Call it the end of an era. Call it the inevitable having come to pass.
Quinn Hughes is a Vancouver Canuck no longer. And now, we’re left to wonder what that means.
To be clear, there was no scenario in which the Canucks ‘won’ a Hughes trade. The old adage goes that the team that gets the best player back in a trade wins that trade, and Hughes is one of the best players in the world. Unless the package included Nathan MacKinnon or Connor McDavid or Cale Makar, there was just no ‘coming out on top’ available here.
That said…
The Hughes trade return IS absolutely massive. Vancouver fans were likely braced for disappointment, and while trading Hughes is a disappointing outcome in any scenario, the trade return is still a lot better than most anticipated.
Zeev Buium is the centrepiece. The Athletic ranked the 20-year-old as the eighth-best under-23 league-affiliated player heading into the season, and the second-best under-23 defender after, fittingly enough, Luke Hughes. He put up six points in seven games at the latest WJC, and is up to 14 points in 31 games as an NHL rookie. Buium is about as blue-chip as a prospect gets, and probably belongs in whatever tier comes higher than that.
Marco Rossi is a player the Canucks have been after for a while. The 24-year-old is already the 2C the team has been looking for, and has the potential to be more than that. He scored 60 points in 82 games as an NHL sophomore, and is on pace for 63 this season across a full 82-game schedule. All this, after starting his career behind the eight-ball due to an extremely dangerous bout with Covid. The Wild’s previous ask for Rossi was Arturs Silovs, Aatu Räty, and the 15th overall pick, just to ballpark his general value – and that was before he signed a reasonable three-year, $5 million AAV extension.
Liam Ohgren is easily the least exciting of the three players acquired, but don’t discount him. The 19th overall pick in the 2022 Entry Draft is still just 21 years old, and has lots of potential left in him. Sure, he’s only achieved seven points in 46 NHL games thus far, but he’s too young to make any conclusions about that. Think instead about what Ohgren needed to do in order to get such an opportunity with the Wild at such an age. Which is score 37 points in 41 games as an AHL rookie last year, all the while displaying an excellent work ethic and future leadership qualities.
The sweetener in all this, meanwhile, is an unprotected 2026 first round pick. Given that the Wild are now even more likely to finish within the top-three of the Central Division, that’s probably a pick ranked anywhere between 20th overall and 32nd…but it’s a first round pick all the same, and it will remain a first round pick with no conditions.
The return, in other words, contains four former or future first round picks, but even that isn’t quite speaking to its value, given the special qualities of Buium or the NHL track record of Rossi.
So, let’s give this trade value some historical context.
This is perhaps the biggest trade since…
We need a starting point, so we’re going to start with what is probably the biggest trade of all-time.
To Quebec To Philadelphia
Peter Forsberg
Ron Hextall
Mike Ricci
Steve Duchesne
Chris Simon
Kerry Huffman
First Round Pick ‘93
First Round Pick ‘94
$15 million cashEric Lindros
The 1992 Eric Lindros trade is still the gold standard for big deals. And, no, the Hughes trade doesn’t quite touch it. Peter Forsberg may not have popped yet as a prospect at that point, but he was still a recent sixth overall pick. Mike Ricci was a recent fourth overall pick. Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, and Chris Simon all had lengthy, successful NHL careers ahead of them. And then there’s two first round picks included, and what at the time was a boatload of cash.
There will probably never be another trade like the Lindros trade. But the Hughes trade has the chance to be the most significant trade return since.
Let’s look at some other ‘contenders’ to ensure we can put in in the proper context.
Historical Comparables
We’re going to look at a few key comparables from previous decades, starting with the two most recent Norris Trophy winners to be traded anywhere near to their prime: Chris Pronger and Erik Karlsson.
To St. Louis To Edmonton
Eric Brewer
Doug Lynch
Jeff WoywitkaChris Pronger
The 2005 trade that sent Pronger from St. Louis to Edmonton now looks like a shockingly low return. The 31-year-old Pronger was five years removed from his Hart and Norris Trophies, but still an NHL All-Star and a dominant presence on the ice. He was traded for a younger top-pairing defender who had also been a Canadian Olympian in 2002 in Eric Brewer, and former 2001 first and second rounders in Jeff Woywitka and Doug Lynch, respectively, who never panned out. With all due respect to Brewer, this trade return isn’t even close to the Hughes return, but there is another Pronger trade to consider.
To Edmonton To Anaheim
Joffrey Lupul
Ladislav Smid
First Round Pick ‘07
First Round Pick ‘08
Second Round Pick ‘08Chris Pronger
The 2006 trade that sent Pronger from Edmonton to Anaheim is a lot more of what we’re looking for. That return included Joffrey Lupul, a recent seventh overall pick who had a strong NHL start, Ladislav Smid, a recent ninth overall pick, and then three draft picks on top of all that.
This might be the closest we come to a direct comparable, but the value still probably favours the Canucks’ offer. Buium is the top-ranked young player of the bunch, and a significantly better prospect that was Smid, and Rossi seems like he has a better track record as a young NHL forward than did Lupul. The picks probably add up to pretty close to the value of the pick the Canucks got back and Ohgren put together.
There is at least one more Norris-winner trade worth comparing, too.
To Ottawa To San Jose
Josh Norris
Chris Tierney
Rudolf Balcers
Dylan Demelo
First Round Pick ’20 (conditional)
Second Round Pick ‘19
Second Round Pick ’21 (conditional)
Erik Karlsson
Francis Perron
Unlike Pronger, Karlsson was still in his 20s and still in his prime when the Senators traded him in 2018, and they got an absolute haul back. Josh Norris was the Sharks’ most recent first rounder at 19th overall in 2017, and he’s turned into a top-six centre despite injuries. Chris Tierney was an established young 3C. Dylan DeMelo was a young right-shooting defender who would blossom into a top-four talent. Rudolf Balcers was a meh prospect.
But it was that first round pick that really gave this deal its value. The Sharks chose not to give up their 2019 pick, instead opting for the 2020, which proved a huge mistake as they tanked in the standings and wound up with the third overall pick. The Senators used that pick on Tim Stutzle, their franchise centre.
