Canucks' 3 Up, 3 Down: Demko, Hughes, Podkolzin, Top Players Lists & More – Hockey Writers – Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks have come out of their offseason slumber. From Vasily Podkolzin being traded to the Edmonton Oilers and Quinn Hughes being named the NHL 25 cover athlete to Thatcher Demko missing training camp and NHL Network's preseason rankings and rankings, we've got plenty to talk about. With that said, let's get into the Canucks' first 3 Up, 3 Down of the season.

Plus One: Jack, Luke & Quinn Hughes Named NHL 25 Cover Athletes

For the first time in EA Sports history, three players will grace the cover of an NHL video game series as it was announced last week that brothers Jack, Luke, and Quinn Hughes will be the cover athletes for NHL 25. Usually, only one or two players are given the honor, but EA decided to be different this year.

Related: 4 Young Players Canucks Quit Soon

These three brothers are the best in the NHL. Jack and Quinn have already established themselves as cornerstones for the Devils and Canucks respectively, and Luke had a promising rookie season with nine goals and 47 points in 82 games. Although Jack didn't burst onto the scene immediately after being drafted in 2019, he has made a name for himself over the past few seasons. His team came out in 2022-23 when he scored 43 goals and 99 points in 78 games, and despite the injury that made him miss 20 games last season, he still scored 27 goals and 74 points.

As for Quinn, he has been a revelation for the Canucks since his debut at the end of 2018-19. Since his first full season in 2019-20, he has never dropped below 41 points and already has four 50-point campaigns, culminating with 17 goals and 92 points last season when he won the Norris Trophy. He'll become the Canucks' all-time leader in defensemen this season – and he'll do it at just 25 years old.

All in all, the Hughes brothers are here to stay and may already join the Hulls, Sutters, and Staals as the most iconic families in NHL history.

Minus One: Thatcher Demko Expected to Miss Training Camp and Preseason

Thatcher Demko will reportedly be ready to go to the Western Conference finals if the Canucks win Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers. But judging by the latest news from infielder Rick Dhaliwal, unless he suffered another injury or offseason surgery, he was still miles away from returning to the lineup.

Demko was healthy most of last season until suffering a knee injury against the Winnipeg Jets on March 9. He returned for the final two games of the regular season and Game 1 of the playoffs against the Nashville Predators but did not appear in Game 2 and beyond. He is now expected to miss training camp and the preseason as even opening night has been a question mark. The Canucks are now scouring the forward market for options to add to rookie Arturs Silovs if an illness keeps him out for more than a few games.

Silov should be ready to challenge for No. 1. He started every game in the playoffs after Casey DeSmith went down in Game 2 and looked good posting a 2.91 goals against average (GAA), .898 save percentage (SV%) and a shutout. However, the Canucks are still a better team with Demko in the crease. He's a respected Vezina Trophy-caliber goaltender, so hopefully this injury won't sideline him for too long and he can return to 100 percent health without any further setbacks during the season.

Above Two: Elias Pettersson, JT Miller and Thatcher Demko Land on NHL's Top Players List

NHL Network has been releasing lists of the top players at various positions since mid-August and they recently published their top 20 centers with JT Miller and Elias Pettersson making the cut at 11 and 10 respectively. It's no surprise that Miller just fell out of the top 10 in his recent season. He joined the century club in 2023-24 with his first 100-point season with 37 goals and 103 points in 81 games, and now has 143 goals and 402 points in a Canucks uniform. Since his departure from the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-2020, he has been one of the best centers in the NHL and is being recognized as such after being dumped last year.

Pettersson, on the other hand, stayed in tenth place even after struggling to produce following his monster January in which he scored 14 goals and 21 points in 13 games. Most of his points came in the first half of the season as he put up just seven goals and 25 points in his last 33 games. He still finished with 34 goals and 89 points but failed to repeat the dominance he showed in 2022-23 when he had his 100-point season with 39 points and 102 points in 80 games. He is definitely a special center in the NHL, but I personally will put Miller ahead of him after the events of 2023-24.

In the first half of the series, they were ranked in the top 10 for 2024-25 and Demko was sixth behind Ilya Sorokin, Jeremy Swayman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Connor Hellebuyck, and Igor Shesterkin. I feel like that's a spot or two too low as he should be ahead of Sorokin who was in the middle last season and lost his job to Semyon Varlamov, and maybe Swayman who hasn't been the best starter in his career. So, that would put him in fourth place, just one spot below where THW placed his Rupert McDonald.

Second Removed: Brock Boeser Removed from top 20 list

The NHL Network also released its list of the top 20 players and no Canucks were included, not even Brock Boeser with 40 goals. If you look at the list, eight of the top 20 didn't go over 40 goals, and some didn't score 30. Mitch Marner, for example, scored only 26 goals and ranked 10th. What does Boeser have to do to earn some respect around the league? 50 points? Regardless, he will be the team's best player again this season and may score 30 goals or more. Canucks Nation knows how important Brockstar is, even if the NHL Network “experts” don't.

Three More: Ice Enters Rogers Arena & New Logo Looks Awesome

Hockey is almost back in Vancouver as the ice at Rogers Arena was installed on Friday. It also came with a stunning redesign of the central snow logo. I'm sure many fans were hoping it would be a flying skate instead – myself included – but this still looks clean and sharp, and much better than the previous version.

The Canucks' home opener is scheduled for Oct. 9 against the Calgary Flames which will be the first of a two-game homestand that will also see the Philadelphia Flyers come to town. They will then begin a four-game road trip against the Steven Stamkos-less Tampa Bay Lightning, the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, the Flyers again, and finally Ilya Mikheyev and the Chicago Blackhawks. Their next fight at Rogers Arena will be on Oct. 26 when Sidney Crosby came to Vancouver for the start of a three-game homestand.

Minus Three: Vasily Podkolzin Trade to the Oilers For Low Return

Our final release of the week comes from the second general manager trade Patrik Allvin made this offseason. In a surprising move, he sent Podkolzin to the Oilers for only a fourth-round pick in 2025. Many fans were shocked by the return he got in the 10th election in 2019, but insiders like Dhaliwal were not, they say. that the Canucks couldn't wait for him to become an everyday player. Considering he might be busted after not making the team in training camp, they wouldn't get him anything other than the fourth round.

As I said in the previous article, I don't like the return or the fact that they traded him in the first place. The Canucks could have kept a roster spot open by not signing so many forwards in free agency. While I like the additions, I think Podkolzin can be an integral part of the bottom-six and is likely to thrive in that role. But now we won't know.

Even though the Oilers are the team's rival, I wish Podkolzin all the best in the next phase of his hockey journey.

Hockey Is Around The Corner, Next Stop Penticton!

As we enter the last week of August, the Young Stars tournament in Penticton is just a few weeks away. It all starts on September 13 at the South Okanagan Events Center when the Canucks face the Oilers at 7:30. Training camp is a few days later, and is in Pentico, September 19-22. The dog days of summer are almost over Canucks fans, let's drop the puck!