THN's The Wrap Around Show- Hughes & Pettersson Injuries With the start of another year comes a wave of new year’s resolutions. After a rough fall and winter at home, the Vancouver Canucks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vancouver-canucks/] will look to improve on a variety of facets as their push for playoff contention continues. As players recover from injury and management prepares for the trade deadline in March, here are some new year’s resolutions for the team as a whole. FIND WAYS TO WIN AT HOME You know this had to be on the list. Vancouver started the 2024–25 regular season with a 6–5 loss to the Calgary Flames [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/calgary-flames/], and since then, they’ve accrued a 7–7–6 record at Rogers Arena. Their seven regulation wins at home put them at 23rd in the NHL. In 20 home games, the Canucks have let in 73 goals — a stat that ties them with the Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/] for the most in the league. They have the third-worst save percentage at home at .871%, better than only the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/] and Colorado Avalanche [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/]. Their home records aren’t completely unsalvageable, however, as they’ve also scored the ninth-most goals at home with 62. After the Canucks’ Friday night matchup against the Nashville Predators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/], they’ll be on the road until they take on the L.A. Kings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings/] on January 16. After, they play the Edmonton Oilers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/] on the 18th and the Buffalo Sabres [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/] on the 21st, before making another quick trip to Edmonton. It’s no secret that Vancouver is under a different kind of pressure compared to what they faced last season. Now that they’ve shown this fanbase that they can perform in the playoffs, expectations throughout the fanbase are that they’ll secure their spot and win a series or two. This could be one of a few reasons why they haven’t been able to collect wins at home. However, the formula to success runs a lot deeper than just blocking the outside noise, bringing me to my next point. CLEAN UP EXTRA FRAMES The Canucks are currently first in the NHL in overtime and shootout losses with eight on the season. Five of their overtime losses came about due to blown leads, with three of them being multi-goal comebacks for the opposing team. They started their season giving up a 4–1 at home, while also doing the same in their last game at Rogers Arena in 2024. To add to that, the Canucks have a league-worst six losses in overtime at home. Vancouver’s home and overtime records can be chalked up to a couple of things, but the main point seems to be consistency. The team can play a game equally as offensively and defensively sound against the defending Stanley Cup champions, and then suffer one of their worst home losses of the season directly after. In a similar vein, they can explode offensively and put up four goals in one period, then take their foot off the gas for a few minutes and give up their lead. What Vancouver needs most right now is stability, especially given that their two highest point producers are out with injury. Having a secure presence in the locker room should allow the team to play their game without worrying about easing up on the effort. PICK UP THAT COVETED DEFENCEMAN Vancouver will be without their top-defensive pairing for the coming weeks, as both Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek are out due to injury. Even before both came out of the lineup, there were talks of the team bringing in another defenceman or two and organizing a swap for some of the current roster. Knowing Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford, chances are their big trade deadline splash will be happening towards the end of January, even though the deadline is March 7. Rumours have floated around about Bowen Byram, Marcus Pettersson, or Dante Fabbro possibly making their way to Vancouver. It’ll be hard to know what to target before the trade deadline if Hughes and Hronek end up being out longer than anticipated. In terms of who could go the other way, it’s no secret that Nils Höglander has struggled so far this season, while the Vincent Desharnais experiment hasn’t panned out the way Vancouver thought it would. To acquire someone that can make a difference now, the Canucks may have to depart with some of their higher-end prospects — maybe even some currently playing at the 2025 World Juniors. RECOVER — THAT’S ALL Canucks fans have seen far too many cases of players coming back from injury, only to reaggravate it (or injure something else) and end up missing even more time. What Hughes, Hronek, and Elias Pettersson need right now is rest — regardless of whether they’re “bored” or not. Fans saw how Pettersson’s tendinitis impacted his play towards the latter half of the 2023–24 season, as well as how Thatcher Demko had to work around his popliteus muscle injury in order to return. In order to avoid reinjury, or possibly injuring something else while overcompensating for an injured muscle, any injured players need to take the proper amount of time needed to recuperate. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA5MjcxMTM4NzY3OTM5MzY1/subscribe2024-front-banner.jpg]