Given how Stutzle turned out, one could certainly argue that this trade held more value for the Senators than the Hughes trade might end up holding for the Canucks. But even if that’s true, the Sharks never meant to trade a pick that high, so this is more of an ‘oopsie’ than an honest trade return.
While we’re on the topic of historical deals, we might as well stop off at some of the most significant in Canucks history.
To Vancouver To Florida
Ed Jovanovski
Kevin Weekes
Mike Brown
Dave Gagner
First Round Pick ‘00
Pavel Bure
Brad Ference
Bret Hedican
Third Round Pick ‘00
The last time the Canucks had to trade a franchise player still in their prime was when they sent Pavel Bure to Florida in 1999. The key piece back here was obviously Ed Jovanovski, who had been selected at first overall in 1994 and won the 1996 Calder Trophy, but who had plateaued a bit since. Kevin Weekes was a young goalie thought to perhaps have starter potential. Mike Brown was the 20th overall pick in 1997, but he never really panned out, nor did Nathan Smith, the player the Canucks selected with the 2000 first rounder. Dave Gagner was a veteran in his last NHL season.
This trade held the promise of some potential, but everyone except for Jovanovski wound up being largely disappointing. Thankfully, the next major trade with the Panthers would pay greater dividends.
To Florida To Vancouver
Todd Bertuzzi
Bryan Allen
Alex Auld
Roberto Luongo
Lukas Krajicek
Sixth Round Pick ‘06
The trade that brought Roberto Luongo to Vancouver in 2006 felt like good value at the time, and that’s only more true in the retrospective. Todd Bertuzzi was a shell of his former self at that point, and would only wind up playing seven games for the Panthers before being moved again. Bryan Allen was the fourth overall pick in 1998, but had already developed into a fairly mundane, average NHL defender by this point. Alex Auld was a solid backup. That’s not a lot at all to pay for the best goaltender in the world, and it’s a whole lot less than the Canucks just got back for Hughes.
Recent Trades to Compare
None of our historical trades have really stacked up, unless we count the Sharks/Senators trade as having included Tim Stutzle from the get-go, or unless we go all the way back to The Big E. What about some of the more recent trades of true NHL superstars?
To Buffalo To Vegas
Alex Tuch
Peyton Krebs
First Round Pick ‘22
Second Round Pick ‘23
Jack Eichel
Third Round Pick ‘23
The 2021 Jack Eichel trade came under some very specific circumstances. At the time, Eichel had not played in a good long while due to a neck injury and a subsequent dispute with the Sabres about how to treat it. That said, the Sabres did decent – but still well behind the Hughes return – to bring in a young forward on the cusp of a breakout in Alex Tuch, a former first rounder in Krebs, and two valuable picks. And that said, the Golden Knights still did better in bringing in a true 1C who has since led them to a Stanley Cup.
To Calgary To Florida
Jonathan Huberdeau
MacKenzie Weegar
Cole Schwindt
First Round Pick ’25 (conditional)
Matthew Tkachuk
Fourth Round Pick ’25 (conditional)
It’s hard to judge this 2022 trade retroactively, because it’s turned out so poorly. It’s also so different from the Hughes trade as to make comparison impossible. This was intended to be a ‘one superstar for two stars’ sort of deal, but the Flames have tanked ever since, and Florida has won two consecutive Stanley Cups. Suffice it to say that Calgary probably would have been better off to seek a future-based package for Tkachuk, just like the Canucks have done.
To Colorado To Carolina
Martin Necas
Jack Drury
Second Round Pick ‘25
Fourth Round Pick ‘26Mikko Rantanen (50% retained by Chicago)
Rantanen was traded twice last year, and both times as a pending UFA, which should give him less overall value that Hughes, who has a year-and-a-half remaining on his contract. The first return for Rantanen included a premier NHL forward in Martin Necas (with one-and-a-half years of contract himself), a decent young forward, and two picks. Given that Colorado has since got Necas under contract on an extension, the return seems fair, if a little light for a true NHL superstar at 50%.
To Carolina To Dallas
Logan Stankoven
First Round Pick ’26 (conditional)
First Round Pick ’28 (conditional)
Third Round Pick ‘26
Third Round Pick ‘27Mikko Rantanen
The second Rantanen trade is a lot more directly comparable to the Hughes trade because it was far more future-focused. Logan Stankoven was a recent second rounder who had since increased his stock as an NHL prospect, and who has since proven himself a probable long-term top-six centre. The conditions on the first round picks are yet to be determined, but they’re going to be two first round picks of some variety eventually. This trade may have more pieces than the Hughes deal, but none of those pieces are near as valuable as either Buium or Rossi. The return the Canucks got back is of a far higher quality, if not quantity, than all of these recent comparables.
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The Vancouver Canucks (12-17-3) will once again try for consecutive victories for the first time since mid-October when they face JT Miller and the New York Rangers (16-14-4) at Madison Square Garden. The game is set to begin at 4 pm PT.
The Canucks are coming off a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday in the team’s first game since Friday’s massive trade with the Minnesota Wild.
What we saw
Brock Boeser took the morning off, but the veteran winger is expected to be in uniform tonight. However, Elias Pettersson will miss a fifth straight game with an upper-body injury. Pettersson took part in the team’s morning skate, and the hope is that he will return to the lineup at some point on this road trip.
Thatcher Demko makes his third consecutive start since returning from injury. He stopped 25 of 26 shots against the Devils to record his first win since November 3rd against the Nashville Predators. Demko was busy over the final two periods. New Jersey held a wide 21-8 edge on the shot clock over the final 40 minutes.
Newcomer Zeev Buium scored the game-winner and added an assist in his Canucks debut against the Devils. The 20-year-old defenceman was part of a Vancouver power play that went two for three on the afternoon. It was the fifth time this season – and first since November 17th in Florida – the Canucks have struck twice with the man advantage. Jake DeBrusk scored the other Vancouver goal on Sunday, ending a 10-game drought.
Marco Rossi didn’t figure in the scoring in Newark, but logged 18:16 of ice time and went nine for 15 in the faceoff circle. Liam Öhgren saw 11:39 of ice time in his debut with the team.
Offence remains hard to come by for the Canucks, who have scored more than two goals in a game just twice in their last 11 outings. Boeser has one goal in his last 14 games, while Conor Garland has scored once in his last 10 contests.
