The Vancouver Canucks finished the 2023-24 season first in the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9. Additionally, the club hosted its first Stanley Cup playoff game in Vancouver since 2015, beating the Nashville Predators in six games before falling to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games during the second round. The last time the Canucks made a playoff appearance was the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the club made it to the second round, losing in seven games to the Vegas Golden Knights.
In that offseason, the front office failed to build off of their success, as they lost four of their top unrestricted free agents (UFA) and failed to return to the playoffs the following season. The Canucks have nine UFAs this offseason and will have to avoid making the same mistakes. Along with losing out on their top four UFAs, the club’s new additions in 2020 didn’t improve the team.
Therefore, President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford and general manager (GM) Patrik Allvin have to add through free agency to improve the roster. 2020 Free Agency Debacle In 2020, the Canucks lost four key free agents after their playoff run due to a lack of cap space and their poor management team. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom, forward Tyler Toffoli, and defencemen Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher all left the club.
Markstrom was arguably the Canucks MVP during the 2019-20 regular season. However, when he suffered an injury in the second round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Thatcher Demko stepped up and help.
