The situation is changing at a fast and furious pace when it comes to the crease of the Vancouver Canucks.
Actually, it’s moving faster than we can even type.
Just a day or so ago, we wrote about the likelihood of Vancouver trading pending UFA Kevin Lankinen and – while we admit the possibility of a good return is tempting – we found that the odds were pretty low due to Thatcher Demko’s ongoing injury and the Canucks’ ongoing intention of making the playoffs.
Instead, we pitched the idea of extending Lankinen, even with Demko still in the fold, and then perhaps sorting it all out during the offseason.
Just hours after hitting ‘publish,’ we learned that extension negotiations were in fact ongoing…just not going on well. Rick Dhaliwal reported that Lankinen and his camp had rejected the latest Canucks’ offer, said to be north of $3 million per season, but no concrete details were available.
So, we wrote up this article, based on what felt like the extreme likelihood of Lankinen eventually signing a contract. And seconds before we hit publish, we got news that Lankinen had, in fact, signed a five-year, $4.5 million AAV extension with the Canucks.
Thankfully, it wasn’t that hard to update, because the general premise remains the same: wondering what the plan might be for Demko beyond this season.
Demko, as most know, is still signed to a contract with a $5 million AAV for the remainder of this season and the 2025/26 season, and then he is set to become an unrestricted free agent. His deal notably does not have any trade protection on it, which makes it a bit of a rarity among major Canuck contracts.
Demko is 29 and will turn 30 at two months into next season. As of right now, he’s played exactly 100 cumulative games over the past three seasons.
That limited availability is essentially the only reason we’re even speculating about Demko’s future. When he’s at his best, he’s one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, hands down. He was nominated for the Vezina Trophy last season despite injuries keeping him to just 51 starts. It was his third campaign with a save-percentage of .915 or higher.
But it’s not just that Demko gets injured so frequently that is at issue. It’s that he gets injured so frequently and for so long, that he’s now rarely ‘at his best.’ After missing more than half a year of action with his latest popliteus trouble, Demko took a good long while to shake the rust of this season. At times, he looked borderline unplayable. He slowly but surely rounded into form, and was just starting to look like the Demko of old prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off break…only to become injured again. He’s now out week-to-week, meaning until the Trade Deadline, which makes for supremely awkward timing.
It is certainly hoped that Demko will be able to pick up where he left off when he returns. But it’s far from a guarantee. Which is why we wrote about the need to hold onto Lankinen, even if that meant he walked for free as a UFA at the end of the year. Obviously, that’s no longer a factor, but it is probably part of the reason why GM Patrik Allvin and Co. made this decision to extend Lankinen.
These years are crucial for the Canucks as a franchise. They’ve never had a player better than Quinn Hughes, and he’s in his prime right now, and that cannot be squandered. The Quinn Hughes Competitive Window ™ is real, and it’s open, and…it probably precludes the Canucks from putting all their 2025/26 eggs in a Demko-shaped basket. A basket that constantly breaks seems like a terrible place to put eggs.
So, assuming the Canucks can get Lankinen extended to reasonable terms (which is now an excessively safe assumption, because it just happened), they will be faced with a choice this offseason: trade Demko, or maintain an expensive veteran goaltending duo for at least one more year.
Trading Demko would probably be relatively straightforward. There are always teams who enter and exit the offseason not yet satisfied with their goaltending options, and the summer of 2025 will be no exception. There will be more money to throw around, thanks to the increasing cap ceiling, but there will not be extra goalies on hand.
Demko’s salary now makes him underpaid for a starting goalie. There will be teams that see him as an upgrade, and while those injury concerns would follow him out of Vancouver, there are also plenty of teams who don’t see their situation as quite so desperately immediate as do the Canucks. In other words, there are probably at least a handful of teams that would be happy to take a risk on Demko, especially if they could acquire him without breaking the bank.
That’s option one.
Option two is continuing to employ a Demko-Lankinen (or a Lankinen-Demko) tandem for 2025/26.
The appeal in terms of performance is obvious. Lankinen has been a revelation for the Canucks this year, and that follows two exceptional years of backing up Juuse Saros in Nashville. This is a goalie who can effectively operate in a tandem, and who can give his team a chance to win on a nightly basis regardless of his deployment. Demko, meanwhile, is an even better goalie when injuries are not impacting him. A healthy Demko and Lankinen are among the best, if not the best, goaltending duo in hockey right now, and would continue to be so into 2025/26.
But it’s the ‘not healthy’ side of things that holds even more appeal. Keeping both Lankinen and Demko would allow the Canucks to get all the benefits of Demko’s potential for greatness, without having to rely upon his health at any point. It’s what they’ve had going for them this season, and it’s worked. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?
The major problem comes with the cost. Let’s imagine that Lankinen will require a salary in the neighbourhood of $4 million in order to stay in Vancouver. Actually, scratch that earlier estimate. Let’s instead imagine that Lankinen DID sign an extension with an average salary of $4.5 million, because that’s what actually happened. That would mean the Canucks are paying $9.5 million for their crease in 2025/26 for both Demko and Lankinen, and that’s a lot.
Sure, there will be more cap space available. But that doesn’t mean the Canucks can afford to spend it willy-nilly, and cap space is rarely best spent on a position that only allows one person to play at a time.
Then again, $9.5 million isn’t all that much in the grand scheme of things. Four different goalies make as much or more than that singlehandedly, and almost half the teams in the NHL already spend about that much or more on their netminding. It’s really not that outlandish. It’s closer to the league average than anything. And that league average is going up in concert with the cap.
The Canucks can also probably count on at least a few ELCs being on their books for next season. The second Elias Pettersson seems to have won himself a permanent spot, and most are expecting Tom Willander to join him on the Vancouver blueline soon enough. Jonathan Lekkerimäki is increasingly penciling himself into next year’s top-six, and Aatu Räty should get a shot at replacing some of the centre depth the Canucks have lost this year. Those are four cheap contracts that will leave space elsewhere in 2025/26, and maybe that cash is redirected into keeping both goalies around.
