Last season, Drew O’Connor only played in 31 games for the Vancouver Canucks, having been acquired right at the end of January. That didn’t stop him from signing a two-year extension with the team around two weeks after that. Now, entering his first full season with the Canucks, both O’Connor and the team are ready to prove their doubters wrong. 

“I think we're all just excited to get playing, especially watching the games the first two days,” O’Connor told The Hockey News after practice on Friday. “Just want to kind of get in the game and start going, so it's fun now that we’re in it.” 

The 2024–25 season was a dramatic one for the Canucks, with the team seemingly in the news headlines almost every day due to untimely injuries and off-ice issues. O’Connor joined the team at the cusp of their season, after two massive trades resulted in an overhaul of Vancouver’s lineup. To the forward, the atmosphere in the locker room hasn’t changed a whole lot — if anything, the ‘good vibes’ being projected stem from the team’s excitement to get the season going.  

“I think everyone came in ready to go this year and ready to kind of make a statement that we want to be better than we were last year. I think there’s always excitement at the start of a new season, but I think especially, we kind of have that hunger to be a little bit better than last year so I think that's where part of it comes from.” 

There are a lot of returning pieces to this Canucks lineup, signalling the belief that management has in this team. One thing from last year that Vancouver believes requires little change is their penalty kill, which finished the year ranked third in the entire NHL with a success rate of 82.6%. Despite Vancouver’s penalty kill welcoming players who haven’t typically been tasked with this role, such as Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Arshdeep Bains, the Canucks played effectively while shorthanded in their season-opener on Thursday, killing all four of their opponents’ power play opportunities. 

“We were pretty good down the stretch last year,” O’Connor said of the penalty kill. “Obviously, I think we have a good understanding of what we're supposed to do on our jobs, and I think we have the guys that can kill well. Obviously [Thatcher Demko] helps us a ton. We kind of know what shots to give up and know that he's going to take care of those.” 

Despite the team returning with a familiar look about it, there are some aspects of their style that have been refreshed. Shifts in the lineup have placed O’Connor on a line with Kiefer Sherwood and Aatu Räty, making for a high-speed, heavy-forechecking unit that helped score Vancouver’s first goal of the season. 

“It's been good so far. We played together a little bit in camp. Played with Woody a little bit last year too, kind of like to play a similar style, and I liked playing with both of them. I think it's good. I think it's something we can build on.” 

The biggest piece that has changed, however, is the coaching staff. While current head coach Adam Foote has been with the team since 2023 in an assistant’s role, current assistat coaches Brett McLean, Kevin Dean, and Scott Young are new to the organization. Because of this, the team has approached games armed with new systems prioritizing speed and aggressiveness. 

“I think our D-zone looks a little different, but we just want to play fast. I think the biggest thing is get back into the zone fast, and get to our positions, and then read off it from there,” O’Connor explained. “When we all come back together and we get in the right spots, and it simplifies things, and we kind of know how to play from that point on, I think it just makes it a little easier for us to know what to do.” 

Like always, it can be hard to tell how a team will end their season just from one game; however, O’Connor and the rest of the Canucks’ locker room have belief that this season will not be like the last. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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