Canucks storylines to watch in 2025: Can Elias Pettersson rebound?

It’s been a tale of two 2024s for the Vancouver Canucks. 

On Jan. 1, 2024, they sat atop the standings. They became division champs for the first time since 2012-13, won a (normal) playoff series for the first time in over a decade and took the Stanley Cup runner-up Edmonton Oilers to the brink in Game 7 of the second round. 

For a fanbase that had been subjected to frustrating hockey for the better part of a decade, the first six months of the calendar year were a treat, even if the team fell short of the ultimate goal. 

From that point on, however, has been a bit of a different story. 

By the admission of the players, coaches, general manager and president of hockey operations, the Canucks have played to their defence-oriented, tough-to-play-against identity far too inconsistently to start the season.

Frankly speaking, this squad is tough to figure out. 

The Canucks have the talent that perhaps isn’t reflected in their record, but yet also have multi-million-dollar stars that aren’t playing to their salaries. They are a team that once played with a strong identity and structure, yet seem to lose it on a game-to-game basis. This year will be crucial in determining who the team is and, just as importantly, who they are not. 

With that said, here are some storylines to watch as we turn the page into 2025.

Can Elias Pettersson finally figure it out?

Of course the team is more than the sum of its parts, but let’s face it: The success of the Canucks relies pretty heavily on the success of Elias Pettersson. 

Since the 2024 All-Star break, it's clear he hasn't playing up to his ability. The first 49 games of last season, he scored at over a point-per-game clip, with 27 goals and 37 assists. Compare that to his numbers after the All-Star break up until Game 7 against the Oilers — he managed just eight goals and 23 assists in those 45 games.

He needed a bounce-back 2024-25 and so far, he's not there yet. Now, the general manager is turning up the heat on his $92.8-million centreman.

"Petey has shown up to this point that he is an extremely talented, quality player that could and should be a No. 1 centre. I believe in him. I believe that he's capable," Allvin said to Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre in a year-end interview. "(But) he needs to mature and understand that there are certain expectations and it does not get easier. And you need to face the music when things don't go well."

Are the Canucks going to trade Pettersson? Almost certainly not. What the Canucks want to do is light a fire in Pettersson and get him to the level he's shown he's capable of reaching.

In 34 games to start the season, Pettersson has 10 goals and 18 assists. At 5-on-5, the Canucks are out-shooting their opponents 204-193 and out-scoring their opponents 19-17 with Pettersson on the ice (per NaturalStatTrick), but that doesn't necessarily pass the eye test. Prior to his last game — Dec. 23 against the San Jose Sharks, where he scored two goals — he went through a six-game pointless streak, two of which he failed to register a shot.

Pettersson isn't losing the team games, but he just isn't winning any for them. How the start of his 2025 plays out will be crucial for the Canucks.

Inconsistency at Rogers Arena

The Canucks home versus away record is pretty baffling. And not in a good way.

They're 10-3-2 on the road, compared to 7-7-6 at home. Their season started by blowing a lead to the Calgary Flames only to ultimately lose in overtime and that game was pretty indicative to how their home woes would progress over those 15 games.

The Canucks lost only nine games in regulation and 14 in total at Rogers Arena last season. This year, not the case.

Of their past eight home games, the Canucks have lost five. It was only when Vancouver shut out the Florida Panthers on Dec. 12 that they beat a playoff team at Rogers Arena.

Their struggle to maintain a lead has been ongoing, especially at home. They rank fifth in blown leads (11), including five in the third period.

Fans were treated to one of those stinkers recently, when the Canucks surrendered three goals in the final five minutes of the third period and lost the game in overtime.

The Canucks' ability, or inability, to find consistency at home again will determine how successful their 2025 will be.

Brock Boeser and the looming contract

The Canucks have six players who are set to enter unrestricted free agency, but none are more consequential than Brock Boeser.

He's in the final year of a three-year, $19.95 million contract and has probably earned the right to a raise and a longer term deal. The biggest question as the calendar flips is whether that new contract will be with the Canucks, or elsewhere.

Injury woes in his first eight seasons hampered Boeser slightly. But last season, he broke out with 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games — both career-bests. This season has been less kind to Boeser, but he's still producing, if not at his best. He missed seven games with a concussion but still has 14 goals and 25 points in 29 appearances and the team is out-scoring their opponents at 5-on-5 with him on the ice.

Is that enough to earn the longest-tenured Canuck an extension? President of hockey operations Jim Rutherford pumped the brakes on that.

"The key is going to be what that contract looks like, what the term looks like. All those things," Rutherford said on After Hours on Dec. 15. "It's like all contracts; the player's going to have a different opinion than what the team has. We'll continue to monitor the situation closely."

The clock is ticking, though. The Canucks will have to make the choice to trade him, sign him, or prepare for him to walk away for nothing in free agency before March 7. Before that, expect contract talks to loom large.

Quinn Hughes: Hart Trophy nominee?

Since his sophomore slump in the 2020-21 season, Quinn Hughes has consistently raised his compete level every single season, culminating in his first career Norris Trophy win as the league's best defenceman last June.

Somehow, he's managed to get even better this year. So let's raise the question that is surely on everyone's minds: Should the Canuck captain be in the mix for the Hart Trophy?

Whether he is almost certainly depends on how long he's out with injury (upper-body, currently listed as week-to-week) and where the team finishes in the standings.

But oh boy, is he ever playing like a MVP.

He's leading the Canucks in points and frankly, it's not close. His 42 points is 14 more than the next-highest point-getter (Pettersson, 28). The offensive engine of the team, the Canucks are out-shooting opponents 358-272 and out-scoring opponents 39-21 with Hughes on the ice. When he's off the ice, the Canucks don't produce nearly as well. They're at a -114 shot differential and a -97 goal differential without Hughes, according to data obtained by The Athletic's Thomas Drance.

Injured before the holiday break, Hughes is expected to miss the first few games of the new year. If he returns at the same level he's performed thus far, the Canucks might be playing for their first Hart Trophy nominee since Henrik Sedin in 2010.

Are the Canucks truly the real deal?

When the Canucks lost in Game 7 of the second round in May, it wasn't the first time they'd been in that position. They won the qualifying round against Minnesota, then the first round against defending Cup-winners St. Louis in the 2020 playoff bubble, before eventually bowing out in Game 7 of the second round.

At the time, it felt like the team was potentially turning a corner. Well, they weren't.

Now two coaches and three lost seasons later, they find themselves in a similar predicament.

Of course, the circumstances are different. They're playing in front of fans again, they've got a Norris-winning defenceman who is playing like an MVP, a goalie who is capable of hitting a Vezina threshold, two 100-point centremen and a 40-goal scorer.

No, the Canucks haven't played to their standards, but the pillars are there. They're capable of building off last season's success. But the defining feature of their 2025 will be whether they're able to rise to the occasion once more.