On that note, we’ve got to mention that although Arturs Silovs has rebounded well enough in Abbotsford, no one wants to go into next season with him as the de facto backup. That means that, if it’s Demko OR Lankinen as starter, they’ll still need to sign a quality backup to support them, and that will cost money, especially with the inflation that is coming this summer. Why not stick with the quality already on hand?
The cons to keeping both Demko and Lankinen are the cost (which isn’t too out of line with overall goaltending costs in the modern NHL), the lost opportunity to spend that cash elsewhere, and the lost potential return for trading Demko (which might not be that considerable, given what goalies usually go for).
The pros are giving the Canucks a better overall chance of winning in 2025/26, and that’s really all that needs to be said about it. That’s why we won’t be surprised at all to see both Demko and Lankinen still sharing the crease next season.
Especially now that they’re both under contract.
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Welcome to Instant Reaction — 4 Nations Face-Off edition! Typically, we give our Instant Reaction to Vancouver Canucks games, but since those aren’t happening right now, we thought we’d do the same for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Tyler Myers picked up right where he left off by taking a minor penalty early in this game. Arturs Silovs was sharp to begin this game, making three big saves to keep the game scoreless.
The Canucks got a power play of their own, and elected to send out a first unit of Elias Pettersson, Nils Hoglander, Jake DeBrusk, Pius Suter and Filip Hronek. As you may have guessed, that unit did not score.
Utah got another power play opportunity after Marcus Pettersson was called for holding. The Canucks killed this one off again, so Pettersson took another penalty. This time, he was called for playing the puck with a broken stick.
The first period was ugly for the Canucks, as they were outshot 11-4.
The power plays continued in the second, and the Canucks made good on their chance. Elias Pettersson found Jake DeBrusk at the net-front, and the Canucks’ leading goal scorer pushed his season total to 21.
CANUCKS SCORRRRRE
EP40 sets up Jake DeBrusk, who slides the puck through Karel Vejmelka to give the Canucks the opening goal!#Canucks #UtahHC
: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/vuZjY4sK0X
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 24, 2025
1-0 Canucks.
It didn’t take long for Utah to tie things up, as Logan Cooley tipped a point shot past Silovs to tie things up.
Utah scores. Logan Cooley with a deft deflection ties the game, 1-1.#Canucks #UtahHC
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 24, 2025
1-1.
Arturs Silovs made a big save off of Lawson Crouse on a breakaway:
Lawson Crouse on a breakaway is stopped by Arturs Silovs!#Canucks #UtahHC
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 24, 2025
Arturs Silovs was proving to be the Canucks’ best player on the night, as he continued to make stops when Utah was pressing.
Arturs Silovs has easily been the Canucks best player tonight, here he stops a shorthanded 2-on-1 for Utah.#Canucks #UtahHC
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 24, 2025
Through two periods, this game was a certified snoozefest.
The Canucks got their fourth power play chance of the night early on in the third, and while Filip Chytil came close after getting a golden opportunity in the slot, it was another power play in which the Canucks failed to convert.
With just under ten minutes remaining, Filip Hronek sprung Elias Pettersson with a breakaway pass, but Pettersson skied the shot attempt over the net.
Elias Pettersson gets a break, but just can't keep his shot under the crossbar.#Canucks #UtahHC
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 24, 2025
Seconds later, Silovs stopped Josh Doan on a breakaway to keep this game tied. Derek Forbort took a penalty, and this time, Utah converted on their chance.
Utah takes the lead as Dylan Guenther converts on a pass from Nick Schmaltz. 2-1#Canucks #UtahHC
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 24, 2025
2-1 Utah.
That would stick as your final score.
Some more takeaways from tonight:
–Victor Mancini looked a bit overwhelmed, but some nerves can be expected in your first game with a new team. He also did some things I liked, is young, and is right-handed, so I hope he gets some more chances.
-Kudos to Tocchet and the Canucks for not taking Elias Pettersson (D) out of the defence corps. He might be the easy decision to come out based on his age and experience, but he’s absolutely earned the opportunity to keep getting games. Liked what I saw from him tonight.
-The Canucks’ power play units are so bleak when Quinn Hughes isn’t in the lineup.
-Zzzzz
-Rick Tocchet talks a lot about the Canucks not getting the right outcome in big moments. The Pettersson breakaway feels like a good example of that at a pivotal point in the game.
-Why can’t the Canucks get more shots on goal?
-Really liked Filip Hronek again. Nice to see him and Elias Pettersson working out as a pairing.
What are your thoughts on tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!
And be sure to tune into the Rink Wide Vancouver post game show moments after the final horn LIVE on YouTube!
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Sleepwalking on the road.
The Vancouver Canucks lost in quite dreary fashion, a boring 2-1 defeat against the Utah Hockey Club. There really isn’t too much to this loss either – the Canucks simply didn’t look like they were up for anything last night. There wasn’t a lot of action or high-danger chances, and the power plays didn’t do much either. Even accounting for all situations, Vancouver simply didn’t have enough juice to get the result. That sucks, especially considering that they lost the previous night in similar fashion.
Here’s the loss, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.
Game Flow
With the first period being bogged down by penalties, there wasn’t much 5v5 time for either team to get into a rhythm. However, coming out of the intermission, it looked like the Canucks were going to take the initiative. They had a good stretch run that led to a power play, where they capitalized for the opening goal of the game. After that, though…there wasn’t much to speak of. Actually, they just let Utah run away with the momentum. The hosts finished the period with a dominating 62.86 CF% and 78.51 xGF%, completely taking away anything Vancouver managed to create at the start of the frame. This only continued into the third, with Utah playing more than solid enough to ensure the Canucks never managed to seize the initiative again in this loss.
Heat Map
As the heat map shows, there weren’t a ton of scoring chances to speak of last night. Both teams didn’t see much 5v5 time but still didn’t make the most of it. Utah held a 15-7 scoring chance advantage, with both teams splitting a 5-5 high-danger chance battle at even strength and neither team establishing much of a hot spot in front of the crease area. Accounting for all situations, that scoring chance battle jumps to 25-19 in favour of Utah, while the high-danger chances balanced out once more at 9-9. There really just wasn’t a lot of action.
