Say what you want about the Vancouver Canucks, this team has been a resilient bunch so far this season. Despite the injuries that have decimated the roster at all positions, the latest being starter Thatcher Demko, they sit with an 8-9-1 record, only three points out of second in the Pacific Division. They are surprisingly staying afloat in the Western Conference thanks to a never-say-die attitude and contributions from the entire lineup.
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The latest display of resilience came on the weekend in the form of a comeback victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets and a yeoman’s performance against arguably the best team in the NHL right now, the Colorado Avalanche. While they ultimately couldn’t overcome early Hart Trophy candidate Nathan MacKinnon’s five-point night, they went toe-to-toe with a Stanley Cup contender and at times looked better than them. All while missing big parts of their roster in Filip Chytil, Nils Hoglander, Teddy Blueger, and their starter, Demko.
Yes, the Canucks haven’t been perfect, and they have a lot of work to do to match up consistently with contenders like the Avalanche, but you have to give credit to this roster for hanging in there with all the adversity they have faced so far. With that, let’s get into the latest 3 Up, 3 Down.
Plus One: Drew O’Connor & Jake DeBrusk Heating Up on New-Look Line With Aatu Raty
The Canucks haven’t been the most prolific offensive team so far this season, but two guys have turned it up a notch lately in Drew O’Connor and Jake DeBrusk. O’Connor, in particular, has really taken his performance to another level, notching five points in his last six games, which includes four goals. He has showcased his size, speed and strength in front of the net, showing everyone why general manager Patrik Allvin traded for and signed him to an extension last season.
DeBrusk, who led the Canucks in scoring with 27 goals last season and is notoriously streaky, seems to be on one of those streaks right now. He has four goals in his last five games and has started to show chemistry with the aforementioned O’Connor on a line centred by Aatu Raty. Since they were put together by head coach Adam Foote, they have outchanced the opposition 15-6 (7-6 high-danger and two high-danger goals for) when they have been on the ice.
Minus One: Demko’s Injury Concerns Continue After Leaving Against the Jets
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Demko returned to the crease on Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets. But that relief quickly turned to concern again when he didn’t start the second period and was ruled out of the game. Head coach Adam Foote said afterward that it was a lower-body injury and not related to the “preventative maintenance” that kept him out of the last two games. While it’s unclear what exactly he’s dealing with, he was seen favouring his groin after a save in the first period.
It’s unfortunate because, just like Chytil before he was hurt, Demko was having a solid start to the season. In October, he was one of the best goaltenders in the league statwise with a 2.18 goals-against average (GAA) and .926 save percentage (SV%), rediscovering the form that made him a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2023-24.
Hopefully, this isn’t a long-term issue, because the Canucks don’t have a good third-string available right now with Nikita Tolopilo also dealing with a groin injury in Abbotsford. Lankinen can’t play all the time, so we might see Jiri Patera against either the Tampa Bay Lightning or Florida Panthers if Demko doesn’t travel with the team on the upcoming three-game road trip. He hasn’t started a game in the NHL since March 26, 2024 when he allowed five goals on 35 shots in a 5-4 loss to the Nashville Predators.
Plus Two: Power Play Shows Life Against the Avalanche & Jets
The power play has struggled at times this season, but it showed signs of life against the Avalanche and Jets. It kind of hit rock bottom on Saturday against the Blue Jackets when they went 0-for-3, including very little on a five-minute power play, but on the next night, it was dangerous. While the percentage wasn’t good overall at 1-for-5, they had nine shots on goal and 16 scoring chances, with seven of them being of the high-danger variety.
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The Canucks also scored again against the Jets, going 1-for-2. If they can bottle that recent success and bring it onto the road trip and beyond, they will inevitably score more goals and move at least one of their special teams into the positive side of the ledger.
Minus Two: More Goals Surrendered on the Penalty Kill, Falls to 32nd
The Canucks’ special teams have not been the strongest this season, with the penalty kill suffering the most. After allowing another four power-play goals in their last two games against the Avalanche and Jets, they have fallen to dead last in the NHL at an abysmal 66.7 percent with a league-high 20 goals against. They are really missing Blueger right now, and might have underestimated the impact now-St. Louis Blue Pius Suter had on the unit. He was probably one of the NHL’s best penalty killers, and teaming up with Blueger helped the Canucks rock the third-best PK last season at 82.6 percent.
The Canucks are far from an elite penalty killing team, which is surprising considering Foote is the head coach and ran the PK when he was under Rick Tocchet. Granted, it’s now run by Kevin Dean, who had the Chicago Blackhawks at 14th last season, but he’s still there and should have some say in it. Having said that, the personnel does make a difference, and they are missing a big piece in Blueger, who was one of the leaders in shorthanded ice time in 2024-25.
Plus Three: Elias Pettersson Continues to Show Grit & Two-Way Game, But Still Needs to Shoot More
Elias Pettersson hasn’t lit the league on fire with his goalscoring or point total this season yet, but he’s impressed with his two-way game. He’s also shown some incredible grit and toughness, blocking shots to the tune of a league-leading (among forwards) 38. He is currently tied for ninth overall, and the next forward on the list, Auston Matthews, is tied for 30th.
Pettersson is also being used as Foote’s matchup centre and has been one of the Canucks’ go-to forwards in the faceoff dot. He has taken a league-high 386 draws so far this season, surpassing the previous leader, Joel Eriksson-Ek, last night against the Jets. The negative is that he’s only won 46.6 percent of them, which isn’t great for a team that relies so much on one centreman.
While Pettersson’s defensive game has been elite, he still needs to produce, especially in the goal department. He’s been criticized recently for not shooting the puck, but against the Avalanche, he had more of a “shoot-first, ask questions later” mentality. He fired four shots on MacKenzie Blackwood and had eight shot attempts after only one shot and two attempts against Elvis Merzlikins and the Blue Jackets. Unfortunately, he fell back into his old ways against the Jets, with only one shot, so it’s still a work in progress.
Minus Three: Tyler Myers-Marcus Pettersson Pairing Being Caved in 5-on-5
The Canucks have used Tyler Myers and Marcus Pettersson as their shutdown pairing since the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, they haven’t lived up to their name so far. According to Natural Stat Trick, they are the second-worst on the team in expected goals against at 7.75 and have been outchanced 77-48 (33-17 high-danger) and outshot 75-48 when they have been on the ice. Not exactly the definition of “shutdown”.
The only good stats are that goaltenders have been exceptionally stingy as Demko and Lankinen have bailed them out with a .946 save percentage (SV%), and believe it or not, the Canucks have outscored the opposition 7-4. That’s pretty crazy, considering the number of chances the team gives up when they are deployed.
Tough Southern Road Trip Starts on Friday
The Canucks will start this tough three-game slate on Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes, who sit second in the Metro Division with an 11-5-0 record. They will then head to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning, who are on a 7-3-0 run in their last 10, and finally finish in Sunrise against the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. While they are dealing with injuries as well, they still boast some talented forwards, including perennial Canuck killer Brad Marchand, who leads the team with 11 goals.
The Canucks will have their work cut out for them, but that has become par for the course this season, and it unfortunately doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.
