3 Vancouver Canucks Not Expected Back Next Season

The Vancouver Canucks have secured the best NHL Draft lottery odds to select Gavin McKenna, and heading into this offseason, there's going to be a slew of moves made by Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford.

The Canucks had a disastrous season in 2025-26, which was certainly capped off by Quinn Hughes being dealt to the Minnesota Wild, and the fact they weren't able to move Elias Pettersson. Hughes recently admitted the team started to crumble once they moved J.T Miller to New York, which led to things going from bad to worse in Vancouver.

Heading into this offseason, look for the Canucks to of course, land a top-three pick, but also make some significant changes to their roster. Here's three Canucks who aren't expected back next season:

Evander Kane

Always nice to get the easy one of the way first. Kane's a pending unrestricted free agent and it was awfully surprising to see the Canucks hold onto him after the trade deadline. It was obvious they would have had to retain 50% of his remaining salary, and perhaps with what was being offered in return, they decided to just keep him in town. Kane's not returning to Vancouver next season, you can book that one.

Kevin Lankinen

The goalie market is going to be interesting to watch this summer, and if the Canucks move one of their netminders, Lankinen will be much easy to trade. He's signed through the 2030 season at $4.5 million AAV, and with Thatcher Demko's three-year extension kicking in this summer, he's essentially untradeable. Lankinen could wind up in Montreal, Pittsburgh, Nashville, or Vegas. 

Brock Boeser

While Pettersson will certainly be in trade conversations this summer, the same can be said about Boeser. He's had an up and down season and was surprisingly not moved ahead of the deadline, even though the Boston Bruins made a serious run. Boeser's deal includes a no-movement clause so the ball is in his court, and he's signed through 2032 at $7.2 million AAV. There's going to be interest and it will be interesting to see if they hang onto him to play with McKenna, or just totally revamp their core once their top pick arrives.

photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images