Individual Advanced Stats
Corsi Champ: Of all players, it was Tyler Myers that led the way in the Corsi department for the Canucks. He recorded a 54.17 CF% playing primarily against the likes of Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz, but unfortunately, the puck possession didn’t really amount to much. Myers was on ice for a goal against, his 46.93 xGF%, the third best amongst all Canuck defencemen. At the very least, he managed to hold a 2-0 high-danger chance advantage, but there really wasn’t much else to highlight in Myers’ performance.
Barrett Hayton (and the puck) get behind Tyler Myers, but Arturs Silovs keeps his team alive.#Canucks #UtahHC
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 24, 2025
Corsi Chump: Teddy Blueger got absolutely smoked against Utah. His 30.00 CF% came with team lows in xGF (0.05) and xGF% (11.79), on ice for not a single scoring chance for while giving up five scoring chances against. At the very least, only one of those chances was high danger, but there wasn’t any real redeeming qualities to Blueger’s performance. It was just as unremarkable as the rest of the team last night.
xGF: It was a very limited sample size for Arshdeep Bains, but playing on the fourth line with just five minutes of ice time thanks to special teams, the winger racked up a team-best 72.97 xGF%. It should say a lot that his 0.49 xGF was the fifth-best mark on the team in such a limited deployment. Bains managed to hold a 2-1 lead in high-danger chances as well at 5v5, accounting for just under half of Vancouver’s chances. Leading the way in raw xGF was Filip Chytil, whose 0.69 was definitely an underwhelming number for a team lead. His xGF% of 68.89% was actually second right behind Bains, so at least one of the top six forwards was holding some good shares.
Filip Chytil shows off his speed and skill on this play!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 24, 2025
GSAx: At the very least, Arturs Silovs had a good game. With Utah racking up 2.59 xGF, Silovs finished with a 0.59 GSAx, doing his fair share to give the Canucks a fighting chance in this one. The goals against were split between a high-danger chance and a middle-danger chance, with the Latvian netminder managing to hold out everything else. It’s nice to see this after the rough start that he had to the year, but unfortunately for Silovs, the team in front of him couldn’t manage more than 15 shots and one goal to support him.
Arturs Silovs with an absolute game saving stop on Nick Bjugstad!!#Canucks #UtahHC
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 24, 2025
Statistical Musings
General underperformance: There’s really nothing that stands out when looking at the stat sheet. Everyone was just in the mushy middle, and that’s the most frustrating part. Normally, we would highlight a really good or a really bad performance that went under the radar. But in this one? Everyone was just tepid. No forward line broke 50.00 CF% or 50.00 xGF%. Only five players cracked that 50.00 CF% barrier individually. Sure, there were rough numbers, but given just how uneventful the game was, it was more of them not achieving much versus playing particularly poorly. This team just feels like they are asleep at the wheel, and it’s especially frustrating when they got two great performances back-to-back from Kevin Lankinen and Silovs.
As a team
CF% – 46.79% HDCF% – 50.00% xGF% – 48.62%
The Canucks didn’t do horrifically bad. But they weren’t good either. It was a game where it looked like they were just going through the motions, unable to seize advantage when they could’ve done so. And that sucks because the hope was for the game breakers to be game-breaking, for them to be able to take advantage of winnable contests to secure points in this playoff race. Vancouver didn’t have any of that. Arturs Silovs was probably the only bright spot in this contest.
Vancouver heads into LA to face the Kings on Wednesday.
Stats provided by naturalstattrick.com
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Let’s just give it to you straight. Here are the total faceoff numbers over the last 10 Vancouver Canucks games.
Washington: 45.5%
St Louis: 44.4%
Nashville: 34%
Dallas: 43.4%
Detroit: 59.3%
Colorado: 46.6%
San Jose: 42.9%
Toronto: 38.6%
Vegas: 50%
Utah: 53.6%
Even though things have gotten better over their last two games, those numbers just aren’t good enough.
At the time of this writing, the Canucks rank 21st in terms of league-wide faceoff winning percentage at 49.57%. And those numbers obviously include when they had JT Miller for the bulk of the season. The worst-ranked team in the dot is the Anaheim Ducks at 43%, but the margins are relatively thin beyond that:
Via moneypuck.com
The good news is that the Canucks have a solution to what feels fair to categorize as a problem in the dot.
They can call up Aatu Räty.
After coming knocking down the door at training camp en route to earning a roster spot, Aatu Räty’s first NHL stint didn’t last all that long. He’s bounced up and down from the AHL and NHL all season long. To this point, he’s got 21 games played at the NHL level and 31 in the minors.
The point totals — two goals and two assists — at the NHL level are obviously disappointing, and Räty has struggled to make the offence translate at the next level. In the AHL, he’s a near-point-per-game player who can play in all situations and is one of head coach Manny Malhotra’s most trusted players. In the NHL, he’s a bottom-six centre with limited offensive upside.
One thing Räty can do very well, regardless of the level he’s playing at, though? Win faceoffs.
And right now, the Canucks need more faceoff wins.
It doesn’t seem like it would be all that difficult to find a spot for Räty in the Canucks’ NHL lineup. Right now, their centres are Elias Pettersson, Filip Chytil, Pius Suter, and Teddy Blueger.
Recently, Nils Aman — another guy who is at his best when playing in the AHL — was playing on the wing of the Canucks’ fourth line. Arshdeep Bains got a turn there on Sunday in Utah. Given that Aman, who has similar offensive limitations to Räty without the face-off prowess, has gotten into three of the Canucks’ last four games, getting Räty into that spot shouldn’t be much of an issue.
Aman obviously doesn’t bring much offence, and on the season, he’s got a 37% faceoff winning percentage.
Meanwhile, while the 22-year-old Räty is going to bring similar play to Aman, his 56% faceoff percentage ranks first among all Canucks centres. Teddy Blueger sits in second at 50.3%, followed by Filip Chytil (47.2%), Elias Pettersson (45.8%), and Pius Suter (42.9%).
