The Vancouver Canucks are ready to start their 54th season in the NHL with aspirations of returning to the playoffs for the second season in a row for the first time since 2012-13. They are well set up to do it with arguably one of the deepest forward groups in the league, the return of reigning Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes, Jack Adams winner Rick Tocchet, and hopefully, a Vezina-caliber goaltender in Thatcher Demko. They also have some very budget-friendly contracts on their books that could prove to be valuable this season if the players attached to them perform up to their potential.
Daniel Sprong
Daniel Sprong signed a one-year contract in the offseason worth $975,000, and he’s set to play alongside Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk on opening night. If he clicks with his new linemates, he could be in for a career season. His speed and shot have been his calling card ever since he came into the league in 2015-16, and while he only has one 20-goal season so far, he has been surprisingly productive in limited ice time. He hasn’t eclipsed the 12-minute mark in average ice time over the past two seasons but has 39 goals in 142 games.
Related: Canucks Prospects Report: Alriksson, Raty, Mynio & More
Sprong has never played with an elite playmaker like Pettersson, so it stands to reason that he will score more this season. If that happens, he will vastly outperform his contract. Even if he scores 15-20 goals, that’s pretty good value for under $1 million. But I am betting he will be closer to the 25-30-goal range if he has chemistry with Pettersson and DeBrusk and spends time on the second power-play unit.
Nils Hoglander
Nils Hoglander came into camp like a man on a mission. He was one of the top players in the fitness testing and stood out in every situation, be it practice, scrimmages, preseason, you name it, he was there bringing his trademark motor, tenacity and forechecking skills. He is on a very cap-friendly $1.1 million contract and was the Canucks’ most effective forward at five-on-five last season, scoring 24 goals in that situation.
Hoglander has spent most of the preseason on a line with rookie Aatu Raty and fellow buzzsaw Conor Garland. That trio has looked good ever since the start of training camp and should be deployed as the third line on opening night against the Calgary Flames on Oct. 9. He will likely stay in that spot until Dakota Joshua returns to the lineup, and might even spend more time on the power play. He only saw 42:26 with the man advantage last season, and still finished with 24 goals. Even if he keeps the same production going at even strength and adds just a few goals on the power play, he’s a 30-goal scorer. And how many of those can you name that get paid less than $2 million average annual value (AAV)?
Quinn Hughes
I know, how can a player getting paid $7.85 million AAV outperform his contract? Well, when his name is Quinn Hughes. As of the beginning of this season, he is the 24th-highest-paid defenceman in the NHL and he’s coming off a 92-point season and a Norris Trophy win. He also led the league in defence scoring and finished 15th in overall scoring, all for the bargain basement price of $7.85 million. Judging by how he looked in his only preseason game so far, it doesn’t look like he’s going to slow down any time soon. While it can be argued that Cale Makar is the better overall defenceman, Hughes has taken massive strides in his two-way game in recent seasons and might be closer to him now more than ever in terms of all-around defensive ability.
Hughes wants to score more this season and worked on his shot over the offseason. He hit the twine 17 times in 2024-25 (nine more than his career-high set in 2021-22), and has set the 20-goal milestone as his target in 2024-25.
“I felt like I missed a lot of scoring opportunities last year,” Hughes said. “And even though my goal-scoring spiked, I think it can spike again. This whole summer, I worked on goal scoring — goal scoring from the dot, goal scoring from the top of the circles. So I think I can score more. I think that I can score 20 goals.”
If Hughes gets to 20 goals and remains in the 75-80 assist range, he could hit 100 points and become only the seventh defenceman in league history to do so. If he does that, he will outperform his contract for a sixth straight season. To make things even better, he’s signed for another two seasons after this one. Unfortunately, after that, the Canucks will have to pony up over $10 million on his next deal – but that’s a conversation for another day.
Puck Drop on the 2024-25 Season Is Just Around the Corner
Thankfully, the preseason is almost finished. The Canucks have only one more dress rehearsal before they start playing for keeps on Oct. 9. They will suit up against the Edmonton Oilers later tonight and we should see a more representative lineup than their last game on Monday where they lost in a shootout. We will also see Sprong with Pettersson and DeBrusk for the first time. Will he get a head start on outperforming his contract in that game?
