Vancouver Canucks stock up, stock down

If there's a team desperate to turn things around, it's the Vancouver Canucks. 

After years of being a threat in the Western Conference, British Columbia's team has been plagued with dysfunction and missed out on the postseason seven of the past eight years.

While they have burgeoning, young stars (Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes), the Canucks past few seasons have been dominated by bad front-office decisions that set them back instead of preparing them for future success. The team's situation is even more dire now that the Seattle Kraken have become a formidable Pacific Division opponent and the Vegas Golden Knights are Stanley Cup champs.

Is the 2023-24 season going to be when Vancouver gets on the right track?

Here's a look at whose stock is either rising, falling or unclear on the roster:

Rising: Defense

It looks as if Hughes will be getting much-needed help as the Canucks have added Carson Soucy and Ian Cole to their blue line. They even made an addition for their future by drafting defenseman Tom Willander with the 11th overall pick in June.

Vancouver has made the mistake in recent seasons of signing veteran players to pricey contracts and then getting stuck with a skater who simply isn't producing. (Look at what happened with Oliver Ekman-Larsson leading up to the Canucks buying out his contract this offseason.) But Vancouver has wisely signed Soucy and Cole to shorter-term deals, which should — in theory, at least — give them some stability on the back end

Now, whether coach Rick Tocchet can put winning pairs together at the very start of the season is anyone's guess. But from the look of things in July, the Canucks should be a little more defensively sound.

Falling: A long leash for coaches

With the exception of Alain Vigneault's tenure that included a Jack Adams Award in 2007, the Canucks haven't had a successful run of coaches in the 2000s. Coming out of the pandemic was a particularly difficult time for the Canucks as Travis Green was relieved of his coaching duties in 2021 in a massive overhaul that also saw general manager Jim Benning exit. Green was followed up by Bruce Boudreau who — despite giving fans something to cheer about early on — was fired after going 50-40-13 over less than two seasons.

Tocchet couldn't completely erase the Canucks' bad start to their season as they finished 12 points out of the second wild-card spot in the West. Suffice it to say, if the Canucks don't show improvement early in the upcoming season, Tocchet may be headed for the same fate as Boudreau.

Stock unclear: Brock Boeser

Boeser signed a three-year deal in July 2022 and told reporters in March that he was happy about not being moved at the trade deadline. But the 26-year-old winger continues to be a focus in NHL trade talks given that he is a young, highly skilled player on a team that continues to underperform. Because the Canucks must make room under the salary cap, a trade of Boeser isn't all that unlikely.

Boeser is coming off of a season in which he posted 55 points in 74 games, so there is interest from other teams looking for a forward with his size (6-foot-1, 208 pounds) and scoring ability. Bleacher Report hinted that a move to the Anaheim Ducks is possible given how general manager Pat Verbeek is reshaping that roster. Or potentially to the Minnesota Wild, who were connected to Boeser leading up to the trade deadline. Heck, he could even end up in the East playing for the New York Islanders or Pittsburgh Penguins.

While the Canucks would certainly miss Boeser's contributions, a move could be a good thing for both the player and team.