The Canucks are almost certainly going to want to change up their lines after this weekend’s game, and Räty would give them the flexibility to either run shotgun with Blueger or Suter on the wing like Aman has been, or have Räty centre the fourth line and free up Suter to go play the wing in the top six — a spot he’s had success at in the past.
Räty has shown prowess in the faceoff dot like few Canucks have this season. Earlier this season, we chatted with Räty about his technique of flipping his stick to make every faceoff a strong-side faceoff. You can read that story by clicking here!
Get ready, hockey fans! The Daily Faceoff Deadline is happening on March 7th from 11 AM to 4 PM Eastern, and you won’t want to miss it. We’ll be LIVE, breaking down every trade and big move as it happens, with instant reactions and expert analysis from the Daily Faceoff crew. Plus, we’ve got special guests lined up throughout the show, offering exclusive insights from some of the biggest names in the game. From blockbuster trades to surprise moves, we’re covering it all. Tune in to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and follow Daily Faceoff socials on March 7th to catch all the action!
Welcome back to NHL Notebook — the series here at CanucksArmy where we deliver you news and notes from Around the National Hockey League, oftentimes through a Vancouver Canucks-tinted lens.
The Vancouver Canucks have returned to action on their five-game road trip. It wasn’t the ideal start for the club as they scored just one goal in each of their back-to-back games against the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Hockey Club for a pair of losses.
Their road trip continues with another set of back-to-backs against the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks. However, the big talking point throughout the league is the fast-approaching trade deadline on March 7.
We’re starting to hear rumours about some high-profile players potentially on the move, while one-star player made an appearance on a high-profile late-night talk show. There’s lots of news to cover; let’s get into it.
Penguins willing to move off Karlsson
Not even two years after the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Erik Karlsson, it sounds like the club is ready to move off of him.
In an article from the Athletic’s Josh Yohe, he shared that sources told him that if he could, Kyle Dubas would trade Karlsson “in a heartbeat.”
Yohe added that an Eastern Conference executive shared that Karlsson’s name is out there.
The Penguins acquired Karlsson – along with Rem Pitlick, Dillon Hamaliuk and a 2026 third-round pick – in a blockbuster three-way trade that sent Mikael Granlund, Jan Rutta, Mike Hoffman and a 2024 first-round pick to the San Jose Sharks and Jeff Petry, Casey DeSmith, Nathan Legare and a 2025 second-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens.
Karlsson was coming off a 101-point campaign with the Sharks before he was acquired. It was just the 15 time a defenceman reached the century mark and the first since Brian Leetch with the New York Rangers in the 1991-1992 season.
In his first year with the Penguins, Karlsson tallied 11 goals and 45 assists for 56 points. He has followed that up with a strong offensive season, scoring six goals and 34 assists for 40 points through 59 games.
It may be difficult to trade Karlsson with his expensive $10 million AAV contract for the following two seasons. But it seems like the Penguins GM is hoping to capitalize on Karlsson after a strong tournament. That same NHL executive shared that Dubas would have to retain on any deal, but that’s to be expected.
The Penguins are on a back-nine of their run with an aging core and the bare prospect cupboards, currently sitting last in their division. Dubas will likely have no problem retaining to return the best possible return to help the club’s inevitable rebuild.
Bruins receiving calls on Marchand
It hasn’t been a fantastic season for the Boston Bruins thus far, as they are on the outside looking in for the Eastern Conference playoff picture. And it isn’t going to get much easier for them as their top two defencemen, Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm, are out of the lineup for the foreseeable future.
With the Bruins potentially losing out on their playoff hopes, all eyes point to next season, and it looks like they may be moving off of some of their upcoming unrestricted free agents. Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau look to be on the move, but questions about their captain, Brad Marchand, and whether he’ll remain with the team is in question.
Elite Prospects Cam Robinson shared this today on X:
Marchand reaffirmed his decision to remain a Bruin and wanting to finish his career in Boston. However, does that align with the Bruins’ stance?
Like the Penguins, the Bruins are weak prospect-wise, considering they’ve been a perennial contender. Is it time for Boston to start a re-tool and build around David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy?
We’ll have to wait and see until the March 7 trade deadline to see if he moves.
Now, let’s put on our Canucks glasses. I posed this question on X, would Canucks fans welcome a Marchand trade if he became available? Let us know in the comments below!
Matthew Tkachuk on the Tonight Show
From Stanley Cup Champion to the opening 4 Nations Face-off fight at puck drop, Matthew Tkachuk has been all about the headlines over the past calendar year. And he made some more on Monday night as he joined Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show.
The Tkachuk’s to the moon@TKACHUKycheese_ stopped by the @FallonTonight show tonight
pic.twitter.com/QuyGMdlztP
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) February 25, 2025
Tkachuk spoke about how excited he was to play with his brother for the first time:
The Florida Panthers forward added how special it was for him to represent his country at such a high-level tournament:
Unfortunately for Tkachuk, he would get hurt in the tournament and is set to miss some time for his club. While there was some speculation he would be out for the remainder of the season, his coach doesn’t believe that’s the case.
A pair of suspensions
Anaheim Ducks’ forward Trevor Zegras has been suspended for three games on February 24 for a hit to the head on Detroit Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen.
The hit occurred at the 17:17 mark of the second period and made direct contact with Rasmussen’s head far after the play. Zegras was not assessed a penalty on the play. This is the first suspension of Zegras’ career, and according to the report, he will lose out on $89,843.76.
He will miss Tuesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, Thursday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks and Saturday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Zegras returns in one week’s time against the Edmonton Oilers, three days before the NHL trade deadline.
Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman was suspended for 10 games on February 3 for roughing Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle off the faceoff.
Hartman puts his arm on top of Stutzle’s head and drives him down to the ice face first. Stutzle was left bleeding from his upper left eyebrow. Hartman was assessed a match penalty for the incident.
However, Hartman appealed the 10-game suspension, and the league lessened the suspension to eight games.
