The Vancouver Canucks have had a relatively busy summer so far as they’ve re-signed some core pieces and also added to their roster through free agency.
The result is a roster that is likely stronger than what the team started last year with.
While there could still be a lot of change between now and opening night, it’s now possible to get a solid idea of what the Canucks lines will look like in October. Here is a projection of the full lineup.
Canucks forward lines
Here are our projections for the team’s top four forward lines to start the season.
First line: Heinen – Miller – Boeser
The Canucks will keep the pairing of J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser together, as the duo was extremely successful last season.
THANK YOU, BROCK BOESER 🤩 pic.twitter.com/fJ1heAbXu9
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 25, 2024
It seems likely that new signing Danton Heinen will get the first chance to ride shotgun beside the impressive duo. He had 17 goals last season and could improve on that with an elevated role.
Second line: Höglander – Pettersson – DeBrusk
The Canucks went into this summer needing to get another winger to play with Elias Pettersson, and they appear to have accomplished their goal with Jake DeBrusk. They gave the former Boston Bruins winger a huge seven-year contract with the hope that he would become a core piece.
DeBrusk has three 25+ goal seasons under his belt already. With the skilled Nils Höglander on the other wing, this could be the trio that lets Pettersson make the most of his own potential.
Third line: Joshua – Blueger – Garland
The trio of Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger, and Conor Garland played together a lot last season and were excellent. The Canucks outscored their opponents 21-10 while the trio was on the ice together at five-on-five.
JUST 12 SECONDS LATER – DAKOTA JOSHUA‼️ pic.twitter.com/sqTkUcozv1
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 22, 2024
Both Joshua and Blueger got new multi-year deals this summer which ensures the team could ice this line again.
Fourth line: Sherwood – Suter – Podkolzin
While there’s a chance that Pius Suter gets promoted to the top-line wing spot where he finished last season, this lineup gives the Canucks more depth down the middle.
Kiefer Sherwood is an energy player who the Canucks signed this summer. While it would be great for Vasily Podkolzin to lay claim to the final winger spot, he will face some tough competition, and there could be a number of players who earn that spot out of training camp.
Canucks defence pairs
There are a few new faces on the blue line for the Canucks as well. Here is what we think the defence pairings will look like on opening night.
First pairing: Hughes – Hronek
Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek were one of the best defence pairs in the entire league last season. The Canucks gave Hronek a new long-term extension to ensure that he stays in Vancouver.
While there will likely be some experimentation with splitting these two players up, the team’s best option right now seems to be keeping them together.
Second pairing: Soucy – Myers
The Canucks surprisingly found a decent amount of success using Carson Soucy and Tyler Myers as a shutdown pair last season. The duo did quite well against Connor McDavid in the playoffs and will likely draw a lot of the tough matchups to start the season.
Third pairing: Forbort – Desharnais
Both Derek Forbort and Vincent Desharnais were just recently signed in free agency. The Canucks will hope that the coaching staff, which had so much success with big defencemen last season, can work its magic and get the most from these players.
Canucks goalie tandem
There are not too many questions when it comes to the Canucks goaltending situation.
Starting goalie: Demko
Thatcher Demko will definitely be the team’s starting goalie next season. He’s one of the best at his position across the entire league and finished second in Vezina Trophy voting.
Backup goalie: Silovs
While Arturs Silovs has the inside track at winning the backup job to start next season, he will face some competition from the newly added Jiri Patera.