Aatu Räty will be a healthy scratch for a second straight game. Arshdeep Bains and P-O Joseph are the others expected to be scratched tonight.
The Opponent
The Rangers are playing at home for the second time in 24 hours and the third time in four nights. They fell 4-1 to the Anaheim Ducks last night in a game that was 2-1 into the final minute of play. Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves in goal. Artemi Panarin had five shots on 10 attempts and has registered 25 shot attempts in the past two games.
Panarin leads the Rangers in scoring with 34 points, while he and Mika Zibanejad share the team lead with 11 goals apiece. JT Miller had a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, on Saturday against Montreal, and has nine goals and 20 points through 32 games this season.
Zibanejad did not dress for last night’s game as punishment for missing a team meeting. He is expected to be back in the lineup tonight. Defenceman Adam Fox is second on the team in scoring, but is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury suffered earlier this month.
New York has just one win in its last five games, but has picked up points in three of them (1-2-2).
The Rangers are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league, ranking 29th in goals per game (2.59). A huge part of the issue is a home record of 4-9-3 in which the team has scored just 30 goals through 16 games.
With the short turnaround, expect veteran Jonathan Quick to get the start in goal. He made 23 saves and blanked the Canucks 2-0 at Rogers Arena on October 28th. Quick, who turns 40 next month, is 3-3-1 on the season with an astounding 1.86 GAA and a .937 save percentage. He has allowed just 13 goals in his seven starts.
News and notes
The Rangers lead the NHL in hits with 901, led by Will Cullye’s 116. Cullye sits fourth in the league. Canucks forward Kiefer Sherwood is second with 140. It was at MSG last season that Sherwood broke the league’s single season hit record.
The officials for tonight’s game are Beau Halkidis and Francois St. Laurent.
Don’t forget to join Rink Wide Vancouver for full postgame coverage after this game – and every game. The livestream starts moments after the final buzzer. Rink Wide is the place for full postgame analysis and discussion. Join the live YouTube chat with your thoughts on the hockey game.
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With the second game of the Quinn Hughes era in the books, I think we can safely say one thing: Zeev Buium will never lose a game ever again.
Yes, your favourite local sporting hockey club defeated the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden to the tune of 3-0, and there are two ways to look at it.
One, the Vancouver Canucks are going to go on a heater, riding on the back of Thatcher Demko, rising out of the bottom of the standings to land back in their comfort zone of the 10-15th pick in the NHL draft, as is tradition.
Or two, the Canucks are simply building up value with their potential trade deadline assets and are merely increasing their future haul of draft picks and/or NHL-ready 23/24-year-olds.
Now I know what you’re thinking: you’re assuming it’s option one, it’s always option one with this God forsaken franchise. They’ll start sniffing the playoffs from a long way out and before you know it they won’t trade anyone at the deadline and they’ll talk about how they owe it to Tyler Myers to win a Cup or something, so they had to keep everyone, how could you expect them to trade anyone when Tyler needs that Cup, why are you being so selfish, why do you hate Tyler, don’t you love Tyler??
But no. It’s a new era in Vancouver. The Undfeated Zeev Buium Era does not deserve such cynicism. I will say that the Canucks winning the last two games is not something I think is a good predictor of future success. If the end of the Quinn Hughes era was a handful of games the Canucks lost that they probably should have won, these last few games sort of feel like the other side of the pendulum. Vancouver scoring on a couple of shots and riding off into the sunset usually doesn’t predict long term success, at most it predicts one glorious season where you lose in the second round of the playoffs before your entire locker room implodes within two years, your centre depth is burning in a pile of rubber tires, and your generational defenceman team captain has quietly slipped out the back door.
Where was I again?
Right.
Look, the idea that Bubble Demko emerges to win a ton of games should frighten all of you; it’s practically the script for season two of Welcome to Derry. I get that.
But teams are bound to win a few games in a season, so we’re still pretty much locked in a world in which Vancouver putters along while we watch the young kids develop.
All you can do is hope for the best, am I right?
Yes, I chuckled nervously writing that.
Let’s just dive into the game.
The Canucks got off to a good start in “Operation: Trade for our veterans” as Evander Kane opened the scoring almost immediately after the puck was dropped:
I don’t imagine Brock Boeser thought sending in a puck along the boards for Evander Kane would lead to a breakaway goal, but linesman Devin Berg set a tremendous pick to make this play happen. And if there is one part of Planet Ice’s game where he excels, it’s in the offensive zone, as the finish on that goal is a true chef’s kiss moment. Kane opens up the hands a bit, gets Jonathan Quick to bite, and then keeps cutting across the crease to finish off the play.
It’s the kind of goal where it feels like it’s worth a first-rounder at the trade deadline. That’s clearly the kind of player to bring in to cement your playoff roster. How do you not watch that and realize that?
All I’m saying is if I’m the Canucks, I’m dropping the video of this goal in the GM group chat, along with the eyes emoji, but not before sending a Max Miller recipe to the chat by accident. “I can’t believe they used to call it Pompkin Pie!”
If I have one request for Sportsnet, it’s that they lean heavily on the things that give this fan base actual joy and excitement.
A great example of this? Early in the first period, noted large man Tyler Myers faced off against noted larger man Matt Rempe. As the two rumbled towards the puck, it was the chaotic giraffe who won the battle, sending Rempe tumbling to the ice, as seen here:
Tyler Myers didn’t even move when they collided; instead, it was Rempe looking like he ran headfirst into a train tunnel painted on a wall. That’s the kind of video clip that will keep you warm on the long nights of this season. We want to see this from every angle you’ve got. We want it in slow motion. We want to see the sneer on Tyler’s face and the look of a man discovering he’s mortal for the first time in Matt Rempe when he is being flung through the air.
But what do we get instead at the next break in play? Brock Boeser getting hit with a puck and having a bit of an owie:
Brock was fine. He played his next shift. He probably got high off of smelling salts and was good to go.
That is not the replay we need in these trying times. We demand the good stuff. You have to work with us here. We no longer have the high supply of Quinn Hughes ankle breaks on demand anymore.
Don’t take this from us.