This marks the fifth suspension of Hartman’s career. Here are the previous four:
One game suspension for interfering with Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers in 2023.
One game suspension for an illegal check to the head on Colorado Avalanche forward Carl Soderberg in the 2023 playoffs.
Two game suspension for a dangerous trip on Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat later in 2023.
Three game suspension for throwing his stick at an official in 2024.
Hartman has missed four games already and will miss the following four games against the Red Wings, Utah Hockey Club, Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins. He will return in one week’s time against the Seattle Kraken, three days ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
Red Wings trade Husso to Ducks
On February 24, the Detroit Red Wings traded goaltender Ville Husso to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for future considerations.
Husso is in the final year of his $4.75 million contract he signed with the Red Wings in the 2022 offseason after a very strong 2021-2022 campaign. The Finnish netminder pushed Jordan Binnington for the starting job in the St. Louis Blues, finishing with a 25-7-6 record with a 2.56 goals against average (GAA) and a .919 save percentage (S%).
However, his play has really fallen off since joining the Red Wings, highlighted by a 1-5-2 record, 3.69 GAA and a .866 S%. His struggles resulted in him being demoted down to the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Husso has found a bit of his game again in the AHL, holding an 8-4 record with a 2.70 GAA and a .912 S%.
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Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
For a second, it seemed like Quinn Hughes wouldn’t play in this game.
But then he did!
And as you can read by the title, the Canucks won this game. Let’s dive in.
Dakota Joshua sprung Conor Garland for the Canucks’ first great chance of the night, but David Rittich squeezed his arm and cut off the gap that Garland was looking to exploit.
Nils Höglander, who was getting his shot in the top six tonight, created some space for himself by carrying the puck into the zone and making a nifty move to the middle before quickly ripping the puck past Rittich’s glove side to make it 1-0 Canucks.
Nils Hoglander opens the scoring with a beautiful goal!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 27, 2025
There wasn’t much space in this game, and the Canucks don’t exactly excel at creating space for themselves, so it was great to see Höglander do so. Especially given the fact that Höglander has struggled to do anything even close to that this season after scoring 24 goals in 2023-24.
The Canucks opened the second period by taking two penalties and killing both of them off. It was a bit more of a grind to get shots through, and the Canucks were beginning to fall victim to trying to make one too many passes. The Joshua-Chytil-Garland trio started to create some quality chances, but they too struggled to get shots through.
Later in the second, the Canucks got their first power play opportunity of the night, and made good on it. Here, it was Chytil setting up Garland.
Filip Chytil finds Conor Garland open in front of the net and he buries it! It's 2-0 Vancouver!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 27, 2025
2-0 Canucks.
Great to see Joshua get a point on this play. The Canucks got another power play chance shortly after, but couldn’t convert.
Thus, they entered the third period up by a pair of goals.
The Canucks played a tight-checking game, and really locked things down for the first half of the third. They were in passing lanes, minimized mistakes, and when they did make mistakes, they did an excellent job at not compounding those mistakes.
The Kings managed to get on the board when Adrian Kempe came in off the rush and sniped one past Lankinen with just over 10 minutes left to go.
Adrian Kempe cuts the Vancouver lead in half.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 27, 2025
2-1.
The Kings started to build up some pressure, and after an extended shift in the Canucks’ end, they fired a puck through traffic that made it 2-2.
LA ties the game.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 27, 2025
This one looked like a high-stick, and the Canucks challenged for goaltender interference. It was called a good goal after review, putting the Kings back on the power play.
The Canucks killed that one off, and Filip Chytil nearly put the Canucks ahead afterwards when he got a puck past Rittich but couldn’t beat the post by a matter of inches.
Filip Chytil blows by the LA defenceman and beats David Rittich… but can't beat the post. Tough break for the Canucks.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 27, 2025
This one needed overtime.
In OT, Drew O’Connor tripped up Kevin Fiala and gave the Kings a prime chance to end this game. Play stopped after Tyler Myers took a shot from Fiala to the neck area, and Myers was in immediate distress. Hope he’s okay.
After a strong play from Chytil and Hughes, Conor Garland scored his second goal of the game to put the finishing touches on this one.
CONOR GARLAND WINS THE GAME IN OVERTIME!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 27, 2025
3-2 final.
Some more takeaways from tonight:
-Really liked Dakota Joshua’s jump in this game, especially early on. I’m a big believer that he’ll turn his season around and look like the player we’ve seen him be before. After returning from his cancer treatment, it took Joshua a while to find his game. Just as he found it, he suffered a lower-body injury that kept him out for almost all of January. It’s been a process, but he’s showing flashes and it feels like he’s on the cusp again.
-Quinn Hughes is so damn good at hockey. It’s great to have him back on this team.
-Liked Carson Soucy’s game tonight. I get the Canucks want to trade him, but he was pretty good last season, and it’s hard to believe that he won’t naturally benefit from having Marcus Pettersson there to play matchup minutes alongside Tyler Myers.
-Absolutely love the snarl in Elias Pettersson’s game. He’s playing with so much confidence defensively and his reads are well beyond his years. I’m talking about the defenceman, of course.
-Another great start for Kevin Lankinen.
-Thought it was a great night for Conor Garland. He was a key driver to his line’s success. (I wrote this before his OT goal).
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!
And be sure to tune into Rink Wide Vancouver after the game LIVE on YouTube moments after the final horn!
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One of the Vancouver Canucks’ most memorable players recalled a night that gave the great Henrik Sedin an individual accolade.
On an episode of Energy Line with Nate & JSB, with former NHLer Nate Thompson and broadcaster Julie Stewart-Binks, former Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa talked about the night the team went out of their way to give Sedin the Art Ross Trophy during the 2009-10 season.
Heading into the final game of the season, Henrik was trailing Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin for the league lead in points by two. With the Canucks having already clinched a spot in the postseason, they decided to turn their goal toward helping the future captain.
New pod!
