Just because the Vancouver Canucks were idle on trade-deadline day doesn’t mean there hasn’t been change.
When the Canucks lined up against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night at Rogers Arena, just nine of the 18 skaters on the team’s roster had been with the team at the end of the 2023-24 season.
And yes, that list included Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson — two of the team’s longest-tenured players, who both factored into the first-period power-play goal that opened the scoring in Vancouver’s 3-1 win over Minnesota.
While his offense has largely gone AWOL this season, Pettersson’s wicked one-timer looked like the type of tally that he used to deliver with regularity.
“It hasn’t been my best season, but I can't change it,” he said after the game. “I’m just trying to get better every day, and today was a good day. We got the win, had a goal. Good practice tomorrow, and get ready for Sunday.”
Now winners of their last four on home ice, dating back to Feb. 4, the Canucks moved back into the second wild-card spot in the West on Friday. With 20 games to go, they’re one point ahead of the Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues, and three up on the Utah Hockey Club.
They’re also now just two points behind the Los Angeles Kings, who hold down third place in the Pacific Division but have two games in hand.
Vancouver plays five of its next six on home ice. Next up on Sunday, the Dallas Stars and their trade deadline prize, Mikko Rantanen.
After many observers expected Boeser, an impending UFA, to be moved before Friday’s deadline, he expressed gratitude on Friday night about still being in Vancouver.
“We’re right in the hunt for a playoff spot, so I think that's our main focus right now,” he said. “Obviously, it’s kind of tough to focus on that with all the noise, but now I’m just so happy that it's over with and I can really just focus on helping our team win games, and being better for our team.”
When asked if he’s still open to potentially signing a contract extension to remain in Vancouver beyond this summer, Boeser said, “I haven’t even thought that far yet.”
With Quinn Hughes having missed the last two games with a new injury sustained in Seattle last Saturday, Vancouver’s defensive roster looks dramatically different than how it started the season.
Marcus Pettersson has taken on a leadership role since joining the Canucks at the end of January and Vittorio (Victor) Mancini, who was also acquired as part of the J.T. Miller trade, made his Rogers Arena debut against the Wild.
Playing on the third pair with partner Derek Forbort, Mancini delivered 13:55 of ice time with no harm done on a night where the Wild dominated possession, outshooting the Canucks 38-20.
And the biggest reason why Carson Soucy was dealt to the New York Rangers in exchange for a third-round pick on Thursday is because the other Elias Pettersson — the defenseman — has proven to be a quick study at the NHL level. The 21-year-old played 15:38 on Friday and is soaking up knowledge daily while playing in Hughes’ usual spot with partner Filip Hronek.
“That’s my favorite thing, when veteran players take a young guy,” said Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet. “They spend time together. They’re on the bench, they’re talking. That’s invaluable stuff for the development of a young player like him, so I’ve got to give Fil a lot of credit for that.”
Since Feb. 1, the Canucks’ revamped roster has been one of the stoutest defensive teams in the league — giving up just 2.36 goals against per game, sixth-lowest in the league, and with a penalty kill that’s tops in the NHL with a success rate of 92.3 percent.
They’ve struggled to score, but got the timely goals they needed on Friday.
They also got another five-bell performance from Kevin Lankinen, who was named the game’s first star with 37 saves on 38 shots while facing 4.13 expected goals in all situations per Natural Stat Trick.
“I don’t want to take it for granted, but it’s almost like you do,” Pettersson said about Lankinen. “He’s been standing on his head all year. He’s been incredible for us.”
Heading into Friday’s game, the Canucks’ roster averaged 26.72 years of age — seventh-youngest in the league. This group has some runway to grow together and find its way forward.
“There’s a standard that the coaches here and the organization have — this is what the Vancouver Canucks do,” Tocchet said. “We talked about this a month ago. We have new guys here, and we have to teach them the standard. And the guys that are here, the older guys, they have to teach them too. That’s how you build the culture, so it’s on us to make sure the Mancinis and Junior (defenseman Elias Pettersson) and all those guys know how they play and how we work out and how we train. That's a big part of trying to turn the stuff around, around here.”
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