‘I Don’t Think You Can Ever Be Fast Enough’: Three Things Canucks Forward Max Sasson Plans To Work On During The Off-Season

When it comes to their trajectory, the Vancouver Canucks are in an interesting situation. On one hand, their potential is bolstered by a crop of talented young players all in their early 20s. On the flip side, their supposed ‘veterans’ are, for the most part, still slightly under 30, though the younger ‘veterans’ all have a good chunk of NHL games under their belt.

Max Sasson is one of a couple players who don’t quite fit into either of the two categories. While the 25-year-old did play in 29 games with the Canucks last year, he spent the majority of his time with the Abbotsford Canucks and played a key role in the team’s Calder Cup run back in June. The 2025–26 season was his first full stint in the NHL, during which he put up 13 goals — tied for sixth-most on the team — and six assists in 66 games.

Having said that, since the start of the 2024–25 season, Sasson has played in some of the most games of all current Canucks; 162 in both the NHL and AHL. A full off-season to properly rest and train will go a long way for him personally, Sasson explained during Friday’s end-of-season media availability. “Last summer, I got home on July 1, and I was back here like August 20-something.

So using this full off-season to obviously, you hear the answers that train and which obviously, 100%, I’m going to use this to be more mobile. I think there’s areas of my game that I can clean up with my wall play, my puck touches. I also think I can transform myself with this long off-season into more of a, I say NHL third-line body, where you’re not getting pushed off the puck as easy.