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Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks (Bob Frid-Imagn Images)

Canucks 2025-26 Roster Projection 2.0: Forward Group Upgraded After Boeser & Kane Additions

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Matthew Zator | Last updated Jul 6, 2025 12:35 PM ET

With the 2025 NHL Draft and the first week of free agency in the books, it’s time for version 2.0 of the Vancouver Canucks 2025-26 roster projection. Last year, the Canucks were among the big spenders on July 1 signing six players in Jake DeBrusk, Kiefer Sherwood, Danton Heinen, Derek Forbort, Jiri Patera, Nate Smith, and Vincent Desharnais. This year, not so much, as they only signed three depth pieces: MacKenzie MacEachern, Joseph LaBate, and Jimmy Schuldt. But you could argue they came out as one of the winners of the day. Why? Well, they surprisingly snagged one of, if not the biggest fish on the market – their own fish – Brock Boeser, when almost all hope was lost that he would be wearing the blue and green this season.

When the bell rung to start free agency, Canucks fans were just waiting for the news that Boeser was joining another team – possibly hated rivals the Edmonton Oilers or Toronto Maple Leafs – only to be greeted with a surprising tweet from Rick Dhaliwal saying “Hearing Boeser and Vancouver will get done” at 9:27 am PT and Dan Murphy’s confirmation of the contract, “7.25 x 7 for Boeser in VAN” a minute later. And just like that, a dark cloud lifted from Vancouver, and all was right in the world again.

Forwards

It’s funny how one signing can change the whole outlook of a forward group, but that’s exactly what happened with the return of Boeser to the top-six. Now, along with the addition of Evander Kane, it doesn’t look too bad.

Evander Kane – Elias Pettersson – Brock Boeser
Jake DeBrusk – Filip Chytil – Conor Garland
Dakota Joshua – Aatu Raty – Kiefer Sherwood
Nils Hoglander – Teddy Blueger – Drew O’Connor
Linus Karlsson/Jonathan Lekkerimaki/Max Sasson/Arshdeep Bains

Kane is the ultimate wild card in this group, with his history of scoring 20 goals (he’s done it nine times) and being tough to play against. He could start on a line with Pettersson to provide some protection for the Swedish star and give Pettersson two scoring options on either wing with him and Boeser, or align with Chytil and swap with DeBrusk, a 28-goal scorer last season.

While a lot is riding on Pettersson returning to his 102-point form, Chytil staying healthy, and Raty hitting his stride in the NHL, the Canucks’ top-three centers have the potential of leading this team to the playoffs, even if it is just squeaking into the second wild card spot. Lekkerimaki will be in the mix for the opening night roster, but now that Boeser has re-signed, he won’t be forced into a top-six role to replace what they would have lost if Boeser had signed elsewhere.

Losing Pius Suter to the St. Louis Blues hurts, but I believe Raty can replace him in the top nine and on the penalty kill. He showed a lot of growth towards the end of the season and finished with seven goals and 11 points in 33 games. He also became very proficient in the faceoff circle, posting an impressive 57.7 success rate in 333 times at the dot. If he can get close to that this season, he would be better than Suter in that department, as the former Canuck often struggled, finishing with a mediocre 42.7 percent.

Raty also started forming chemistry with Sherwood and Joshua when he was up from Abbotsford and that line was one of the Canucks’ best at the end of last season. According to Natural Stat Trick, they outchanced their opponents 56-43 (27-21 high-danger) and had a 52.78 Corsi for percentage (CF%) at 5-on-5. He was particularly good with Sherwood, outchancing opponents 17-8 (8-2 high-danger) alongside a 59.62 CF%. If Joshua doesn’t end up getting traded, that trio could be a very effective third line, akin to the Joshua-Blueger-Garland line of a couple seasons ago.

Defence

Since our first roster projection piece, the Canucks re-signed Derek Forbort to a one-year deal and recently added Pierre-Olivier Joseph in free agency. Even with those two additions, the expected pairings don’t change too much:

Quinn Hughes – Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson – Tyler Myers
Derek Forbort – Elias Pettersson/Tom Willander/Victor Mancini
Pierre-Olivier Joseph

With Forbort and Joseph added to the mix, barring an amazing training camp, Willander is likely destined for the American Hockey League (AHL). It will be a fierce competition between Pettersson, Willander and Mancini for the spot next to Forbort on the bottom pair, as the Canucks probably don’t want a rookie sitting in the press box as a seventh/eighth defenceman. That spot is Joseph’s, just like it was for Noah Juulsen before he left to join Rick Tocchet in Philadelphia.

Goaltending

The Canucks’ goaltending is set for the next four seasons with Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen anchoring the crease after Demko recently signed a three-year extension. Lankinen, of course, signed his last season when he was the starting goaltender with Demko on the sidelines due to injury. While the duo will cost the Canucks $13 million in cap space starting in 2026-27, they could potentially have one of the best tandems in the NHL if Demko stays healthy and Lankinen continues to show the form he did last season – particularly early on.

Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen of the Vancouver Canucks (Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images)

The Canucks got encouraging news on the Demko front after he signed his extension, as his agent Jordan Neumann said, “He is 100 percent. I was out there visiting with him two weeks ago and he’s already begun skating as part of his off-season program, which he’s never really done this early. He feels great. He’s not restricted in any way. It’s the first summer in a long time where he’s not doing any rehab of any kind. It gives him tremendous optimism and excitement moving forward, which is another reason why he was really comfortable doing a shorter term.”

That’s huge for a goaltender – or any player, for that matter – to be able to train and work out without having to do any sort of rehab. With Demko able to do his normal routine, he should come into this season ready to play like the Vezina Trophy finalist he was in 2023-24. If that happens, alongside Lankinen having a similar season he did in 2024-25, goaltending will not be a problem for the Canucks. In fact, fans could see shades of Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider when they were co-winners of the William M. Jennings Trophy in 2011.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to having two goaltenders locked up for multiple seasons; it puts a roadblock in front of AHL Playoffs MVP and Calder Cup winner Arturs Silovs. Since he has to clear waivers, the Canucks will have three options: carry three goaltenders, hope and pray he doesn’t get claimed, or trade him for something. The latter option is the most likely, as it is almost guaranteed he won’t get through waivers and carrying three goaltenders rarely works out, just ask the Detroit Red Wings when they had Alex Lyon, Ville Husso, and James Reimer on their roster. What they will get for him is another story. To get anything substantial, he would have to be part of a package, as he hasn’t really established himself as an NHL goaltender yet. Hopefully, it’s more than what they got for Vasily Podkolzin in a similar situation last season, when they dealt him to the Edmonton Oilers for a fourth-round pick.

Canucks Still Need to Make Moves

According to PuckPedia, the Canucks have only $795,000 in cap space, so trades are a possibility. Alongside Silovs, names like Dakota Joshua ($3.25 million) and Teddy Blueger ($1.8 million) have already been floated around as potential options. It will be interesting to see what general manager Patrik Allvin decides to do, but I don’t anticipate anything happening anytime soon. We are likely in for a quiet period as we enter the annual “dog days of the summer” section of the NHL offseason.