Aside from Evander Kane’s – aka the best trade deadline asset in the league – goal, the first period was very much a low-event affair. Both teams had a solitary high-danger chance apiece, and it felt like both sides were feeling each other out to see which side wanted to lose more.
The Canucks obviously wanted to lose for draft positioning, but the Rangers also really like losing on home ice to make their fans hate the game of hockey, so it truly felt like an immovable object meets an unstoppable force type of situation.
Vancouver’s best chances came on the power play, where both Brock Boeser and Conor Garland attempted to enter the zone quickly, foregoing the usual foreplay of 30 seconds of puck movement, and instead chose to rush towards the net:
Obviously, with Quinn Hughes gone, the Canucks power play is going to be a work in progress as the team finds its new identity. Not that “Quinn Hughes looks off Elias Pettersson, skates around for 40 seconds, gets frustrated and shoots a wrister from the point” was an elite strategy, but it will be interesting to see what this team does on special teams moving forward. Maybe when Elias Pettersson is back in the lineup, he becomes the focal point of the power play, maybe that unlocks something in him and gets his confidence back?
As for the Rangers, they had a chance on each of their three first period power plays, even if none of them were particularly dangerous.
Their best chance on their first power play was when they worked the puck down low and tried to slam home the puck in the crease:
On their second power play, JT Miller dove in an attempt to slide in a rebound off of a point shot, to no avail (at least it looked cool?):
If I’m JT Miller there, I am 100% saying to the bench, “I was so close dude, I had him dead to rights.” when I get back to the bench. When you dive to get a shot on net like that, you earn the right to say that to a teammate. Sure, they absently nod their head, and it feels like they’re just placating you, but damn it, you take it.
And on their third power play, JT Miller enters the zone before spinning off and finding Vinny Trochek in the slot for a dangerous shot on net:
That was probably the Rangers’ best chance of the first period. John Shorthouse described Thatcher Demko as “fighting off” that shot, and I agree; the Canucks goaltender basically fended off the puck at the last second to prevent a goal. I don’t know what Street Fighter character Demko would play in a movie, but I think we all know it’s Blanka.
And that was the first period. As I said, a low-event period that was a mixture of special teams and Evander Kane proving once again that he’s the missing piece for a Stanley Cup run for a contending team.
Liam Öhgren got the second period off to a quick start for Vancouver, as he got his first goal as a Canuck after chasing down a Linus Karlsson clearing:
This is one of my favourite types of goals, where you beat the goalie and the puck just sort of dribbles in while he stands around, looking kind of confused. Like, he’s sure he got the puck, but he’s also not sure, and now the panic is setting in as he realizes he, in fact, does not have the puck, and oh, there goes the red light.
I like how Liam Öhgren is looking off the puck as if he’s going to pass to someone, even though there isn’t a teammate in the immediate vicinity. I like the swagger of a move that says, “I might pass this puck to nobody, just kidding, eat my shot” as he then powers a wrister through Quick.
I also like how Quick knows something is wrong, and when Öhgren skates in to see if he needs to help the puck get over the goalie line, the Rangers goalie just makes a save animation in the hopes that he gets a piece of the puck, even though he still has no idea where it is. He just knows Öhgren is skating with purpose, and that means he’s in danger.
The second period was better in terms of scoring chances, and it probably should have been 3-0 after this Kiefer Sherwood breakaway chance:
It’s hard to tell how much of the Canucks’ counter-attack rush offence in this game was due to their brilliance and how much of it was due to the Rangers being the Rangers, but it’s probably somewhere happily in the middle?
Either way, it’s nice to know Jonathan Quick continues his streak of making at least one highlight reel save against the Canucks in every single game he’s ever played against them. It brings me comfort to know we can rely upon this.
On the Rangers side of things, Vinny Trocheck was able to find JT Miller down low behind three Canucks skaters, but he was unable to beat Demko in close:
The Canucks responded with an Öhgren rush, and based on his earlier goal and small sample sizes, I find myself extremely disappointed he doesn’t score on every rush attempt:
Still, there has been a lot to like about Öhgren’s game with the Canucks so far. Someone said he feels like a slightly better version of Drew O’Connor, and that feels like a good floor to describe him at the moment. Obviously, you hope he turns into a top-six roster player, but at the very least, he’s looked competent for the Canucks, so you just sort of hope being on a new team unlocks the potential in him. It’s like dating someone new; you just naturally assume you can fix them.
Artemi Panarin then had a couple of chances for the Rangers, the first being his attempt at cutting the puck across the crease:
And then Panarin had the Rangers’ best chance of the game when he got the puck in the slot with time and space, but was unable to beat Demko yet again:
See, what the Rangers don’t know is that Demko gets power from making a team’s draft pick get worse.
Which, on a good team, is perfect. You’ve got a top goalie doing top goalie things. Making you draft 31st instead of 22nd is sort of the endgame there.
But going from third overall to… You know what? I promised we wouldn’t talk about this. Let’s move on.
Did Willander almostfrom the smelling salt there?#Canucks GIF me!
— Dan Murphy (@sportsnetmurph) December 17, 2025
You can almost see Tom Willander’s soul leave his body when the salts hit him:
Kudos to Max Sasson, who, with his new NHL contract, was able to bump Willander on the arm to let him know he is going to get through this. That’s the kind of guy you want riding shotgun with you on the bath salts highway.
Watching Quinn Hughes get rave reviews from the rest of the league now that he’s out of Vancouver is not the most enjoyable timeline to be in. In Vancouver, we KNEW how good Quinn Hughes was, yet it felt like we had to convince everyone who went to bed early that they had no idea how good Quinn was at hockey.
So yeah, seeing people be like “oh my god, this guy tilts the ice so much, he’s so good, who knew??” has been a bit of an “are you ****ing kidding me right now?” moment for those of us in Vancouver. They’re acting like they just found Hughes on the side of the road and he just played his first NHL game ever. It just sort of reinforces how badly the Canucks ownership and management fumbled the bag with this entire situation when you find yourself going “man sure would be nice if Vancouver had a Quinn Hughes” before you remember what life used to be.
