The Vancouver Canucks are looking to build on a breakout season in 2023-24, when the team won the Pacific Division with a record of 50 wins, 23 losses and nine ties and reached Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
To improve on last season, the team needs other players to perform well alongside their core members. This season, the club will add several players to the roster and hope to play their best hockey as a team. Additionally, the young players need to take the next step in their development and show that they are worthy of joining the NHL full-time. Here are three potential breakout stars for the 2024-25 season.
Vasily Podkozlin
Vasily Podkolzin returns as a breakout candidate for the Canucks, but this will likely be his final season on the list after the team selected the Russian forward with the 10th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
He spent the next two seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League, making his NHL debut in the 2021-22 season. Podkolzin recorded 14 goals and 26 points in 79 games, but struggled to stay in the NHL the next two seasons. In the 2022-23 season, he played 39 games in the NHL and 28 games in the American Hockey League (AHL). In the 2023-24 season, he began the season with Abbotsford, appearing in 44 games and recording 15 goals and 28 points. He returned to Vancouver and appeared in 19 games and recorded two points.
Podkolzin is 23 years old and needs to play more games in the NHL. To do that, he needs to earn the trust of head coach Rick Tocchet and the rest of the coaching staff. He has proven he can score in the NHL, but he was inconsistent in his rookie season. Podkolzin is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound power forward and could be a successful player if he combines his size and skill. But that needs to happen sooner rather than later. If not, his days with the Canucks may be numbered, as he is a sure piece of a trade.
Danton Heinen
The Canucks signed several former Boston Bruins players this offseason, including Danton Heinen, who signed a two-year contract worth $2.25 million per year. The club acquired Heinen to bring scoring and speed to the team.
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The Langley, British Columbia native has spent eight years in the NHL, five with the Bruins, two with the Anaheim Ducks and two with the Pittsburgh Penguins, recording 87 goals and 212 points in 487 games, and has had two outstanding seasons in the past three years, recording 17 goals and 33 points in 76 games with the Penguins in 2021-22 and 17 goals and 36 points in 74 games with the Bruins in 2023-24.
At 29 years old, Heinen could potentially step up in his grades and take on a larger role as a top-six forward for the Canucks. He's capable of scoring 40-50 points for the Canucks, something he's done once in his career. He scored 16 goals and had 47 points in 2017-18, his first full NHL season with Boston. His career-highs of 15 minutes and 1 second of time on ice could get him close to those numbers with the Canucks this season.
Daniel Sprong
The Canucks added Daniel Sprong in free agency, signing the right-handed sniper on a one-year contract worth $775,000.
The 2015 second-round draft pick is a great scorer, scoring a career-high 21 goals in 66 games with the Seattle Kraken in the 2022-23 season. Additionally, he's coming off an 18-goal season with the Detroit Red Wings, marking his second consecutive season with 40 points. While Spron was hoping for a bigger payday, he acknowledged there is room for improvement in his game and joining Tockett and the Canucks will allow him to grow. The head coach asked the forward why he was unable to play the final five minutes of the game despite his offensive skills.
“I think I just make the most of my opportunities and the situations I'm in,” he said. “I think my defensive game can be a little bit of a weakness at times and the coaches' trust in certain situations affects my ice time. And that's something we've talked about and we're going to work with Van on earning that trust and being a player that can be trusted in those situations. I've been working over the summer to work on those little details.”
The Canucks only have two right-handed forwards in Brock Boeser and Conor Garland in the top nine, so Spron will likely get a chance to play in the top six alongside elite centres like Elias Pettersson and JT Miller. If the forwards can improve their off-field play under Tocchet, they could have a breakout season.
There are several wingers who have a chance to shine.
The Canucks have three wingers who are potential make-or-break candidates. Podkolzin's tenure with the team could be over if he doesn't prove he can play in the NHL. Meanwhile, Heinen is back with his hometown team and has proven he can put up 40-50 points in the past. And Sprong is a great scoring forward, but the rest of his game has room to improve, which is why he joined the Canucks. He's one of the breakout candidates for the team.
