Several Key Vancouver Canucks Placed on the Hot Seat for the Upcoming NHL Season
Photo credit: Bob Frid/Yahoo Sports
The Vancouver Canucks had a surprisingly disappointing season last year, with expectations to improve from their success two years ago, they took leaps backwards, as they did not even make the NHL playoffs, this season many players are facing more pressure than ever.
Several key players were already mentioned to not be granted any slack entering this season.
During a recent edition of The People's Show, Bik Nizzar and Jamie Todd shared their thoughts on Elias Pettersson's upcoming season and believe that he needs to have a good start and that there shouldn't be a grace period for him to find his groove."- Edward Jaxon
Many Vancouver Canucks players under immense pressure this NHL season
Trevor Beggs of the Daily Hive listed off a number of players facing a short leash entering the season, many are to no one's surprise.
First off we have Elias Pettersson, who isn't only facing the most pressure on the Canucks, but possibly the entire league.
"Before signing his eight-year, $92.8-million contract extension on March 3, 2024, Pettersson had 398 points in 387 career NHL games. His 1.03 points-per-game over that span ranked 20th league-wide. Since then, the 26-year-old has registered 20 goals and 59 points in 84 games. Pettersson's 0.70 points-per-game mark over that span ties him for 117th overall in the NHL with Montreal Canadiens youngster Juraj Slafkovsky. The Canucks' fifth overall pick in the 2017 draft has the eighth-highest salary cap hit in the league entering the 2025-26 NHL season."-Beggs
Following him there's goaltender Thatcher Demko. While some slack could be credited to him, as he faced injury problems last season. He appeared in only 23 games and experienced his worst save percentage of his career at measly .889%.
"The Canucks still showed faith in Demko by awarding him with a three-year contract extension worth $8.5 million per season, which starts in 2026-27. It's now on Demko to prove that the injury issues are behind him and that he can rediscover his Vezina form."-Beggs
Thirdly we haveBrock Boeser, he surprisingly signed a seven year extension the first day of free agency this summer. He is facing tons of pressure to produce offensively this season. We have seen his potential two seasons ago when he put up 40 goals and 73 points. But 3 out of his last 4 seasons have been below average at best. Last season he put up a disappointing 25 goals and 50 points. If the Canucks are to be a threat in the west again they will need him to return back to peak form.
It's a little redundant to say three of the top players in a franchise are facing the most pressure, but this is more in part due to the fact that they have underperformed tremendously as of late. We will know soon enough if they can live up to that pressure.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 17 | 728 ANSWERS Several Key Vancouver Canucks Placed on the Hot Seat for the Upcoming NHL Season Do you believe these three Vancouver Canucks players will live up to their expectations this NHL season? | ||
| Yes | 493 | 67.7 % |
| No | 235 | 32.3 % |
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