All you can do in those moments is watch Zeev Buium and hope he develops into a top-pairing d-man, which is why moments like this will be the sort of thing you pin your hopes on. The moments where Zeev sits back to cover the middle of the ice to prevent a breakaway after a penalty expires:
Again, nothing groundbreaking, but you’re basically watching him develop his game, and plays like these are the types of things you hope to see more and more of each game.
I wouldn’t say he’s a much better player without Quinn Hughes, but I would say they are going to have to rely on him more without Hughes?
In terms of leadership and being someone who can teach Zeev and the other young defencemen, and just in terms of, yeah, he needs to be a steadying presence on the ice. And to his credit, he’s probably been the most consistent defenceman on the team in his own zone under Adam Foote, so seeing plays like this where he calmly breaks up the rush has sort of been the norm for him this year:
It’s never a good thing to lose a Quinn Hughes, but there is something to be said about finding a small joy in being curious to see who steps up in his absence.
I still find it hard to attribute this game to the Canucks being good, or the Rangers being bad, but I will say that the New York offence seemed to rely heavily on just throwing the puck on net from the point:
That kind of offence has been a Vancouver staple the last few seasons, so I had a bit of a Leo DiCaprio moment of pointing at the TV when I saw the Rangers going to this well again and again. They just couldn’t find a way to get good looks on net, and anytime they got a decent shot off from the slot or in the crease, Demko was there to demoralize them.
With the goalie pulled, the Rangers best chance was on a Will Cuylle shot that just hit the side of the net:
But because the Rangers are absolutely brutal at the game of hockey on home ice, that was their best and last effort before Conor Garland iced the game:
To add insult to injury, Corolla pops the puck through Cuylle’s legs to get it into the corner, then puts his entire body into getting enough leverage to sail a puck high up in the air all the way to the other end for the empty net goal.
The best part? Garland sails the puck high over the head of former teammate JT Miller, who can only watch as he wonders why he had to be so mad all the time in Vancouver to make him end up in this situation.
The Rangers have been shut out SIX times at home this season. That is insane.
— Jason Brough(@SadClubCommish) December 17, 2025
And that was the ballgame. Canucks win another game, and now they’re on to visit former captain Bo Horvat and the Islanders.
Let the Zeev Buium Undefeated Streak continue.
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
And no, we’re not talking about the holidays. We’re talking about World Junior season.
Even though the tournament rolls around every year, few events in hockey carry the same weight and intrigue as the World Junior Championship. Whether it’s the short-burst intensity of international play, the national pride, or the simple fact that every player involved is under 20 and still chasing their dreams, the tournament always finds a way of pulling fans in.
This year, the Vancouver Canucks could have three prospects involved, all with strong chances of earning spots on their respective teams.
Canada: Cootes on the inside track
Braeden Cootes has been skating with Team Canada since the weekend as he pushes to secure his place on the final roster. Canada’s preliminary schedule begins on Wednesday, December 17, with a two-game set against Sweden, both of which will be televised on TSN. Their third and final tune-up game will be streamed on USAHockey.com, which requires a paid subscription.
- Canada vs. Sweden — Wednesday, December 17 at 4:00 pm PT (TSN 1/4)
- Canada vs. Sweden — Saturday, December 20 at 4:00 pm PT (TSN 5)
- Canada vs. Denmark — Tuesday, December 23 at 5:00 pm PT (USAHockey.com)
With camp now several days in, Cootes has spent time skating alongside players such as Michael Hage (Montreal Canadiens), Tij Iginla (Utah Mammoth), Cole Reschny (Calgary Flames), and Carter Bear (Detroit Red Wings).
Based on several reports from TSN’s Mark Masters, Braeden Cootes will skate on the team’s second line alongside Cole Reschny and Carter Bear.
Projectedlineup for tonight's 1st pre-tournament
McKenna – Hage – Martin
Bear – Reschny – Cootes
Desnoyers – Luchanko – Greentree
Vanacker – O'Brien – O'Reilly
MacKenzie – Parekh
Aitcheson – Verhoeff
Reid – Smith
Carels
George starts@TSN_Sports
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) December 17, 2025
According to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, the forward bubble appears relatively clear from the first few skates. In his most recent article, Wheeler noted in the comment section that Jake O’Brien, Marek Vanacker, Cole Reschny, Liam Greentree, and Carter Bear are all vying for those final spots on the team, while Cootes is not viewed (by him) as part of that group.
Team Canada is expected to make three cuts — one forward, one defenceman, and one goaltender — with the roster remaining open until December 22 in the event NHL clubs elect to release players. Berkley Catton remains the most notable potential addition up front, though his availability following a recent injury remains uncertain.
Switzerland: Sansonnens settling in
Team Switzerland opened its exhibition schedule on Tuesday with a 2-1 victory over Minnesota State (NCAA), marking the start of its preliminary schedule. Canucks 2024 seventh-round pick Basile Sansonnens — widely viewed as a near lock to make the team — skated on Switzerland’s second defensive pairing, a role he’s expected to maintain throughout the tournament.
Switzerland will continue its preliminary slate with games against Denmark and Sweden. Both matchups will be streamed via USAHockey.com.
- Switzerland vs. Denmark — Sunday, December 21 at 5:00 pm PT (USAHockey.com)
- Sweden vs. Switzerland — Tuesday, December 23 at 5:00 pm PT (USAHockey.com)
Sweden: Björck joins the mix
Rounding out the trio is Wilson Björck, who will suit up for Team Sweden and is considered a near lock to earn a spot. Like Canada, Sweden will play two televised games against Canada on TSN before closing its exhibition schedule against Switzerland via online stream.
- Canada vs. Sweden — Wednesday, December 17 at 4:00 pm PT (TSN 1/4)
- Canada vs. Sweden — Saturday, December 20 at 4:00 pm PT (TSN 5)
- Sweden vs. Switzerland — Tuesday, December 23 at 5:00 pm PT (USAHockey.com)
While nothing is ever guaranteed, all three Canucks prospects have a strong chance of earning final roster spots for their respective countries. The tournament kicks off on Boxing Day (December 26) in Minnesota, USA. Wilson Björck and Team Sweden will kick off the tournament against Czechia at 10:00 am PT.
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Maybe the best way to convince Quinn Hughes to stick around by winning games was by trading Quinn Hughes?
