Canucks' 2024-25 Forward Line Projections – Hockey Writers – Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks have been relatively quiet in their signing process on July 1. They added Daniel Sprong and re-signed presumed backup Arturs Silovs, but that's about it. Looking at their roster and remaining cap space, they don't have much wiggle room to make other additions. Barring a trade, it appears they will enter the 2024-25 season with their current lineup. So, why not take a look at the possible lineup combinations for opening night?

Danton Heinen – JT Miller – Brock Boeser

JT Miller and Brock Boeser will once again be a duo on the top line, as head coach Rick Tocchet is unlikely to split them up. They played 946:43 together at even strength and 289:46 on the power play last season, the most of any duo on the roster. They have been effective too, producing 470 goalscoring chances, 191 high-danger chances and 34 high-danger goals. Another spot in their lineup was a revolving door of wingers from Pius Suter, Elias Pettersson, Ilya Mikheyev, Phil Di Giuseppe, Dakota Joshua, Nils Hoglander, and Arshdeep Bains.

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Tocchet likes his two, so unless he feels comfortable with three like he eventually did with Joshua, Teddy Blueger and Conor Garland, the revolving door will continue this season. That said, I believe Danton Heinen will win this spot on opening night and hopefully contribute enough to keep it around for a while. He has a style of play that can match Miller and Boeser as a puck retriever and energy infuser like Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen were to Henrik and Daniel Sedin. He also has experience playing with top scorers as he spent time with David Pastrnak last season – most recently in Game 6 of the second round of the playoffs.

The Canucks wanted to find a backup for Pettersson in the offseason, and they did so with the signing of Jake DeBrusk. They may have added one more when they drafted Sprong in early July. As Sprong noted at his media availability, he's friends with Pettersson and has kept in touch with DeBrusk since the 2015 Draft, so they could be a natural fit to start the season.

DeBrusk has a history of playing with top players, namely Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Krejci. When he scored his career-high 27 goals in 2018-19 and 2022-23, he was set up by Krejci and Bergeron, respectively. Both are top six official institutions in the Pettersson area. In fact, I would argue that Pettersson is a better player and will be able to stop DeBrusk from getting more scoring opportunities than he did in Boston.

As for Sprong, in the past two seasons, he has been used extensively in the Seattle Kraken and Detroit Red Wings' six. Unlike DeBrusk, he hasn't played as a top-line pivot like Pettersson, but his shooting and awareness should mesh well with the Swedish star. If DeBrusk and Sprong match up well with him this season, Pettersson will end up with two wing players who seem to be able to score, which is a far cry from Mikheyev, who often missed a lot of opportunities.

Dakota Joshua – Teddy Blueger – Conor Garland

With the re-signing of Joshua and Blueger, Allvin has enabled Tocchet to consolidate his effective third line from last season. Before the Mikheyev trade, there was a clear possibility that Joshua would go elsewhere on a free transfer. He had a great season in 2023-24 with a career high of 18 goals and 32 points and was rumored to be a target for teams like the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, and many others. But they never got the chance to apply because the Canucks were able to shake Mikheyev's title and went public and signed Joshua to a four-year contract worth $3.25 million AAV.

Blueger was easy to re-sign, but there was no guarantee he would return. But Allvin did both and now the Canucks will have this third line (or 2B line) for the next two seasons. Before Joshua was injured in February, they were the Canucks' best line, not only driving the game but creating an incredible offense. And speaking of dynamic duos, Tocchet also had one in Garland and Joshua, who played 560:58 at equal strength together and looked like the Sedins at times with their uncanny passes and telepathic chemistry. With either Blueger or Suter as their center, I would expect to see Garland and Joshua team up again to start the season.

Nils Hoglander – Pius Suter – Kiefer Sherwood

The fourth line will have a different look on opening night and could be considered a third line with some talent on it. In this projection, I line up Hoglander, Suter, and Kiefer Sherwood, creating a strong forechecking unit with physicality and offense potential. Last season, they combined for 48 goals with Hoglander leading the way with a solid 24 goals. The trio should bring down the boom as well, as Sherwood (234) and Hoglander (100) also combined for 334 hits.

This is where it will get interesting as Di Giuseppe, Vasily Podkolzin, and Nils Aman need to clear waivers to be sent to the American Hockey League (AHL). They are all NHL forwards and could be seen as important to several teams at the start of the season. However, the good thing about the waiver wire during the preseason is that most teams are dealing with logjams themselves and the Canucks could sneak one of Aman or DiGiuseppe down to Abbotsford amid the chaos.

One person the Canucks can't afford to lose is Podkolzin. He is still very young at 23 years old, and his potential has yet to be reached. If anything, Allvin will try to trade him before October 9 if he doesn't shine in training camp and the preseason. If he is going to play and win his spot on the roster, he will force Allvin to move another player like Hoglander, DiGiuseppe or Aman.

DiGiuseppe has had good training camps in the past, so I expect him to take one of the spots. Tocchet also seems to like the power and versatility he brings to the lineup, and don't forget, he was one of the Canucks' best players in the playoffs – especially in Game 5 against the Oilers.

Canucks Have Full Forward Squad Going Into 2024-25

As of this writing, the Canucks have 15 forwards who could find their names on the opening night roster — and all are eligible to be waived. They will have two forwards and a seventh defender as extra bodies, meaning one of Aman, DiGiuseppe or Podkolzin will be on the outside looking. I expect Allvin will let training camp and the preseason play out before he makes a decision. trade, but I could see Hoglander or Podkolzin being bait in a potential deal if he wants to bolster his blue line with another swing defenseman. That storyline will work well throughout September, but unfortunately, we still have August to go on as the dog days of summer drag on.

Advanced stats taken from Natural Stat Trick