Energy Line with Nate & JSB️
Linkhttps://t.co/CtzPpH5Yjz pic.twitter.com/NDnbin3bqX
— Nate Thompson (@NateThompson44) February 26, 2025
“[Head coach Alain] Vigneault calls us in, and he goes, ‘[Kevin, Daniel, Henrik], you’re gonna play together all night. I don’t care about the game. I don’t care about winning, but we’re gonna get Henrik that record.’ It was the most fun game I’ve ever played in my entire life. I had two goals and an assist. I was like, all over the place, like it was just play after play.”
Henrik ended up having four points during the 7-3 beatdown of their Western Canadian rivals, enough to win the points race.
“We had a celebration like we won the Stanley Cup, but we were all so happy for him.”
For as good as the Sedin twins were, winning individual trophies wasn’t something that happened prior to that season. Playing in an era when Ovechkin and Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby burst onto the scene, standing out wasn’t easy for the Canuck legends. However, things just worked for the brothers that year.
Henrik would post a career-high 112 points that year, including 83 assists. Daniel was a little behind with just 85, as that point was the most he had scored in a single campaign. Henrik went on to win the Hart Trophy that season.
The following season saw Daniel light up the league. With 41 goals and 104 points in 2010-11, the Swedish winger won the Art Ross and was named the winner of the Ted Lindsay Award as the players’ choice for most valuable player.
Despite both going on to have Hall of Fame careers, scoring well over 1,000 points each in Vancouver, that would be the only time that the brothers each hit the century mark in a single season.
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I feel like we’re all pretty aware of how this season has gone so far, so I don’t have to drill down too deep in this intro.
Tyler Myers legacy game aside, the latest Vancouver Canucks loss, this time in the form of a 5-2 defeat to the mightiest Anaheim Ducks you know, hit all the usual notes:
- Elias Pettersson’s slow evolution into Loui Eriksson continued, as he has now hit eight games without getting more than a single shot in a game
- Quinn Hughes, despite looking like me when I try and get out of bed in the morning, did his best to generate goals through sheer force of skill and will
- Arturs Silovs probably isn’t an NHL goalie
- Conor Garland remains the most agitating guy to work a board battle against
- Kiefer Sherwood hit a bunch of dudes, so there’s that
- I think Boeser still plays for the team?
- Drew O’Connor was solid?
It was the type of game normally reserved for the pre-season, the kind of game that tends to match up with Rick Tocchet’s post-game comments where we often hear about how the team “looked nervous” or “weren’t moving their feet” or they “gotta fix a few things”, oh and don’t forget about not “having enough juice out there.”
It is the type of game we have seen far too much of this season, which just makes the Canucks season ticket pricing increase all the more incredulous for an owner that has yet to prove it has any sort of long term plan in place to provide a winning team. The days of Mike Gillis leading this team on the cutting edge of hockey management are long gone, and while the book is still out on Allvin and Rutherford, Francesco Aquilini’s era with Jim Benning has eroded any trust that might have still lingered from the 2011 core.
Two years is a long ways off, but we’re now at the point now where you have to start wondering just what exactly are the Canucks going to be offering Quinn Hughes in order to get him to sign a new contract with this team.
Which is why I guess the ticket price increase bothers me so much. You have a fan base that did its best to support Jim Benning and an owner cosplaying as general managers for almost a decade, a fan base that watched a team sink to the bottom of the standings year after year, being told to empty its wallets because last year was pretty decent.
One year of moderate success, and suddenly champagne problems are back on the menu?
I don’t know; I don’t get it. Maybe Allvin and Rutherford have a long-term plan. Maybe they have a re-build or re-tool in mind. Maybe there is a plan to surround Quinn Hughes with the team he deserves waiting in the wings, and we just need to be patient. Maybe that Marcus Pettersson trade was just the beginning for a new Avengers team being assembled for Vancouver.
It’s just that’s an awfully big ask from a team that has shown it can’t even upgrade the seats in the arena in a reasonable amount of time.
But as I was told during the Jim Benning Era, you just have to give it time. Sit back and let management cook! Which I guess, sure, that’s all we can do. We have no control over this; we can’t change anything, so all we can do is wait.
It’s just really hard some nights to wait for it to get better when we have to watch a game like we saw Thursday night, stuck in this Groundhog Day loop of being told that first step is a real doozy. I’m not sure how much patience this city has, but it sure feels like potentially missing the playoffs and still jacking the ticket prices up might be the final straw for some people.
At least we’ll always have that first period from Tyler Myers?
Let’s get this over with.
Best once upon a time there was a tavern, where we used to raise a glass or two
Omg!! Takes a penalty. Then right out of the penalty box the chaos giraffe goes in and hammers a clapper top shelf blocker side. 1-0 #canuckswooooooo!
— just a guy.(@jaycee24_) February 28, 2025
Remember how we laughed away the hours? Think of all the great things Myers would do:
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end; we’d sing and dance forever and a daaaaaaaaaaaay.
This is, without a doubt, the highlight of the game. Savour it, drink it in, inject it into your soul.
After taking a penalty for a delay of game, Tyler Myers walked out of the box and gets a slick pass from Drew O’Connor and absolutely uncorks a lethal piss missile that Gene Hackman would have been arguing with Denzel Washington over in Crimson Tide.
Remember, this is a day after taking a puck to the throat and having to leave the game due to it. Instead of sitting out and resting up, Tyler Myers was all “I didn’t hear no bell” and shoved his way into the lineup. I imagine people were holding him back, begging him not to play, but Chaos Giraffe wasn’t having it. He put his damn gear on and went out and had the first period of his life, unloading clap bombs and then dangling around like Mario to set up a goal.
When the chaos goes in your favour, those are the nights CG57 is a God amongst men.
It’s also nice to sit back and enjoy a goal off the rush, something Vancouver just really isn’t that into this year. Sure, goals off the rush are fun, but have you tried defending the guts of the ice instead?
Speaking of Doc, he had himself a night. And by had himself a night, I just mean he was noticeable in the bottom six, which should set the bar at the appropriate level. Like, he’s not out here going bar down like a young Cody Hodgson in his prime, but he was skating hard and making life kind of annoying for the Ducks at times, which is all you can ask for.