I’m not sure what logical loops we need to jump through to make this the landing point of the entire situation, but watching the Vancouver Canucks go 3-0 since they traded their captain has me convinced of my conclusion.
Small sample sizes or not, it has been fun watching a Canucks team play the game of hockey without any overarching questions about team drama better suited as a plot point in a season of The OC. No more wondering if Julie Cooper and Quinn Hughes hate each other and/or have a secret love child that is dating Ryan Atwood, no, instead, Vancouver is simply winning hockey games.
Now, a lot of that has to do with their level of competition. A large chunk of it can also be attributed to Thatcher Demko’s addiction to ruining draft pick positioning. I think it’s also reasonable to suggest the Canucks are probably enjoying life without wondering if/when their best player is going to be traded out of town.
But you know what? Give them credit for their 4-1 win over the New York Islanders, because the Canucks also busted their asses to secure that victory. I honestly think they played the style of game Rick Tocchet always dreamed about, as the Canucks made life pretty miserable for the Islanders on Friday night. They constantly harassed New York whenever they got the puck, forcing the Islanders to work for every inch of the ice. I think the Canucks mentally beat Patrick Roy’s team before the first period was even done, as Vancouver made it pretty clear early on that hard work was going to have to win the day.
Vancouver didn’t kick the sh!t out of the Islanders, mind you. It was a decently close game for the most part, which is where Thatcher Demko came into play. Whenever New York did manage to generate a good look on net, the Canucks goaltender shut it down pretty easily. And when you’re facing a team that’s willing to battle you for sixty minutes, with a red-hot goalie as the last line of defence, that tends to make for a pretty long night.
I think it’s important to watch these games with an eye for the future. See who stands out, see which young players might have the juice. Take a moment to ponder why Adam Foote hates Aatu Räty, of course, but then get back to watching Liam Öhgren and trying to see what Vancouver has in him.
You obviously have to keep in mind that Vancouver will win enough games to become buyers at the deadline, as the “think of it more as a rebuild hybrid” terminology has started to get tossed around today. You should always worry that the Canucks management team has a hair-trigger response to buy now and go all-in the second they think they might make the playoffs. You wouldn’t be wrong to fear a world in which Derek Forbort and Teddy Blueger return to the lineup to lock down the penalty kill, with Elias Pettersson rediscovering his form upon his return, leading to a red-hot Canucks team racing into the mushy middle, as is tradition.
But there is time enough for that later.
For now, just sit back and enjoy getting to know the new players and enjoy a world in which you don’t have to actively worry which player is unfollowing which on Instagram.
Let’s dive into the game.
The turning point in the game might have actually come within the first few minutes of the game. With the Canucks already serving a penalty, Kiefer Sherwood generated a potential scoring chance on a cross-crease pass to David Kampf, before promptly putting the Canucks down two men after taking down Matthew Barzal:
Having an extended two-man advantage is a tough hill to climb, but you know what helps? An angry Tyler Myers.
For the most part, Myers doesn’t really play like a large dude. Sure, he uses his wingspan, but it’s not like he’s out there living life as a Bash Bro, taking guys out with huge hits.
Except when you piss him off.
Normally, it’s when someone slashes him, you kind of see his eyes go red, and you can tell he’s gone full tilt. A Tyler Myers looking for revenge is on some Game of Thrones level where you know it either ends in a questionable hit or a penalty, and usually it’s both.
But when you’re already down two men, the refs tend to let you get away with murder, which is something the Chaos Giraffe used to his advantage by first taking out Anthony Duclair with a solid cross-check/loving shove from behind:
This gentle love tap resulted in Vancouver clearing the puck down the ice, much like this next hit from Myers on Max Shabonov did as well:
This was the more egregious of the two Myers plays, but the refs swallowed their whistles and let the boys play on, which led to the eventual killing off of both penalties.
And like all things in life, anytime Myers wasn’t there attempting murder, Thatcher Demko was there to make sure nobody scored.
If the Islanders score here, maybe it’s a different outcome, but the early penalty kill was a massive swing point in this game, in my humblest of opinions. A humble opinion on par with my apple pie being the crumblest.
Marco Rossi and Brock Boeser appear to be generating some chemistry with each other, even if Boeser is not currently legally allowed to score a goal in the NHL.
The first good look Boeser had on net was due to a perfect backhand pass from Rossi through the middle of the ice, created after the Canucks kept the puck in the zone at the blue line:
And the second good chance was again due to the Canucks managing to pester the Islanders into turning the puck over in their own zone, as Rossi was able to find Boeser alone in front of the net after stealing the puck near the blue line:
Boeser had a couple of more chances to score this period, but I feel like his fans have been through enough the last month, so just trust me when I say he probably could have had four goals in this period. But as my high school janitor told me, theoretical goals are Satan’s highway, so if the Canucks truly want to ruin the season by getting the 14th overall draft pick, they really need Boeser to start scoring some actual goals here soon.
I used to think only Kiefer Sherwood and Evander Kane could fetch the Canucks a first-rounder, but after watching David Kampf’s first as a Canuck, I’m convinced he’s in the running as well:
This goal is a pretty good example of how the Canucks played all night long. Nobody took too many shifts off, and for the most part, Vancouver was 100% locked into that annoying effort level you run into at beer league. You know where one guy is trying way too hard at like an 11:30 pm puck drop, and you just know this guy is dealing with some emotional baggage, and he REALLY needs the win?
That’s how Vancouver was going the entire game. They were just constantly putting pressure on the Islanders, which, when you’re facing off against a team that doesn’t have that high-end skill of a Colorado Avalanche team, tends to pay off more often than not. New York couldn’t out-skill their way out of the heavy forecheck, which led to a lot of extended shifts in the offensive zone for Vancouver.
On Kampf’s goal alone, the Canucks caused two turnovers in a few seconds, thanks in part to their hard work along the boards, which, again, tells me that somewhere in the world, Rick Tocchet didn’t look up into the sky and smile and/or howl with delight.
Kiefer Sherwood’s hat trick was the fuel for this game, and while his third goal was an empty netter, you’d be hard pressed to find a better resume leading highlight goal than his first one of the night:
He gives Matthew Schaefer a quick little “welcome to the NHL, kid” moment by stripping him of the puck at his own blueline, then walks in and just absolutely lasers home his 14th of the season. Some real Han Solo energy on this goal if we’re being honest, and I can firmly say that Han shot first here.
