Vancouver Canucks New Year’s Resolutions 2025

With the start of a new year comes a wave of new year’s resolutions. After a difficult fall and winter at home, the Vancouver Canucks will look to improve on a variety of facets as its playoff push continues. As players recover from injuries and management prepares for the March trade deadline, here are some New Year’s resolutions for the team as a whole.

Find Ways to Win at Home

You know this had to be on the list. Vancouver opened the 2024-25 regular season with a 6-5 loss to the Calgary Flamesand since then, they have accumulated a 7-7-6 record at Rogers Arena. Their seven regulation home wins place them 23rd in the NHL. In 20 home games, the Canucks have conceded 73 goals — a stat that ties them to Pittsburgh Penguins for the most in the league. They have the third worst home save percentage at 0.871%, better than only New York Islanders And Colorado Avalanche. Their home records are not completely unredeemable, however, as they have also scored the ninth most goals at home with 62.

After the Canucks’ Friday night game against the Nashville PredatorsThey will be on the road until they face the Kings of Los Angeles on January 16. Afterwards, they play Edmonton Oilers on the 18th and Buffalo swords on the 21st, before making another quick trip to Edmonton.

It’s no secret that Vancouver is under different pressure than they faced last season. Now that they have shown this fan base that they can perform in the playoffs, the expectations of the entire fan base are that they will secure their spot and win a series or two. This could be one of the many reasons why they haven’t been able to rack up home wins. However, the formula for success goes much deeper than just blocking out outside noise, which brings me to my next point.

Clean up extra images

The Canucks currently lead the NHL in overtime and shootout losses with eight this season. Five of their overtime losses came from blown leads, with three of them being multi-goal comebacks for the opposing team. They started their season by dropping a 4-1 at home, while doing the same in their final game at Rogers Arena in 2024. To add to that, the Canucks recorded a league-worst six overtime losses at home .

Vancouver’s home and overtime records can be attributed to several factors, but the main point seems to be consistency. The team can play an equally strong game offensively and defensively against the reigning Stanley Cup champions, then suffer one of their worst home losses of the season right after. In the same vein, they can explode offensively and score four goals in one period, then take it easy for a few minutes and give up their lead. What Vancouver needs most right now is stability, especially since its two top producers are injured. Having a secure presence in the locker room should allow the team to play its game without worrying about slacking off.

Pick up this coveted defender

Vancouver will be without its top defensive duo over the coming weeks, as Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek are out due to injury. Even before both left the roster, there was talk of the team drafting another defenseman or two and setting up a trade for some of the current roster. Knowing Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford, there’s a good chance their big trade deadline will happen near the end of January, even if the deadline is March 7. Rumors have swirled that Bowen Byram, Marcus Pettersson or Dante Fabbro could make their way to Vancouver.

It will be difficult to know what to target before the trade deadline if Hughes and Hronek end up being out longer than expected. As for who might go the other way, it’s no secret that Nils Höglander has struggled so far this season, while Vincent Desharnais’ experience hasn’t gone down well. unfolded as Vancouver thought. Acquire someone who can make a difference NOWthe Canucks may have to go with some of their high-end prospects – maybe even some currently playing in the 2025 World Juniors.

Recover – that’s all

Canucks fans have seen far too many cases of players coming back from an injury, only to re-aggravate it (or injure something else) and end up missing even more time. What Hughes, Hronek and Elias Pettersson need right now is rest, whether they are “bored” or not. Fans saw how Pettersson’s tendonitis impacted his play towards the second half of the 2023-2024 season, as well as how Thatcher Demko had to work around his popliteus muscle injury to return. To avoid re-injury, or possibly injure something else while overcompensating for an injured muscle, any injured player must take the necessary time to recover.