The Vancouver Canucks All-Star core is quickly fading away
It sure feels a lot longer than it’s been in reality since the Vancouver Canucks had six representatives at the NHL All-Star Game.
Last year, the Canucks had a record six players at the All-Star game, plus head coach Rick Tocchet behind one of the benches. Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, Elias Lindholm, Quinn Hughes, and Thatcher Demko were all in Toronto for the big event.
Those players formed the nucleus of one of the NHL’s best teams. The Canucks were on the rise, and their outsized representation at the All-Star game was the perfect symbolism for their ascent.
Fast forward to today, that All-Star core has not only been destroyed but looks like it’ll be torn up even further.
Lindholm was gone before this season started. When the legendary photo of the six Canucks was taken, he had just been traded to his new team and hadn’t yet played a game for them. He had 12 points in 26 games over the rest of that regular season before coming through with some huge playoff performances, finishing with 10 points in 13 postseason games.
The Canucks knew there was a solid chance Lindholm was just a rental when they traded for him. That turned out to be the case as he signed with the Boston Bruins in free agency alongside Nikita Zadorov.
That left the Canucks with five of those All-Stars to begin this year. They’ve already lost another as Miller was traded midseason after his feud with Pettersson boiled over to an unsustainable level.
Miller’s departure left four All-Stars on the Canucks roster, and it feels like more could be gone soon. Brock Boeser will be a free agent on July 1, and contract talks with the Canucks have been slow. He’s a candidate to get traded at the March 7 deadline, and even if he stays in Vancouver past that date, he could be gone next summer.
Boeser has reportedly rejected the recent five-year, $40 million offer put forward by the Canucks.
Demko’s long-term compatibility with the Canucks is also in question. He’s been injured multiple times this season and has played in just 17 games, winning six of them. The Canucks handed Kevin Lankinen a five-year contract, meaning that they have a reliable option in net.
While Demko and Lankinen could co-exist, it’s unlikely that Vancouver will be somewhere Demko can assume the lion’s share of starts. If he’s looking for that, he’ll need to go elsewhere.
Hughes and Pettersson are the only two group members who seem likely to stay in Vancouver long-term. While he’s still on the roster, Pettersson has disappeared as an All-Star. He’s had just 35 points in 53 games this season and is struggling to even get shots on net.
Pettersson’s struggles, which have spanned more than a calendar year now, mean he could be on the move soon. His no-movement clause kicks in on July 1, but the Canucks have been taking calls and could ship him out before then.
That leaves just the captain, Hughes. With the core crumbling around him, it raises the logical question of if Hughes will want to re-sign long-term with the Canucks.
The NHL moves quickly. The Canucks’ outlook has shifted drastically from last year’s All-Star break, and the coming months may bring even more change.