Again, we have no idea if the Canucks “hybrid rebuild” aka “Quinn Hughes forced us to trade him so we’re going to pretend it’s a rebuild, but the second we win some games we might say its already done” game plan involves keeping Kiefer Sherwood around, but if you were looking to boost trade value this is the goal that does it. There is just something about a guy outworking and outthinking another player that gets GMs going to the point that, yeah, maybe a first-rounder is your starting point in any conversation.
Speaking of rookies learning on the job, Zeev Buium did his best to showcase an end-to-end rush, only to get shut down hard along the boards:
Buium had another quietly strong game, forming a very effective partnership with Tyler Myers on the night, however. They led the defence in Corsi and angrily threw cross checks.
As for the Islanders, their scoring chances were few and far between in the first period, leading to many of what I assume is one of only two looks Patrick Roy can have: Angry, want to murder you looks, and slightly bemused, want to murder you looks.
New York’s best chance in the opening frame was when Anthony Duclair harassed Marcus Pettersson behind the net by calling his cell phone repeatedly, leading to Callum Richie sending the puck high and wide from tight in the crease:
We're going to the playoffs at this rate boys n girls#Canucks
— Dombrova (@dombrova22) December 20, 2025
Kiefer Sherwood’s second goal of the night came right out of the Bo Horvat playbook, as he finished off a perfect pass from Fil Hronek in the bumper spot:
It’s a new world without Quinn Hughes, so it will be interesting to see how this team’s special teams evolve without their former captain. No longer can they constantly feed the puck back to Hughes the second they run into trouble. No longer can they stand in one spot, transfixed by the skating of Quinn. Now the team has to find old-fashioned ways of getting scoring chances with the extra man.
It’s actually kind of funny because the Canucks really moved away from featuring the bumper spot on the power play once Bo left town, so maybe that’s an area they revisit now that they need to figure out a new way to live.
After being unable to score for almost an entire period, the Islanders resorted to cheating when Anders Lee high-sticked a puck past Demko near the end of the first:
I have to assume he just wanted to know what it felt like to score on Demko at this point.
Smattering of boos from the Islanders faithful at the end of the first period. #Canucks have now outscored their opponents 8-1 since trading Quinn Hughes.
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) December 20, 2025
It’s fun to talk about Quinn Hughes being the problem all along because it makes him the problem, and not the horrifying knowledge that this team might never win with the current owners in place.
But realistically, every team in the world wants a Quinn Hughes, and we have several years of “how the actual f*** did this happen?” ahead of us as we try and figure out why it had to come to this.
That being said, there is probably a certain level of momentum happening on Vancouver’s end from being removed from all of the “is he staying or is he going?” that was following the team around. We saw the Psycho Mantis levels of damage this team went through last season, so it’s not too forward to suggest that the Hughes situation was affecting the team to the point of it reaching the ice. It just felt like near the end of the Hughes era, we were watching some dystopian version of hockey in which Hughes would be given the puck and everyone just waited for him to create magic.
There was no teamwork. There was no creativity. There was no enthusiasm. It was just watching Hughes lug the puck around the ice for over thirty minutes a night, losing hockey games, and generating very little in the way of actual points on the board. It was like watching a reboot of The Road, only somehow more depressing. It was about as close to a “show up, clock in, clock out” level of hockey as we have seen in some time in this city.
Which is depressing for many reasons, but mostly because Quinn Hughes’ hockey should be beautiful hockey. You’re seeing that come to life in Minnesota, in which he is once again making love to the puck, winning games, and creating must-watch highlights. It’s almost annoying in a way watching people from Minnesota go “Gawrsh, he is SO good at hockey!” as if Vancouver hadn’t been screaming that for the past seven years.
So while the rest of the world showcases proof they didn’t stay up late enough to watch Quinn Hughes play hockey when he was with Vancouver, at least both Quinn and Vancouver are playing a more rewarding style of hockey that doesn’t feel like James Bond getting sacked in the nuts with a heavy rope repeatedly.
Being noticeable as a former mid-first-rounder can be a very good thing or a very bad thing.
Turning over the puck so many times that it gets nicknamed a pizza whenever you do it? Not the greatest PR.
Being strong on the puck and looking good in bursts in the offensive zone? That’s the good stuff.
We have no idea what Öhgren’s ceiling will end up as, of course. For every Todd Bertuzzi in the world, there are a hundred Nikolay Goldobin and Mirco Mueller’s HockeyDB pages waiting to tell you all about the exciting world of Swiss and Russian hockey leagues.
Early returns from Liam, though, feel positive. He just seems to be around the puck in a good way on most shifts. He’s not making mistakes, while you go, “well at least he’s from Abbotsford??”, lying to yourself about the likely career path you see ahead of him.
Instead of making terrible shots from the corner, he’s able to generate shots off the rush, and then has the instincts to be in position to grab rebounds and get further shots on said net:
It just feels like he might have the right IQ for the NHL game, that the game isn’t too quick for him, nudging him past that quad AAAA player line.
Speaking of noticeable, Zeev Buium has also showcased good defensive instincts with Vancouver so far. We all know the hype around his offensive game, but all it takes is one bad contract, and you find yourself turning into Seth Jones, with the cashew-eating Russians making charts and graphics showcasing how god awful you are in your own zone.
A great example of his defensive prowess was during a Canucks power play where he made sure to get back in his own zone to shut down a shorthanded rush with ease:
It’s extremely easy to get lazy defensively when you’re on the power play, so kudos to the kid for making sure he took care of his own end on this play.
Which isn’t to say we haven’t seen a little of that offensive swagger to his game, either. Obviously, there is only one Quinn Hughes, but just in terms of being that new-age mobile defenceman that can make moves along the blueline to create room for himself? He has that in his bag as well:
Nothing outrageous, just a little shimmy and misdirection to give him some room to skate into, but he also finished the play with a smart, safe pass, and didn’t just bomb a shot on net that went around the boards and out.
