LATEST | Analyst identifies the two top priorities for the Canucks heading into the off-season

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Felip Gosselin
April 4, 2023 (6:33 PM)

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Even though we've known for quite a while now that the Canucks wouldn't be taking part in the playoffs, they were mathematically eliminated on Sunday. Heading into this off-season, the real work begins for the team's upper management in Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford.

Rick Tocchet looks at this extended time off as an opportunity that the players must take advantage of. Here's what he said to Thomas Drance from the Athletic:

''It sucks, I feel bad for the guys obviously. Four months off sucks, but use it to your advantage. Other teams are going to play late, we're not. So what are you going to do with the next four months''�

Drance then pointed out what needed to be the Canucks' top priority heading into this off-season.

1. Extend Elias Pettersson

Without a doubt, extending the team's top play comes first in the ''must-achieve column''. Pettersson is getting set to cross the 100-point barrier for the first time in his career something only 5 other Canuck have done before him: Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Pavel Bure, Alexander Mogilny, and Markus Naslund.

Allvin and Rutherford openly stated that they intended on contending in the next two to three years and there's absolutely no way they can get it done without Pettersson around. Per the analyst's beliefs, Pettersson should be getting a $3M annual raise bringing his yearly AAV over $10M, it'd then be one of the highest-paid hockey players on earth.

2. Clarify J.T. Miller's future

The Canucks inked the hot-headed number 9 to a $56M and 7-year deal with a full no-movement clause kicking in on July 1st. However, his name has been popping up in trade talks here and there and Allvin even confirmed that he had been willing to listen to the phone calls coming in for the superstar.

An important sit-down needs to take place between the two parties in order to fully determine what happens moving forward. Miller turned 30 and is in the midst of his prime years, he needs to know where he's headed, and where this team is headed, at some point, it's every player's dream to have the opportunity to contribute to a cup run.

The Canucks management has lots to do before we can consider this team a contender. While the late season surge, this roster shows promises but there is still much work to be done. They still need to figure out a way to shed some salary, especially since they'll have restricted free agents in need of contracts (Ethan Bear, Nils Hoglander, Vitaly Kravtsov). It's also been stated that they were looking to add a third-line centerman, but not only are these hard to find, but they don't come in cheap.

SOURCE: The Athletic - Canucks' offseason to-do list: It starts with extending Elias Pettersson