off-season. This is particularly true in a hockey-mad city like Vancouver.
But for the Canucks’ management, this summer seems particularly important. After the team made very quick development during a fantastic 2023–24 campaign, the club has thrown a ton of resources into the center of the table to bet on this core bunch, and there is no turning back.
The bar has been lifted, and this team ought to be setting up to make a serious run at the Stanley Cup. General manager Patrik Allvin and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford have a lot of work ahead of them to meet that high standard.
The Canucks have significant cap flexibility and purchasing power going into the offseason. They also come in with a lot of needs and a number of important players who are about to expire. These players will either need to be extended at the last minute before free agency starts on July 1st, or they will need to be replaced with the kind of conservative ingenuity that characterized the Canucks’ strategy last summer.
This is our best attempt to provide a 10-step plan for what the Canucks’ management would do during the ideal summer. As always, our main goal is to provide the main ideas and possibilities that could influence Vancouver’s summertime decision-making.
1. Sign a top-line winger who is a star.
The Vancouver Canucks’ Francesco owner, Aquilini, finally discusses his plans on the current state of the term ahead of the 2025 season.