Canucks most to blame for razor-thin series loss to Oilers

When Vezina Trophy finalist Thatcher Demko suffered an injury earlier in the postseason and was deemed week-to-week, many thought that already spelled the end of the team’s playoff hopes. But Arturs Silovs, who was the MVP of the 2023 IIHF World Championships after leading Latvia to a bronze medal, stepped up in a huge way.

Besides shutting out the Predators in Game 6 — which was a hugely impressive feat on its own — Silovs was solid between the pipes for the Canucks throughout Round 2, making key stops and giving his team a chance to win basically every game. No one on Vancouver’s side of the rink could have asked for more from the young goaltender, who figures to play his first full season in the NHL as Demko’s backup in 2024-25.

“’Artie’ played his a** off,” head coach Rick Tocchet said of his starting goaltender, per NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger. “What a playoff for that kid. That’s going to be huge for his growth.”

Despite Silovs’ heroics, the Canucks still missed Demko, who was phenomenal in the regular-season and has been known to steal games in the postseason — just look at 2020 Round 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights. His injury troubles couldn’t have come at a worse time, first going down with weeks left in the regular-season, and again with a different ailment early in the playoffs.

And Brock Boeser, who was the team’s best goal scorer throughout the run, was unavailable for Game 7 due to a blood clotting issue. He was sorely missed in the decider, especially as he led the Canucks with seven goals and 12 points in 12 games. He ended up being irreplaceable, and this roster is just not nearly the same without him. It was a breakout campaign in 2023-24 for Boeser, and just a brutal ending for the star American.

The hope is that both Demko and Boeser can get healthy as the Canucks look to run it back in 2024-25. Of course, neither of the two core players are to blame. But the same can’t be said for Elias Pettersson and Ian Cole.

Elias Pettersson was invisible for most of the playoffs

The spotlight was trained on Pettersson for much of the Canucks’ 2024 playoff run, and the Swede failed to step up. After struggling mightily down the stretch, the 25-year-old chipped in just one goal and six points in 13 playoff contests. That’s unacceptable for a player who just signed a monster eight-year, $92.8 million contract to become the highest-paid player on the team by a mile. Although there were some flashes of star play, Pettersson just looked ineffective in many of the team’s games, and that’s certainly of some concern going forward. Your best players need to be your best players in the playoffs, as McDavid and Draisaitl were for the Oilers.

Pettersson broke into the league as an immediate star, winning the Calder Trophy in his first season and getting better and better every year. But the franchise needs him to step up in the key moments — that’s why they’re going to pay him $11.6 million AAV until 2032. This club will be back in the postseason, and they’re going to need much more from Pettersson if they hope to bring a first-ever Stanley Cup to Vancouver in that time.

Ian Cole was a turnover machine

Pettersson was a problem up front, and veteran Ian Cole really struggled on the back end throughout the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Besides scoring on his own net more than once — with one of them coming in a crucial Game 2 overtime loss — Cole was often slow to move the puck, turning it over on various occasions against both the Predators and Oilers.

Cole won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017, and he is the type of guy you want on your third pairing in the playoffs. But the 35-year-old had a really tough go this time around, and as a pending unrestricted free agent, it’s unlikely the Canucks will keep him around. That’s especially true the way he played this postseason; Vancouver also has big decisions to make on pending UFAs Nikita Zadorov and Tyler Myers on the blue line.

Despite the heartbreaking ending for Canucks fans, it was still a fantastic run — especially considering the team got this far without Demko between the pipes. This won’t be the last time Vancouver’s core is in the postseason, and expect the roster to challenge for the Pacific Division title again in 2025.