0Olympics will provide a nice distraction<\/a> from the grind of following a last-place hockey club.\u00a0However, despite the struggles of the Canucks this season, many of you still have questions about the team. So while the season is on hold, the show must go on. Without further delay, here are some answers to the many queries you put forth this week:<\/p>\n

No date has yet been set for ths 2026 Draft Lottery, but last year\u2019s lottery was conducted on May 5th. So we would expect the ping pong balls to drop sometime in early May again this year. That leaves you plenty of time to read a few books, learn a new language, or try to master the art of juggling. Or you could do all three at the same time (please send video). Or you could just immerse yourself in a never-ending loop of playing the draft lottery simulator. I tried it last week, and it took 10 spins to get the Canucks to land with the top pick. As an aside, there were way too many times when Chicago jumped to the top of the list. This is a reminder that even if the Canucks finish last in the standings and secure the best odds, they are still not good odds. The last place team will have a 25.1% chance of winning the lottery, while the numbers show the most likely outcome will be selecting third (56.3%).<\/p>\n

Replying to @patersonjeff<\/a><\/p>\n

What do you think the Canucks do this summer? Focus on acquiring more NHL talent or focus on shedding veterans<\/p>\n

I think as the Canucks\u2019 rebuild continues, they have to find ways to shed a few veterans with term. This will give the organization flexibility to make other moves as it plots its path forward. Going the other direction and adding NHL talent at this stage of the rebuild doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense unless the Canucks fall into the trap they have in the past of looking for shortcuts to speed the process. If the team is true about its intentions to properly rebuild, it\u2019s going to take some time. That\u2019s just the fact of the matter. Some of the veterans they have committed to in recent years aren\u2019t likely to be productive players by the time this team is competitive again. So why wouldn\u2019t you want to move off those deals? This summer should be all about maximizing the team\u2019s draft haul and exercising an abundance of caution on short-term free agent deals.<\/p>\n

This one won\u2019t be easy. The Canucks have had a few players in recent years that seemed to understand the assignment. Luke Schenn and Ian Cole both immediately spring to mind. They were quality veterans who had the respect of teammates and while neither was a star player, both had a presence on the ice and in the locker room. The Canucks could use a few more of those types. Teddy Blueger has spoken out recently about the habits of winning teams and how the Canucks clearly aren\u2019t doing enough of the things that winning teams do. <\/p>\n

The veterans in that locker room have endured a lot in recent years. They likely need outside help at this stage to guide this organization out of the darkness. There needs to be renewed devotion to what it truly means to be a Vancouver Canuck. From the top down, there has to be a commitment to restoring a sense of pride to the uniform. I\u2019d be okay with the Canucks identifying one or two quality veterans nearing the end of their careers and trying to convince them to come in to set the culture for years to come. The franchise has lost its way on so many levels. It\u2019s going to take more than one or two players. But that might be a good place to start.<\/p>\n

Replying to @patersonjeff<\/a><\/p>\n

Whats more important for this team, good veterans, or a guy or two willing to drop the gloves when teammates get run?<\/p>\n

Following on from the last question, there is no doubt that the Canucks have room to grow on the character and culture side of things. And in a perfect world, a team with a strong culture would have the kind of team-first mentality to stand up to opponents. But we\u2019ve seen a few scenarios in recent games (Brock Boeser getting elbowed in the head\/Nikita Tolopilo getting steamrolled by an opposing forward), where a lack of response has to be called into question. As currently constructed, this Canucks roster is not built to offer a lot of deterrence. <\/p>\n

While the game has changed through the years, hockey remains a contact sport and there will always be room for rugged players and for intimidation. As the Canucks begin to rebuild, it may be more important than ever that they have a couple of players to insulate (protect?) the next wave of talent. They don\u2019t need to find a nuclear deterrent, but it was clear from his brief time here that teammates and fans alike enjoyed what Nikita Zadorov brought to the mix. That element has not been replaced. There are a number of reasons the Canucks are easy to play against these days. And a lack of pushback is certainly one of them.<\/p>\n

I have to admit I didn\u2019t expect Teddy Blueger<\/a> to be nearly as impactful as he\u2019s been since missing three months with injury. And I say that with all due respect to the veteran centre. I figured there would be some catching up to do after missing as much time as he did. I also thought on a team that is struggling so badly, it would be tough for a player like Blueger to bring any sort of offensive pop to the line-up. But to his credit, he\u2019s done that at a time when so many others have vanished offensively.<\/p>\n

An acquiring team likely isn\u2019t looking for Blueger to score in bunches, but his recent run of form certainly can\u2019t hurt his trade stock. Playoff bound teams are likely looking for a veteran presence who can win face-offs, kill penalties and preserve late leads. Blueger certainly checks all of those boxes.\u00a0 Any offence he brings is an added bonus. I think teams around the league have to have taken notice of how well Blueger has played and that evaluation period will continue this week as he represents Latvia at the Olympics. It\u2019s hard to quanitfy exactly how much his trade value has risen, but I think it\u2019s safe to say he has opened some eyes around the league with his strong play of late. Now it\u2019s up to the Canucks to maximize that trade value ahead of the March 6th deadline.<\/p>\n

People will laugh at the notion of team awards for a 32nd-place team. And that\u2019s fine. Snicker away. But the reality is the Canucks will hand out year-end awards this season just like they do every other season. A handful of players on the current roster will be walking away with hardware, whether they truly deserve it or not. That\u2019s just a fact. So if I were making my picks based on the first 57 games of the season, this is how I\u2019d vote:<\/p>\n

Most Valuable Player: Filip Hronek<\/p>\n

Top Defenceman: Filip Hronek<\/p>\n

Most Exciting Player: Drew O\u2019Connor<\/p>\n

Unsung Hero: Teddy Blueger<\/p>\n

Leading Scorer: (centre) Elias Pettersson\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\nENTER NOW |\u00a0pac.bluecross.ca\/canucks<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the Olympics now underway and Vancouver Canucks hockey on hold, we put out the call for your…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-468898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}