And heck, he even managed to get an odd-man rush to go in the Canucks favour a few moments after the Myers goal:
He’s got good wheels, especially on a team where you can swear you sometimes see a pleading look in Elias Pettersson’s eyes, imploring someone to push him so he can feel like he’s going zoom zoom.
Will Doc ever amount to a higher plateau than Tyler Motte? I’m not sure. But on a two-year, $2.5 million extension, at last the risk is minimal? I tend to be of the mind that your pro-scouting department should be able to bring in bottom-six players on the million, but if you see something in a guy that elevates him to that elite third line level, you hand out the extra coin. And hey, I won’t argue that Doc has an intriguing skill set, so have at it Canucks.
Best I promise saves were made
Arturs Silovs had a strong start to this game, but as with most Arty Partys, you wish you had left it earlier.
It was the same old story with Silovs, where he would make a couple of highlight-reel saves only to be undone by a “huh” goal. You know, the kind where a shot goes past the keeper, and you just sort of stare and go “huh” as you wonder how this happened. You understand a goal was scored; you just don’t know why it scored. You almost take it personally, as if the goalie let it in on purpose just to spite you.
Arty would eventually let in two goals on his glove side, and I think it was because he put a little too much sauce on this early glove save:
You can’t be flashing that leather if you’re not going to be backing it up the rest of the game, young man. You had that puck well in your glove without any rotation, but oh no, you just had to go around the world with it afterward. You brought this on yourself!
Still, it wouldn’t be a Silovs game without him making a random grade-A highlight-reel cross-crease save:
Leo Carlsson had a fantastic look at the net on that rebound, but Silovs kicked out the pad at the last second to make the big save.
Those were the days, my friend.
Best stats gone wild
I will say that the shot counters in the NHL live in a different world from the rest of us. They are constantly adding shots or removing them as the game goes on, and sometimes not even counting a shot like this one from Quinn Hughes:
I assume they theorized that shot was going wide, but if a goalie snags the puck off a shot like this, I feel like we have to credit him with a save. I can practically smell their protractors as they attempted to analyze whether this puck had a chance of hitting the net, and you know what, at that point, just count it.
I remember back in my day a Cal Clutterbuck hit would count for seven hits at a time, I miss the days of excess.
Best vintage Calder energy
When Bonnie Tyler needs someone, she speed dials Tyler Myers:
Yes, you just watched the chaos giraffe dangle all around the offensive zone before finding Pius Suter for the easy tap-in.
Go ahead, watch it again. Lord knows it all goes downhill from here. Watch as the ghost of Tyler Myers Calder Trophy season reunites with his body, allowing him to go full Quinn Hughes in setting up that goal.
Is it weird that not a single forward has out-dangled Hughes or Tyler Myers in a couple of months? Of course it is, but this is the world we live in now. Just pay for your tickets and be thankful that we might be getting new black seats in a decade or two.
Best reality
I’m telling you, anytime you anger or hurt the chaos giraffe, that’s when he plays his best hockey.
Best chaos trick
A Tyler Meyers hat trick = a goal, an assist & a dumb penalty #Canucks
— DaveOfEarth
“Questionable penalty” is the polite way of stating that, but yes, this is now officially a Chaos Trick.
Best almost had ’em
Not sure Tocc could've handled Hogz with back-to-back goals like that anyway#Canucks
— Dragon Was Slayed (@522IntoOvertime) February 28, 2025
I imagine if Nils Höglander scores here, Tocchet would look up at the camera and whisper “not like this” with tears in his eyes, fully certain that he’s about to be removed from The Matrix:
It’s such a fantastic read from Nearly Nils on that pass at the point, and he had that top shelf just begging him to nail it.
The really unfortunate part about Höglander not scoring on that play is that it took away the Canucks ability to blow a three goal lead instead of a pedestrian two goal lead.
But believe it or not, even at the start of the second period the Canucks were still kind of generating rush chances.
You had Doc trying to bust through the middle of the ice, giving Tocchet that North/South hockey he loves so much:
And you had Brock Boeser feeding Pew Pew on a two on one that could have given the Canucks a three goal lead:
And you had Marcus Pettersson shutting down a rush and setting up one of his own, sending in Filip Chytil on a two-on-one only to be shut down by a slip and slide from Radko Gudas:
Fun fact: Radko Gudas had more shots in this game than Elias Pettersson.
Wee.
The point is, the Canucks had a strong start in this game. And while I understand it was a back-to-back night, and that long line change in the second period is a real doozy, it still felt alarming to see how much the Canucks fell apart from this point onwards. It felt like watching my parents’ marriage fall apart, where I could see it happening a mile away, and I was just patiently waiting for the “don’t worry, now you’ll get TWO Christmas celebrations” speech.
Except I never got that Lego set, did I, Mom? Did I?
Sorry, where was I?
Right, Radko Gudas is only 27 shots away from catching up to EP40 on the season.
Best you done gloved up
Frank Vatrano, who for some reason my brain just assumes is still a 22-year-old rookie, is in fact a 30-year-old man who likes to shoot glove side:
Much like your current dating outlook, Fil Hronek probably tried to keep things a little bit too casual? He could have cut down that shooting angle a bit better? He ends up hitting the shot block button very far to the right of Silovs, which would have been great at stopping the shot if Frank had been aiming at the boards.
Instead, to his credit, Frank gets off a hell of a shot that finds the net in part because Silovs is tight and deep in his net. If this was the early 90s, Felix Potvin makes that save easy because the guy shooting at him probably just finished a beer during intermission. But in today’s NHL, players can snipe from anywhere, as we all know.
Again, this wasn’t the biggest defensive breakdown. It was very much a bang-bang play, but it was created due to Anaheim tilting the ice in the other direction, as they started generating more and more scoring chances as the game continued. Make your own luck and all that.
Or sit back and pray you can ride out the rest of the game defending your lead without any sort of pushback.
Tomato, tomato.
