{"id":156323,"date":"2025-09-20T04:17:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T04:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/156323\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T04:17:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T04:17:14","slug":"canucks-first-line-forwards-ready-to-bounce-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/156323\/","title":{"rendered":"Canucks’ first-line forwards ready to bounce back"},"content":{"rendered":"

PENTICTON, B.C. \u2013 It doesn\u2019t require a particularly big basket to hold all of the Vancouver Canucks<\/a>\u2019 offensive eggs.<\/p>\n

On a National Hockey League team that accepts its biggest challenge will be scoring goals, the Canucks opened training camp by pooling Pettersson, DeBrusk and Boeser in hopes the trio might provide at least one elite scoring line.<\/p>\n

But Pettersson, obviously, needs to bounce back from his dismal 45-point season, and both wingers DeBrusk and Boeser, who scored 28 and 25 goals respectively last year, said Friday they need to be better, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst off, I think Petey looks great,\u201d Boeser, his longtime teammate and frequent linemate, said after Day 2 of camp ended Friday. \u201cHe\u2019s flying out there. He looks like he has his confidence back, and he\u2019s a helluva playmaker. So with his playmaking and Jake\u2019s speed and my kind of smarts and goalscoring \u2013 all three of us can score \u2013 I think that\u2019s something we can really thrive off.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, Petey is our main guy, our main driver and we need him to be a difference-maker. But the days when he doesn\u2019t have it, us other guys have to pick him up. That\u2019s where I can be better, Jake can be better, the whole group can be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Canucks than just former teammate J.T. Miller were frustrated at times last season with Pettersson, who began his $92.8 million contract extension by scoring just 15 times in 64 games while managing or resting three different injuries.<\/p>\n

But it is obvious through two days of camp that teammates are eager to rally around Pettersson and ease some of the public pressure and scoring burden on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a new year, we\u2019re all at zeroes, and I know I have to do better,\u201d DeBrusk said. \u201cI think I had decent numbers last year, but I mean, I was getting tip-ins and things were going in off of me. What else was I bringing to the team? I have a lot more to give.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying (28 goals) doesn\u2019t mean anything, but for me … like, when I didn\u2019t score my first 10 games, I said I don\u2019t care if I score one goal all season as long as we get in the playoffs. Because that\u2019s when I want to play. I was happy I hit my career-high in my first year (in Vancouver), but this year I want more. That\u2019s kind of how I look at it. Last year leaves you with a bit of a bitter taste.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeBrusk signed a seven-year, $38.5 million free-agent contract with the Canucks before the 2024-25 season, partly for the chance to play with Pettersson.<\/p>\n

Only 14 of his 28 goals came at even strength, and former coach Rick Tocchet abandoned the DeBrusk-Pettersson partnership for stretches. Although primarily Miller\u2019s winger, Boeser spent about 35\u00a0per cent of his five-on-five ice time with Pettersson.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what? I chose this team and they chose me,\u201d DeBrusk said. \u201cTo be honest with you, I owe them a lot better. We were close to making the playoffs. We were in the race. And if you look at the race down the stretch, the way I was playing, I wasn’t really a factor. And that’s kind of why I was here.<\/p>\n

We had a chance, and we kind of let it slip. That’s what I was thinking in the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

On getting another chance with Pettersson this fall, DeBrusk said: \u201cI think it can work because we’ve been through kind of the ringer a little bit. I have a better understanding of what Petey wants to do out there, how he wants to play. He looked really good today. He’s got such a good shot; I keep telling him he should shoot more. The way he thinks the game, with his skill … to play with him is an honour. I know it also comes with pressure; that comes with the territory. But him with Brock, I think that we can be a really good line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Brock feels really good after his contract (extension), and he wants to get back to the postseason. So do I. I’m optimistic. I signed here believing in this team, believing in Elias, believing in different players on this team as well. I still believe in them, even through a year like last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pettersson added about 13 pounds to his wiry frame over the summer and told reporters on Thursday that he feels stronger on the ice. His shot is harder, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did actually notice that,\u201d DeBrusk said. \u201cIn terms of him defensively, he was able to kind of knock guys a little bit loose from the puck. It’s not all about adding weight and getting jacked, but I think at that position, in terms of center, he worked on it for a reason. I think it will help him.\u201d<\/p>\n

All three of the camp first-liners have looked sharp \u2014 quick and dangerous on the attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, you temper your excitement on Day 2 of training camp, but they looked very good today,\u201d Canucks assistant coach Brett McLean said. \u201cThey scored a bunch of goals. They looked very, very good out there today.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLean, however, noted that other line combinations will be tried during the pre-season, which starts Sunday for the Canucks in Seattle against the Kraken (Sportsnet+, 8 p.m. ET \/ 5 p.m. PT).<\/p>\n

The Canucks hold their only scrimmage of training camp Saturday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.<\/p>\n

Through two days, Vancouver\u2019s second line had Filip Chytil centring newcomer Evander Kane and prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki, although the latter could eventually be replaced by an experienced secondary scorer like Nils Hoglander or Kiefer Sherwood.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need your first line making a difference,\u201d Boeser said. \u201cThere was a lot going on last year, and I felt like our first line wasn\u2019t making a difference many nights, especially in that middle part of the season. Anytime you\u2019re a first line … even when you\u2019re not scoring, you\u2019ve got to make a difference by creating momentum or shutting the other team\u2019s top line down. It\u2019s super important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forwards
Jake DeBrusk \u2014 Elias Pettersson \u2014 Brock Boeser
Arshdeep Bains \u2014 Braeden Cootes \u2014 Kiefer Sherwood
Vitali Kravtsov \u2014 Aatu Raty \u2014 Linus Karlsson
Mackenzie MacEachern \u2014 Riley Patterson \u2014 Vilmer Alriksson<\/p>\n

Defencemen
Marcus Pettersson \u2014 Tyler Myers
Pierre-Olivier Joseph \u2014 Kirill Kudryavtsev
Derek Forbort \u2014 Tom Willander
Sawyer Mynio \u2014 Jimmy Schuldt<\/p>\n

Forwards
Evander Kane \u2014 Filip Chytil \u2014 Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Nils Hoglander \u2014 Teddy Blueger \u2014 Conor Garland
Drew O\u2019Connor \u2014 Max Sasson \u2014 Danila Klimovich
Joe LaBate \u2014 Nils Aman \u2014 Chase Stillman<\/p>\n

Defencemen
Quinn Hughes \u2014 Filip Hronek
Elias Pettersson (Junior) \u2014 Parker Alcos
Nikolai Knyzhov \u2014 Victor Mancini
Joe Arntsen \u2014 Jayden Lee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PENTICTON, B.C. \u2013 It doesn\u2019t require a particularly big basket to hold all of the Vancouver Canucks\u2019 offensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-156323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}