And speaking of hyped new-age defenceman, Matty Schaefer made sure to remind the world that he is going to be an exciting player in this league for a long, long time when he broke around Fil Hronek, Evander Kane and Tom Willander to almost score an end-to-end goal:
I think this kid might be good. I won’t commit to anything yet, but I think that’s where he’s trending.
Also, how in the world did Willander not get a penalty there?
I don’t think Tom tripped him, mind you. But usually, if you’re close enough to the scene and you get a stick near a dude who busts out a move like that, the officials hand out a pity penalty on the play.
Kiefer Sherwood once again showed that worth-a-first-rounder effort as he dove back for a puck, only to have to watch as Demko made yet another save in which you instinctively held your breath, wondering if human contact was going to injure him again:
Demko would be fine on the play, but I must say the Canucks really have a pickle on their hands with Thatcher. If the “hybrid rebuild,” aka the rebuild they plug in and leave in the garage overnight, is their end game, then Demko is most likely a huge part of that. When Demko is on his game and not hurt, he is a top-five goalie in the league.
The problem is that he is injury-prone, and there is nothing to suggest that won’t continue to be the case. So do you sit here, watching Demko raise his value by rocking absurd numbers in December, making people forget his injury history, and try and cash in on a trade?
Or do you keep him and see if he’s part of the next wave?
A proper rebuild most likely involves dealing with the American goaltender, but again, this is a hybrid world we live in, apparently, so who knows at this point.
I will say there is some grim amusement in watching Tyler Myers out here playing elite-level lockdown hockey now that the team finally said the word rebuild. Near the end of the second period, the Islanders tried to get the puck behind him, but nope, Tyler one-handed chops the puck away, doesn’t take a penalty, and shuts the play down perfectly:
Leave it the Chaos Giraffe to always leave us on our toes I guess.
Speaking of raising your game, Evander Kane had what was probably his best game as a Canuck? Planet Ice can generate a lot of shots on net, but the majority of them will end up being like shots from the second row. He just shoots from anywhere, so a 20-shot game from Evander is usually like three good shots followed up by gaming the system and juicing his shot totals.
But on this night, Evander Kane showcased a true, honest-to-goodness power forward game, as he used powerful skating to constantly drive the puck on net.
On one shift, not only did he create a two-on-one scoring chance with Drew O’Connor, but he also followed up with a couple more shots on net in the same shift:
Kane, a big fan of uppies, then called for Hronek to airmail a lob pass over to him, creating yet another rush on net, this time drawing a penalty:
It was just a solid game from another player that, yeah, if you are looking to trade some of the veterans, you’re probably using video from this game to dump in the group chat as soon as possible.
I know it’s only been 3 game but Ohgren is noticeable on every shift I think the #canucks have a real player on thier hands
— LaZeMoon(@Moonraker1972g1) December 20, 2025
While I agree that this was Öhgren’s best game as a Canuck, and Sherwood aside, he might have been the Canucks best player on the night, it felt like the entire team was working hard and playing smart hockey.
A great example of this is just the small things where, yeah, they would extend a shift an extra five seconds or so by making it hard for New York to exit their own zone:
Öhgren’s hard work at the end of that clip forces the Islanders to take seven more seconds to get out of the zone with the puck. And while those seven seconds might not seem like a lot, that’s the sort of thing that buys time for line changes or prevents a team from getting out of their zone with speed. It limits their ability to find a guy in behind your defence.
Hey, who amongst us hasn’t pretended to hit a dude with a weapon to see if he’d flinch:
Early in the third period, Evander Kane once again generated a scoring chance by skating hard with the puck on the counterattack:
We talked about it earlier in the season, but Kane is coming off of major surgery just last year, so there is a very possible chance his game will continue to get better as this season goes along.
Definitely worth at least a first-rounder.
Former Abbotsford #Canucks Marc Gatcomb trying to drop the gloves with Jake DeBrusk, who fell into Ilya Sorokin.
— Izzy(@izzycheung37) December 20, 2025
I blame Evander Kane for spreading the Canucks love of the high-arcing long bomb, as the team has really seemed to jump on board with it.
The latest example? Jake DeBrusk popping the puck up in the air for himself, only to run headfirst into Ilya Sorokin at the local Tim Hortons:
A for effort, C+ for execution.
I also think it’s hilarious that someone tried to fight Jake DeBrusk. Dude just wants to score goals in the crease and collect Pokémon cards, he doesn’t want any heat, let him live his best life.
The Islanders third period push was met with, well, Thatcher Demko being Thatcher Demko.
Oh, Matty Barzal wants to score on a point-blank shot? Sorry, Thatcher isn’t having any of that:
How about some more uppies from Vancouver, as Marco Rossi sends a high spiral up and over to a Brock Boeser and Conor Garland breakaway:
Kudos to Sorokin, that’s a brilliant save to be fair.
And how about Marco Rossi extending a shift and forechecking hard, leading to the Islanders once again having no easy shifts on the night:
The Canucks played hard. They played smart. It was one of the most complete games from the team this season.
Look, I enjoy giving a penalty as much as the next guy, but when you watch the replay, Tom Willander’s stick came nowhere near Schaefer on this play:
The problem, you see, is that Schaefer literally tried to skate horizontally when making his cut to the net, so it wasn’t too shocking that he fell flat to the ice. Only Connor McDavid can make that kind of cut at that speed, and I’m still convinced he’s a boring robot sent to kill John Connor, except he discovered a passion for hockey and forgot to finish the job.
Anders Lee finally got an actual goal, when, after pulling their goalie, New York managed to break down the Canucks defence for the tap-in goal at the side of the crease:
Tyler Myers was already playing the puck carrier in a hyper-aggressive manner, so I think Elias Pettersson needs to back off there and protect the middle of the net. Instead, DP25 pushes over to make a play on the puck, leaving Lee open for the easy finish.
A small blip on an otherwise solid night from Vancouver.
And to complete the hat trick, Hronek does the time-honoured tradition of “I’m going to slap the puck really hard! Ha ha, just kidding, I’m passing instead” as he finds Kiefer Sherwood to ice the game:
Hey, it was a good game from Vancouver. The kids show encouraging signs. It was the perfect game, aside from hurting the draft position. Like I said, though, worry about that another day. You might as well finish off the year enjoying a game of hockey or two.
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