There are heavy expectations on the Vancouver Canucks, both internally and externally, to make a push for a wild card spot in the Western Conference.
For goaltender Thatcher Demko, his expectations are massive, going as far as saying that it is a "do or die" year for the Canucks.
"I think this year is do or die (for this group), to be honest," Demko said. "We love this group of guys that we have here, this core. But we can't really say that we're a young group. We have plenty of experience. We have a certain maturity about us and you see guys stepping up. Like, if you told me two years ago that Quinn was going to be the captain, I'd have had a little chuckle. But he's grown into that role and he's grown into the person that can handle that."
Demko added, "That's just a testament to this core group of guys and the steps that we've taken as people and as players. So yeah, I think this year is full steam ahead. We don't have anything to lean on as an excuse."
As Demko says, the team has experience, but are still relatively young and there's no doubt that they need to take a big step forward this year. Having Rick Tocchet for a full season should help the Canucks too, if they're able to perform as well as they did under him in the final few months of the 2022-23 campaign.
The Canucks addressed several needs this summer, adding Ian Cole, Carson Soucy and Matt Irwin to their defensive core, Teddy Blueger and Pius Suter to their forward group. Then this week, Allvin went out and acquired a backup goaltender, getting Casey DeSmith from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Tanner Pearson and a 2025 third-round pick.
But other teams in the Pacific Division also made additions to improve their rosters, while others stayed with the status quo. For example, the Los Angeles Kings traded for Pierre Luc-Dubois, the Oilers signed Connor Brown, the Flames acquired Yegor Sharengovich. Meanwhile, a pair of rebuilding teams in the division, Anaheim and San Jose, also made some notable additions. The Ducks signed Alex Killorn and Radko Gudas on the opening day of free agency and San Jose signed former sixth-overall pick Filip Zadina, who had his contract terminated by the Red Wings in July, making him a UFA.
With the core Vancouver has, there's no doubt that they should be competing for a wild card spot and even the third seed in the Pacific Division and it should be a very exciting season for the fan base.
