How the Canucks’ Wings Stack Up Against the Rest of the Pacific Division (Part 2)

In the first part of this piece, I took a look at the wing depth of the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Los Angeles Kings. Keep reading for a recap of the San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, and Vegas Golden Knights.

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San Jose Sharks

Not much is expected from the San Jose Sharks this upcoming season, as the team will be relying on a mix of young, freshly drafted forwards and a hodge-podge of wingers. Former Shark Barclay Goodrow will be making his return to the Bay Area after spending two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning and three with the New York Rangers. His production dipped in the past season, going from 31 points in the 2022-2023 regular season to 12 in the following. However, as someone who spent six seasons with the organization in the past, he’ll be called upon to help lead this young group of players.

A Canuck for only 10 regular season (and seven postseason) games, Tyler Toffoli hasn’t quite been able to hunker down in a particular spot for a short period of time. Since leaving Vancouver, he’s signed with the Montréal Canadiens, been traded to the Calgary Flames, been traded again to the New Jersey Devils, and was flipped once more to the Winnipeg Jets. Now that he’s locked himself into a four-year deal with the Sharks, hopefully, having a stable place to stay will let his offence flourish. With one of Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, or Alex Wennberg as his center, Toffoli could pick up another 40-50 points for San Jose.

The seventh overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, William Eklund notched a respectable 45 points in 80 games in the 2023-2024 regular season. He came second in goals on the team with 16 and looks to prove himself as a force to contend with on the Sharks’ wings.

Wings and centers that may appear in the Sharks’ wing depth chart are Justin Bailey (5–9–14, 59 GP), Thomas Bordeleau (6–5–11, 27 GP), Ty Dellandrea (2–7–9, 42 GP), Collin Graf (0–2–2, 7 GP), Mikael Granlund (12–48–60, 69 GP), Carl Grundstrom (8–4–12, 50 GP), Danil Gushchin (1–1–2, 4 GP), Luke Kunin (11–7–18, 77 GP), Scott Sabourin (0–0–0, 3 GP), Givani Smith (1–3–4, 36 GP), and Fabian Zetterlund (24–20–44, 82 GP).

Seattle Kraken

Often heralded as a ‘team full of second-lines,’ the Seattle Kraken have a rich set of wingers but are sorely lacking that breakout star who can put up solid 90-to-100-point seasons. This doesn’t mean that they lack depth, however, as their ranks include the likes of Jared McCann and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

McCann led his club in goals and points last season with 29 and 62, respectively. His offensive production has soared since joining the Kraken, with a 40-goal campaign in the 2022-2023 season being his most productive. He’ll continue to be a key part of Seattle’s offence, likely potting 25-30 goals.

A first-time All-Star in 2024, Bjorkstrand earned the title due to a career-high 59-point effort in the regular season. He led his team in assists with 39 and came second in goals with 20. While he can easily be relied on for above 40 points each year, he could see his production fluctuate if he’s placed on a line with newcomer Chandler Stephenson.

Seattle’s current depth along the wings includes Andre Burakovsky (7–9–16, 49 GP), Jordan Eberle (17–27–44, 78 GP), Tye Kartye (11–9–20, 77 GP), Max McCormick (0–0–0, 1 GP), Jaden Schwartz (13–17–30, 62 GP), Brandon Tanev (7–9–16, 66 GP), and Eeli Tolvanen (16–25–41, 81 GP).

Vancouver Canucks

With wingers like Brock Boeser, Nils Höglander, Jake DeBrusk, and Daniel Sprong, the Canucks can expect a plethora of a particular thing — goals. While the verdict is still undecided on whether Brock Boeser will reach the 40-goal mark again this upcoming season, don’t be surprised if he still tallies over 35 tucks. After a successful season as J.T. Miller’s main linemate, it looks as though the American duo will be playing together once again. As for who will play alongside them, the question remains unanswered. Names like Nils Höglander, Pius Suter, and Danton Heinen have been tossed around.

The consensus seems to be that the Canucks’ big free agent signing, Jake DeBrusk, will be taking a spot on Elias Pettersson’s line. Having put up 19 goals and 21 assists last season, Vancouver is looking for DeBrusk to return to his near-30-goal self — something that may very well depend on his center’s performances. Expected to round out this line is Nils Höglander, who showed flashes of chemistry alongside Pettersson last season. The pesky, high-motor forward scored all of his 24 goals on even strength in the 2023-2024 season.

Signed to a one-year contract on July 20th, Sprong brings back-to-back over-40-point seasons. It’s unknown where in the lineup he’ll start his season, but regardless, he’ll bring at least 20 goals to an already-potent Vancouver offence. He’ll keep up the 30-40-point pace of a bottom-six led by Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua.

Expect to see Arshdeep Bains (0–0–0, 8 GP), Phil Di Giuseppe (5–5–10, 51 GP), Conor Garland (20–27–47, 82 GP), Danton Heinen (17–19–36, 74 GP), Dakota Joshua (18–14–32 63 GP), Kiefer Sherwood (10–17–27, 68 GP), and Pius Suter (14–15–29, 67 GP) on the Canucks’ wings this season.

Vegas Golden Knights

Following a surprising first-round exit in the 2024 NHL Playoffs, the Vegas Golden Knights are heading into the 2024-2025 season with a mixed bag of younger and older forwards. Vegas’ Captain, Mark Stone, hasn’t played a single full season with the Golden Knights since he was traded back in 2019. Despite playing 56 games last season, the forward still registered 16 goals and 37 assists. With a nearly full offseason spent recovering from his most recent injury, a lacerated spleen, a healthy Stone could provide the Golden Knights with a solid 60-point season.

Acquired by Vegas alongside goalie Akira Schmidt, Alexander Holtz will be lacing up for the Golden Knights for the first time on October 9th against the Colorado Avalanche. The former 7th overall pick played his first full NHL season in 2023-2024, notching an impressive 16 goals and 12 assists. He’s projected to play alongside William Karlsson and fellow 2020 first-round draft pick Brendan Brisson. After settling into the Golden Knights’ system, as well as adjusting to new linemates, expect the same range of 20-30 points from Holtz this upcoming season.

Another young newcomer to the Golden Knights, Victor Olofsson, comes to Vegas with something to prove. His impressive rookie campaign in the 2019-2020 season, which saw him notch 20 goals and 22 assists in 56 games, paved the way for expectations that weren’t quite met with his former team, the Buffalo Sabres. Though he scored 28 goals in the 2022-2023 season, he registered seven in 51 games the season after. He’s expected to start the season with former Sabres teammate Jack Eichel as his center — something that could make a 30-goal season sound reasonable for him.

Vegas’ wings are expected to be rounded out by Ivan Barbashev (19–26–45, 82 GP), Brendan Brisson (2–6–8, 15 GP), Grigori Denisenko (0–0–0, 6 GP), Pavel Dorofeyev (13–11–24, 47 GP), Tomáš Hertl (17–21–38, 54 GP), Brett Howden (8–11–19, 72 GP), Keegan Kolesar (8–10–18, 79 GP), Mason Morelli (3–1–4, 9 GP), and Jonas Rondbjerg (1–2–3, 20 GP).

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