What The Vancouver Canucks Need To Do To Make A Stanley Cup Run in 2023-24

Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup Odds

• The Canucks are 51.00 to win the Stanley Cup and 23.00 to win the Western Conference at BetMGM Sportsbook
• The Canucks are 51.00 to win the Stanley Cup and 26.00 to win the West at NorthStar Bets
• The Canucks are 61.00 to the Stanley Cup at PointsBet Canada

We’re on the eve of a period when the NHL’s off-season gets interesting, with the draft coming up tonight in Nashville, followed by the kickoff off to free agency on July 1. 

A Canadian team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1993 (the Montreal Canadiens), an abomination that Canadian hockey fans want corrected. 

Let’s take a look at what the Canadian teams need to do to bring a Cup back to Canada. 

Here we look at sports betting updates involving the Vancouver Canucks.

Big Roster Moves So Far 

The Canucks are in rebuild mode now, seen in the part through the buy-out of D Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Plus Ethan Bear is hurt, meaning the Canucks are wafer thin on the blue line. They might be a playoff team, but not a Cup contender.

The Canucks only have around $6.4 million in cap space to play with, according to CapFriendly, which goes up to $12.1 million when factoring in the LTIR candidates.

Vancouver is going to have to beef up that back end, and there is a lot of online chatter about interest in Seattle Kraken D Carson Soucy, a good defenceman.

There’s talk about interest in free agent D Ian Cole as well. There also has been chatter for months about the Canucks looking to unload RW Brock Boeser and his $6.65 million annual salary. Boeser still has youth on his side, at 26, and had 18 goals and 55 points last season. He was also a minus 20. He has produced in the past — 29 goals in 2017-18, 23 in 2021-22 — but his time in Vancouver might be past.

What Will They Do With J.T. Miller?

Do the Canucks keep C J.T. Miller? That's the question.

Miller was a lightning rod of controversy under former coach Bruce Boudreau but found his way more under new coach Rick Tocchet, finishing with 32 goals and 82 points, good value for a player at this salary level.

The Ekmann-Larsson deal cleared cap space, but what about Miller’s $8 million per season (signed through 2029-30)?

If the teams add to the defence while continuing to score (the Canucks were 13^th in the NHL in goals scored last season, at 3.29 per game), while keeping Miller, you might have a playoff team.