Say what you want about the Vancouver Canucks, this team is done a resilient bunch so far this season. Despite injuries that have decimated the roster at all positions, with the latest starter being Thatcher Demko, they sit with a record of 8-9-1, just three points out of second place in the Pacific Division. They surprisingly remain afloat in the Western Conference thanks to a never-say-die attitude and contributions from the entire lineup.
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The latest show of resilience came this weekend in the form of a comeback win over the Columbus Blue Jackets and a landowner 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 took on a Stanley Cup contender and looked better than them at times. While they were missing large 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 consistently match up with contenders like the Avalanche, but you have to give this roster credit for hanging in there with all the adversity they’ve faced thus far. With that, let’s take a look at the latest 3 Up, 3 Down.
Plus one: Drew O’Connor and Jake DeBrusk get to work on a new look with Aatu Raty
The Canucks haven’t been the most productive offensive team yet this season, but two guys have stepped up their game lately: Drew O’Connor and Jake DeBrusk. O’Connor in particular has really taken his performance to the next level. He has scored five points in his last six games, including four goals. He has shown his size, speed and strength in front of the net and showed 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, appears to be on one of those streaks at the moment. He has scored four goals in his last five games and started to show chemistry with the aforementioned O’Connor on a line centered by Aatu Raty. Since they were put together by head coach Adam Foote, they have outdone the opposition 15-6 (7-6 with a lot of danger and two goals with a lot of danger for) when they have been on the ice.
Negative one: Demko’s injury concerns remain after he leaves against the Jets
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Demko returned to the fold against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday. But that relief quickly turned back to concern 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 favoring his groin after making a save in the first period.
It’s a shame because like Chytil before he was injured, Demko had a solid start to the season. By October, he was statistically one of the best goaltenders in the league with a 2.18 goals against average (GAA) and a .926 save percentage (SV%), rediscovering the form that made him a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2023-2024.
Hopefully this isn’t a long term problem as the Canucks currently don’t have a good third string available with Nikita Tolopilo is also struggling with a groin injury in Abbotford. Lankinen can’t play all the time, so we might see Jiri Patera against the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Florida Panthers if Demko doesn’t join the team on the upcoming three-game road trip. He hasn’t started an NHL game 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 and jets
The power play has struggled at times this season, but it showed signs of life against the Avalanche and Jets. Things hit a low point Saturday against the Blue Jackets when they went 0-for-3, including very little on a five-minute power play, but it was dangerous the next night. Although the percentage at 1-for-5 was not good overall, they had nine shots on goal and 16 scoring opportunitiesseven of which belong to the dangerous variant.
Related: Jets snap 3-game losing streak with 5-3 win over Canucks
The Canucks also scored again against the Jets, going 1-for-2. If they can bottle that recent success and carry it on the road trip and beyond, they will inevitably score more goals and move at least one of their special teams to the positive side of the ledger.
Minus two: More goals surrendered on the penalty kill, dropping to 32nd place
The Canucks’ special teams haven’t been the strongest this season, with the penalty kill suffering the most. After allowing four more power play goals in their last two games against the Avalanche and Jets, they have fallen last in the NHL at an abysmal 66.7 percent and 20 goals against in the league. They really miss Blueger right now and may have underestimated the impact now. Louis Blue Pius Suter had on the unit. He was arguably one of the NHL’s best penalty killers, and working with Blueger allowed the Canucks to push the third-best PK at 82.6 percent last season.
The Canucks are far from an elite penalty killing team, which is surprising considering Foote is the head coach and led the PK when he was under Rick Tocchet. Granted, it’s now run by Kevin Dean, who was ranked 14th last season with the Chicago Blackhawks, but he’s still there and should have some say in it. That said, the personnel does make a difference, and they are missing a big piece in Blueger, who was one of the short-ice leaders in 2024-2025.
Elias Pettersson hasn’t set the league on fire with his goals or points tally yet this season, but he has been impressed with his two-way play. He has also shown incredible grit and toughness, blocking shots to the tune of a league-leading (among forwards) 38. He is currently ranked ninth overall, with the next forward on the list, Auston Matthews, tied for 30th.
Pettersson is also used as Foote’s matchup center and was one of the Canucks’ key offensive players in the faceoff. He has 386 draws in the league so far this season, surpassing the previous leader, Joel Eriksson-Ek, against the Jets last night. The negative is that he has only won 46.6 percent of them, which isn’t great for a team so reliant on one centreman.
While Pettersson’s defensive play has been elite, he still needs to produce, especially in the goal area. He has been recently criticized for not shooting the puckbut against the Avalanche he had more of a “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality. He fired four shots at MacKenzie Blackwood and had eight shot attempts on just one shot and two attempts against Elvis Merzlikins and the Blue Jackets. Unfortunately, he reverted to his old ways against the Jets, with just one shot, so it’s still a work in progress.
The Canucks have used Tyler Myers and Marcus Pettersson as their shutdown pairing since the start of the season. Unfortunately, they have not lived up to their name so far. According to Natural Stat Trickthey are second-worst on the team in expected goals against at 7.75 and have been outscored 77-48 (33-17 high danger) and outshot 75-48 when 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 saved them 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 away when they are used.
The tough southern road trip starts Friday
The Canucks begin this tough three-game series on Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes, who are second in the Metro Division with an 11-5-0 record. They then head to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning, who are on a 7-3-0 run in their last 10, eventually ending in Sunrise against the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. While they are also dealing with injuries, they still have 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 unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.
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