It Is Now Known Who Will Be Killing Penalties for the Vancouver Canucks
Photo credit: Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images
The Vancouver Canucks had one of the league's best penalty kills in 2024-25, but looking into this upcoming season, there's questions still to be answered when it comes to the PK.
With the Canucks losing key pieces of their penalty kill like Pius Suter, the team will need other players on the roster to step up and keep their penalty kill as a strength.
Canucks set to ice very different PK unit
The Vancouver Canucks had 16 players feature prominently as penalty killers in 2024-25, but going into this upcoming season 7 of those players have left the organization - whether it be prior to last season's trade deadline or as a free agent in the summer.
On the back end, one of the Canucks better penalty killers in 2024-25 - Vincent Desharnais - was moved out of Vancouver in February, and replaced with Marcus Pettersson who is an experienced short handed presence in his own right.
With Derek Forbort returning, the blue line penalty killers should remain relatively stable.
Players like Dakota Joshua and Noah Juulsen will leave holes to be filled on the Canucks PK, but Pius Suter will represent the biggest loss having led all Canucks forwards in short handed ice time last season.
Forwards like Conor Garland, Drew O'Connor and Kiefer Sherwood who all spent significant time as penalty killers will be expected to do more, but there could be opportunities for youngsters.
Chance opens for prospects to grab spots on the penalty kill
Several players from the Abbotsford Canucks who played NHL games last season will have a chance to make the jump out of camp next season, and carving out a niche as a penalty killer might be the best way for these players to secure a spot.
Aatu Räty, Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson, Lekkerimäki and Max Sasson stand out as forwards with a chance to grab a full time roster spot, though Lekkerimäki is unlikely to feature as a penalty killer.
For the other four players, bringing a strong presence on the PK could be their chance to become a full time NHLer this season.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 18 | 1481 ANSWERS It Is Now Known Who Will Be Killing Penalties for the Vancouver Canucks Which of these four young players do you most expect to see on the Vancouver Canucks penalty kill? | ||
| Aatu Räty | 846 | 57.1 % |
| Arshdeep Bains | 246 | 16.6 % |
| Linus Karlsson | 389 | 26.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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