Adam Foote (Bob Frid-Imagn Images)By virtually every metric, the Vancouver Canucks cratered this year.
Going from being the Pacific Division’s top seed in 2023-24 to missing the playoffs this season can only be considered a massive failure – and now, the Canucks are trying to salvage what they still have in their organization.
They’re doing so with a new yet familiar voice behind their bench, longtime NHL star defenseman Adam Foote. The former assistant coach on Rick Tocchet’s staff made it clear in his first press conference as Vancouver’s bench boss that he wants to put drama well behind the team and start the 2025-26 season with a clean slate.
That new beginning extends in particular to Canucks star center Elias Pettersson, who was one of the key figures in problems that directly affected Vancouver’s ability to thrive night in and night out. Pettersson’s issues with now-former Canucks center J.T. Miller were the talk of the town in Vancouver, and they led to Miller being dealt to the New York Rangers.
But in Foote’s press conference Thursday, he took a conciliatory tone as far as Pettersson goes, talking about supporting the 26-year-old as he tries to get back to the level he showed that earned him a contract that pays him a team-high $11.6 million per season.
“I really think he wants it,” Foote said of Pettersson. “I really think he knows what he has to do, and he’s going to dial in…I think with ‘Petey,’ just for him moving forward, I think that support for him will really get him in a good place. And we’re going to make sure he understands that we’re there for him, and we’re going to do whatever it takes and have a great relationship.”
That doesn’t sound like the Canucks will be trading Pettersson anytime soon, does it? Pettersson does have a no-movement clause, but it doesn’t kick in until July 1. And although he only had 15 goals and 45 points in 64 games this season, he's only one year removed from an 89-point campaign and two years removed from a career-high 102 points. He certainly has the potential to rebound, so Vancouver isn’t about to tear it all down and go scorched-earth with this group of players.
That said, Foote’s assertion that he wants a fresh start – “We’re going to turn the page,” he said – is going to be easier said than done.
If the Canucks come out of the gate next season by stumbling in the standings, there are going to be cries for bigger change in Vancouver. But for now, at least, Foote looks like he wants to use the carrot and not the stick with his players.
Time will tell whether that was the right approach for a Canucks team that underwhelmed in a major way last year.
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