2024 Canucks Offseason Departure Tracker

We’re just about a month into the 2024–25 regular season now, which means that key additions — and subtractions — from the Vancouver Canucks’ roster have had a chance to get settled into their respective teams. We saw Jake DeBrusk score his first goal of the season last Saturday night, but how are some of our beloved ex-Canucks doing? Let’s take a look.

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Casey DeSmith

Dallas Stars

2.03 GAA, .922 SV%, 4 GP

Casey DeSmith was a solid backup in his season-long tenure for the Canucks. Now, as he finds a spot behind Jake Oettinger in Dallas, it looks as though DeSmith will be building on his successes with Vancouver. He started his 2024–25 season off with a 25-save shutout against the Seattle Kraken, kicking off his current two-win, two-loss record. As of November 8th, he’s ninth in goals saved above expected with 3.7 and seventh in goals saved above expected per 60 with 0.937. In high-danger, unblocked shot attempt saves, he’s third in the league with 0.929. Of course, this is only over the span of four games, so the likelihood of these stellar stats continuing throughout the season is slim.

Elias Lindholm

Boston Bruins

2–7–9, 15 GP

Elias Lindholm has had a less-than-ideal start to his season in Boston. The Swedish forward found success with Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua throughout the 2023–24 playoffs but hasn’t quite hit that point with the Bruins yet. Lindholm was brought into a Bruins system that has been desparate for Centre depth — a problem they seemed to believe could be solved by Lindholm. While he’s put up reasonable stats in his time in Boston (nine points in 13 games), it’s hard to live up to expectations when you’re being compared to Patrice Bergeron.

Ian Cole

Utah Hockey Club

1–5–6, 14 GP

The departure of Ian Cole from the Canucks may be the most overlooked of them all. Even though Cole had a rough series against Edmonton, his play in the regular season, as well as against Nashville, contributed to a Canucks defence that hasn’t quite shaped up the same way so far this season. Despite only being 14 games into the season, Cole already has ten shots registered — in the entire 2023–24 regular season, he had 61. He’s also blocked 28 shots this season, a number that puts him above any current Canucks.

Ilya Mikheyev

Chicago Blackhawks

1–1–2, 15 GP

Ilya Mikheyev’s saga with the Canucks seemed to be alright at the start. Signed for his speed and defensive talents, the Russian forward’s debut season with Vancouver was hampered by an ACL tear sustained during training camp. His later games with the Canucks were bleak, as he only scored one goal in 50 regular season games. Traded to the Blackhawks alongside Sam Lafferty in June, Mikheyev has been seen skating on a line with former Canuck Jason Dickinson and Teuvo Teräväinen. His lone goal on the season so far was scored into an empty net against the Colorado Avalanche.

Nikita Zadorov

Boston Bruins

0–4–4, 15 GP

Although he was only with the Canucks for 54 regular season games and 13 playoff games, he left a lasting impression on the fanbase for his board-breaking hits and witty personality. He stepped up during the playoffs with timely goals and a physical presence, but unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for Vancouver to try and sign him for $5M a year — resulting in his journey to Boston. Unsurprisingly, Zadorov leads the Bruins in penalty minutes (25) and is second on the team in hits (41). As well he’s third in ice time on the Bruins’ defensive core with 266, behind only Charlie McAvoy (329) and Hampus Lindholm (299).

Sam Lafferty

Buffalo Sabres

1–0–1, 13 GP

While Sam Lafferty hasn’t shown much offensive output in Buffalo yet, the forward isn’t expected to carry the Sabres’ offence. Serving as a fourth-line winger to Peyton Krebs, Lafferty scored his first goal of the season against Igor Shesterkin and the New York Rangers. His 17 hits throughout 13 games currently puts him at seventh on his team.