The Vancouver Canucks kicked off the 2025-26 season at Northview Golf & Country Club. The annual event raises money for the Canucks for Kids Fund and the Vancouver Canucks Alumni Association.
Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Tyler Myers, and Kevin Lankinen spoke about their summer, looking forward to the coming year, and a few other interesting topics.
Let’s see what the players had to say in their first media appearance of the season.
Elias Pettersson
The 26-year-old centre is back for his eighth season with the Canucks and feels great about the summer that he spent back in Sweden.
“I feel good. It’s been a long, long summer, so I just tried to add some muscle and be ready to be myself again out there, and I feel confident that I will with the early skates,” said Pettersson. “I feel good. I’ve had a long summer of training, and it’s been good.”
Pettersson also spoke about how excited he was when Brock Boeser signed an extension with the Canucks in the summer.
“It was great. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. So, once he signed, I just texted him [and said] thank you. He’s been here all my years when I’ve been here, and he’s one of my closest guys on the team. So, it [is] really good and [I am] happy to see that he signed,” said Pettersson.
On the topic of his good offseason, Pettersson said he has gained six kilograms during his summer of adding muscle and strength.
“Nothing was holding me back this summer, as in what we wanted to do in training,” said Pettersson.
Brock Boeser
Boeser has been playing for the Canucks since he came out of the NCAA at the end of the 2016-17 season and is always excited at this time of year.
“The summer was good. I felt like it went by fast, but that’s how it always goes. I’m super excited to be back, and anytime we get to this tournament, you know that the season is right around the corner, so I’ve been back for a little bit now, and I’m ready to go, super excited to be back,” said Boeser.
He discussed his July 1st day, when he signed a seven-year contract to continue his NHL career as a Canuck.
“Obviously, it was a very stressful time, and [I’m] just happy that it’s over and done with. I can just focus on playing hockey. And obviously, I said that I want to be here from the start, so I’m super excited, and I’m really happy I can just focus on hockey now,” said Boeser.
“We have a great group of guys on this team, and every day, guys start trickling in, and it just gets me excited and gets me ready to go for the season. I’m kind of getting sick of the summer skates, so I’m ready for the first day of camp.”
Tyler Myers
Tyler Myers had a great summer, and the veteran talked about tinkering with his offseason training regimen, learning more every year about what works for him.
“I think it’s important for any player to go in every year and learn as much as you can, learn new things. Just over the years, I figure out more and more what works for me and what doesn’t.”
This season’s blue line is one of the deepest Myers has been a part of during his time in Vancouver. The Canucks have a mix of young defencemen and veteran leadership. Myers mentioned that having Marcus Pettersson to start the season this year gives the team added leadership going into this season.
“I really like the way the d-core is shaping out. Like you said, to have Marcus come in at the start of the year, and for him to sign a contract, he does so much for us off the ice as well – being a leader on the team,” Myers said.
“I think with where the d-core stands right now, and you know, a lot of the young guys pushing for a spot, I think it’s in a great spot. We just want to keep building off it.”
Kevin Lankinen
Kevin Lankinen has been back in Vancouver for a few weeks and says it’s great to see his teammates after the break, and he’s happy to be back. He took time to spend with family and friends and recharge to make sure he came back in the best shape possible.
Lankinen worked with his crew back in Finland during the offseason.
“I got a really good crew over there, some really good strength coaches. I’m working out with some of the best hockey players in the world there. So, it’s good to keep the competitive side alive in the summertime as well,” Lankinen said.
Lanks can’t wait to get the season started and says he has a lot of confidence in the Canucks’ tandem with Thatcher Demko, and the two have been working together over the last month in preparation for the season.
“I feel like it’s a good chemistry, we obviously know each other better than we did last year, and we know kind of the strength of each goalie as an individual, and there’s something we can learn from each other. So, I see it’s a really good upside for the team, but most importantly for both of us as well,” Lankinen said.
The team now turns their attention to training camp, which begins on Thursday, September 18th, for on-ice activities. Their first preseason game is scheduled for Sunday, September 21st, in Seattle with a 5:00 p.m. PT puck drop.
