Canucks Focus on Sustainability, Growth After Season of Adversity

The Vancouver Canucks closed the book on a season marked by adversity, growth, and reflection, as players and coaches met with media Friday morning at Rogers Arena.

While it’s not how they wanted the season to end, the tone was one of accountability and optimism. From Head Coach Rick Tocchet to core leaders like Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, and Thatcher Demko and first-year Canucks, they shared their takeaways from the 2024-25 season.

Rick Tocchet: Looking in the Rear View

Head Coach Rick Tocchet reflected on the season, acknowledging that while the year was challenging, it also provided valuable learning opportunities.

He emphasized the importance of self-evaluation, noting that he’s thought about moments where different decisions could have led to better outcomes. Though he’s not one to dwell on ‘what ifs,’ Tocchet admitted that reflection is part of growth—for himself and the team.

“You have to look at yourself as a coach and think of those things,” Tocchet said, underlining his commitment to improving alongside his players.

“It’s been a hard year, but it’s also been a year where you can improve by learning these lessons – the adversity – including myself, being better in certain situations.”

Tocchet talked about embracing the hard throughout the season and their ability to close out games.

“I don’t think we got an A+ on embracing the hard,” Tocchet said. “I didn’t think our training camp was as good as the year before. Did we embrace the hard there? I kind of kick myself – could I have been a little bit harder [on everyone] after training camp. That’s something I’ve got to look at myself going into next year.”

Quinn Hughes: Leadership Through Adversity

Despite dealing with injuries and missing 14 games this season, Canucks’ captain Quinn Hughes remained steadfast in his focus on team success over personal milestones.

"Everyone that's here just wants to be a part of a winning team, so I don’t think anyone’s too concerned about making me happy, it’s just about being a successful organization,” Hughes said. "That's the main goal for everyone here and I definitely feel like we can do that.”

He’s going to take the next couple of months to reflect on what he’s learned in his second year as captain, using the lessons he’s learned to grow and help him for next season.

In a challenging year, Hughes emphasized the importance of everyone on the team taking accountability.

“There's been some challenging times for sure, but I think it just comes down to [that] everyone has got to be better, and we need guys that elevate their game,” he said. “It’s not about one guy, or Millsy or Petey – you look at 82 games, it’s 24 guys on the roster, not two guys, and I think everyone should be held accountable, not put it on that for why we’re in this position this year.”

As he looks ahead to next season, Hughes is already focused on preparing his body for the grind. He always looks to make gains in the summer and believes offseason work is the key to taking big strides.

“This summer it’s going to be big about getting my body as good as I possibly can so I can play 82 games the way I want to play and also for the Olympics and playoffs,” he shared.

Elias Pettersson: Growth Mindset

Elias Pettersson admitted this season didn’t go as planned after signing a long-term extension, and he’s looking toward using the offseason to reset. Pettersson shared that he is staying in Vancouver to put in some extra work before heading home to Sweden.

“I’m just trying to look forward and it sucks we’re not playing still,” Pettersson said. “But with that being said, I’m going to take advantage of that extra month to come back stronger and better next season.”

Pettersson has high expectations of himself and has learned that playing his game and playing to his identity is what’s important.

“Early in the season, maybe I had the wrong mindset that I just signed a big contract, and I had to do more instead of just being me and then when the points don’t come, tend to overthink,” Pettersson said.

“I’m not perfect, I’m trying to be, but it’s been a lot of adversity this year but I’m always trying to believe I can grow from it, learn, and be better.”

Thatcher Demko: Reset and Recharge

Thatcher Demko enters this offseason healthy and is looking forward to a clean slate next season.

“It was a frustrating year. It was tough mentally, physically, but I felt like I came out of that second injury feeling really good about where I was headed and the direction of educating myself on where I was at physically. I’m excited to be going into the summer healthy and feeling really good and I think that was a really important, something I was focused on coming down the stretch. I’m really excited to move forward.”

The 2023 Vezina nominee said he feels back on track going into this offseason compared to last offseason.

“Last summer I had no idea what was going on quite frankly and that had a toll on me mentally and physically,” he said. “I have a team around me now; I have a lot of smart minds contributing to building a plan for me and I’m going into the summer feeling really healthy and excited to get back in the gym and build myself back up.”

Demko is looking forward to reestablishing his offseason routine and returning to form.

“I don’t think of myself as a different guy—I still know that I’m capable of playing that way, being a Vezina nominee,” he said.

The San Diego native never takes for granted playing in front of Vancouver Canucks fans and says he hopes to be a Canuck beyond next season.

“I’ve always wanted to be a Canuck,” Demko said. “Since Day 1 I want to be here, [I was] obviously drafted here. I’d like to get an extension done and stay here. Obviously, that’s something that Patrik and my agent will start talking about, but I’ll let them focus on that. I’m focused on getting myself back to where I know I can be and everything will play itself out.”

First-Season Players

Drew O'Connor said his first season in Vancouver didn’t finish the way he wanted it to, but no one in the room is satisfied and says that everyone is hungry to get the playoffs next year.

"I've enjoyed the group here. Obviously, it's been a little bit up and down the last little while,” said O’Connor. “We’d all obviously like to be in playoffs; we're all pretty motivated heading into the summer to make that happen."

Kevin Lankinen became the first NHL goalie to win his first 10 road games to start a season. He finished the year 25-15-10 and is looking forward to improving his game for next season.

“It’s a great experience, I’ve been loving my time here. Obviously, going back to the summer my goal was to find a place [where] I could showcase myself as a number 1 goalie. I just really liked how everything worked out,” Lankinen said.

Kiefer Sherwood said it was a tough year, but learning how to navigate rough waters is a good lesson moving forward.

“As players, you just try to go about your business, put one foot in front of the other and take it day by day. You always try to find the next game or next opportunity to grow yourself and build something special here and I think we’ve got a lot of things to look forward to,” Sherwood said.

“It sucks to not be in the playoffs, but we’re in a good spot because our fire in our belly is probably going to get a little bit bigger this summer. I think everyone can look in the mirror and be a little bit more accountable and figure out we’re going to be better moving forward. I think we’re going to take steps next year,” Sherwood added.

Jake DeBrusk said he learned a lot this season, and while he achieved a career-high goals (28) he wants to work on being a more impactful scorer for next season.

“The way I was scoring was pretty much always in front of the net – tip-ins, rebounds. I didn’t really have many rush goals this year, I didn’t have goals that I normally score that I have in my whole career, so I think that goes hand-in-hand with my game. I don’t think my game was where it needed to be coming into the season and trying to get used to guys and chemistry, I think I could have done a better job of playing my game – that would have helped a lot of things – instead of waiting for the game to come to me,” DeBrusk said.

Filip Chytil got back into practice mode before the season ended and is encouraged going into the offseason ready to make strides in his game.

“It’s been a nice couple days to practice with the guys and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s great to head into the offseason being 100 percent ready and have a big summer now and be ready for September,” Chytil said.

Marcus Pettersson says while the Canucks have a young team, he could see how bad the team wants to win from the moment he stepped foot in the locker room.

“I feel like I came into a locker room that wants to win. The care factor from all the guys is right there. Everybody loves each other and wants to push each other,” Pettersson said.

Defenceman Elias Pettersson got his first taste of NHL action and is looking to build off that in the offseason.

“It’s been a great experience for me. I think I’ve learned a lot this year,” Pettersson said.