After Brock Boeser’s extension, Thatcher Demko implies Canucks have already flipped the page on Elias Pettersson-J.T. Miller saga

The Vancouver Canucks have shown that, regardless of the odds and adversity, the sun still rises in the East each morning. Hoping to leave the drama behind, Elias Pettersson and the Canucks are looking forward to the future in Vancity. Thatcher Demko and Brock Boeser are on the same page, having signed contract extensions to stay in town ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season.

The dramatic episode between Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller might finally be a closed chapter in Vancouver. It took some time, but it seems the organization is finally finding closure.

And why shouldn’t it? Miller is in Manhattan with the New York Rangers, and the Canucks have enough on their plate at the moment to reminisce about the past. Last season was a fluke—or so they hope to prove. It’s time to focus in the present and future, which will be in Gastown for all three of Pettersson, Demko, and Boeser. Will Quinn Hughes join that list? Vancouver sure hopes so, but that’s a whole other story.

On the main note, Boeser’s re-signing was perhaps the best news to come out of Rogers Arena in a very long time. Fans had already begun dreading the possibility of him joining a rival when the news broke that the 28-year-old had signed a seven-year, $50.75 million extension with the Canucks.

Demko, who also put pen to paper on a new deal, saw Boeser and Connor Garland’s returns as clear signs of change for an organization desperate for its first Stanley Cup.

Demko’s message

“Obviously, our locker room went through some stuff last year and the media took hold of it,” Demko said, via TSN1050’s OverDrive. “Everyone knows about the drama that went into the Pettersson and Miller stuff and that affected our room in a negative way. Having guys come back, it tells the media and the league that things aren’t as bad as they seemed last year for us.”

“We’re two years out form winning our division and last year we were just a handful of points shy of the last playoff spot. So having the guys get back together and stick round proves that we’re excited to run it back and prove to the outside world that it really wasn’t as bad as it seemed in Vancouver.”

Demko is in, Silovs is most probably out

Signing Demko to a three-year, $25.5M extension is a bold investment for Vancouver, as much as it was a powerful message that trickled through the organization. Now, the 29-year-old netminder will remain under contract through the 2028-29 NHL season.

On the other side of the coin—and perhaps lost in the buzz of the NHL’s offseason frenzy—stands Arturs Silovs. The 24-year-old goaltender led the AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, to glory in the Calder Cup Playoffs and, many argued, made his case to man the crease for Vancouver. However, the Canucks—the NHL’s version—have seemingly made their decision, favoring the San Diego native over the Latvian.