Best posting up
Only guys generating any offence are Tyler Myers and Quinn Hughes#Canucks
— Dani (@Dani12345D) February 28, 2025
Suter has two options on this play: pass to Forbort or pass to Hughes, and he chose the captain:
Forbort could have had his stick up in the air for an hour, and he was still never getting that pass, but I appreciate him playing along with it.
Quinn Hughes ended up hitting the post, but was by far the best Canuck player in terms of generating offensive chances for his team. Hughes led the team at 5-on-5 with nine scoring chances, and just to randomly compare him to another player, oh let’s say Elias Pettersson, a man who only had one scoring chance generated on the night.
The good news is he wasn’t dead last, as Elias Pettersson stayed just ahead of Derek Forbort’s zero scoring chances generated, although I still think Derek holding his stick up in the air for that pass should have counted as one.
Look, I still think Elias Pettersson can figure his sh!t out; I truly do. Whether it’s physical or mental, I think there is a big case to be made that you spend all of your resources trying to repair him.
I just think it’s a bad look when Loui Eriksson becomes an actual comparison for his on-ice play. Dude is straight up doing the little things out there. He’s very good defensively, but oh my god, we’re at the point where I’m starting to wonder if he held back Ilya Mikheyev. This is a very dark place to be in right now.
His game has just fallen off a cliff compared to that kid who came in doing his dekes, and I cannot for the life of me understand why it hasn’t gotten back on track yet. He’s struggling to get a shot on net, let alone multiple shots, that would require a gun rack.
Best you give glove a bad name
The Ducks’ second goal was one of those “huh” moments for me, as Cutter Gauthier made it 2-2 on what was a decent shot, but man, Arty has to have that one:
Now, Silovs wasn’t helped out at all by the defensive version of Elias Pettersson, as he stayed high in the play, allowing Gauthier to get in behind him.
But you also have Arty once again going conservative and leaning hard right, giving that look high glove side that Cutter was able to exploit.
And the Ducks, well, they smelt blood on the water as they continued to pour on the pressure. Apparently, you don’t have to sit back after scoring a couple of goals?
Ryan Strome, another proud member of the “oh sh!t that guy is 30+ years old now?” club, got a good look on net off a bad rebound from Silovs on a Troy Terry shot:
Which then led to another chance that the Ducks almost scored on when Alex Killorn just missed putting in a rebound off a Leo Carlsson:
Again, not a great rebound from Silovs but you can also see the Canucks wilting against the rush chances from the Ducks, offering up very little resistance to zone entries. It was a passive game from a tired team, but good teams can still find a way to win in these situations. Sitting back like this is death, especially with an unproven young goaltender in net.
Best Quinn love
The Canucks dressed seven defenceman again to help ease Quinn back into the lineup, only to have Quinn lead his entire team in ice time at 22:38 minutes.
Which is incredible considering he is clearly not yet 100%, nor do we have any idea of when he might be fully back into form.
All we know is that despite not being at full health, he was still able to dance around the offensive zone, get a shot on net, and draw a penalty:
Which, in a normal world, hey, maybe your team gets a power play goal. Maybe they realize that they blew a two-goal lead and life is fleeting, so it’s best to score as quickly as possible.
Or, you know, you fail to generate any good scoring chances and instead let the Ducks score after the power play expires:
The Canucks had numbers on this rush, but instead of defending the GOTI, they all drift to the right side of the ice, opening up those guts. Forbort, Myers and Blueger all collapse to the boards, leaving Ryan Strome time and space to get off a decent shot.
Yes, Silovs needs to make a save there, but you also don’t need to be giving up that shot in the first place if you just defend that rush better.
You can survive rush chances, or you can survive shaky goaltending, but you can’t survive both.
Do you know how weird it was to watch Anaheim fans have hope in their eyes? Like, not just desperate hope, but actual conviction that they knew they were going to win this game? It was unnerving.
Best hit ’em with your best shot
Give me 20 players with this level of compete, and I’ll get you into the playoffs:
Corolla Garland doesn’t back down from anyone.
The only thing really surprising from this was that Jacob Trouba never tried to elbow Garland in the head later.
Best SOS
Like I said, I thought Doc had a good game. He used his speed here to create a rush chance that ended up with Tyler Myers shooting for a rebound that could have ended up as a goal if God didn’t hate you:
The best part was Ray Ferraro explaining on air about how shooting for rebounds is a smart play, as if all of us didn’t grow up on cheesing EA Sports NHL games using this same strategy.
Best sobering reality
In a season of “are you sh!tting me?” depressing stat tweets from J-Pats, this might be the worst one yet. How are we living in a timeline where the Canucks forwards are this bad. We’re at the point now where if you re-sign Brock Boeser, you almost have to ask yourself, why bother, if this is the best run support the forward group can produce.
Hey, maybe they shake out of this rut, and all is forgiven in a week or two, but that stat should be stapled up in the dressing room until that happens.
The Canucks best chances to tie this game up was this Suter pass to DeBrusk on the power play:
And then Fil Chytil just sort of living life and skating around until a lane to the net magically appeared in front of him:
Natural Stat Trick had the Canucks with only five high-danger chances on the night (three came in the first period) and only one in the third period, so I assume that DeBrusk shot was it.
Which, to be fair, hey, that’s a nice scoring chance. Good pass from Pew Pew, and if there’s any guy you want silently sneaking into your house so he can score a goal, it would be Jake. His blue paint game is the best on the team, so had your best guy giving it his best shot.
It’s just, again, a very sad state of affairs if your entire third period strategy ended up being, “Sure hope Jake scores on the one nice looking chance we generate in this period.”
It just feels bleak.
Best last gasp
As good as Quinn Hughes was, unless he’s shooting on Silovs, he’s most likely not scoring on this play:
Kudos to Hughes for generating that chance. We all know how hard he has to work when he’s the only guy doing anything out there. The fact he even gets a shot on net out of this is a testament to his elite skill set.
But when he does all that work and then has to watch as his team gets boxed out of the crease, giving Lukas Dostal a clear view of the puck, it has to be disheartening.
There is a reason this team cannot score any goals, and it’s because literally nobody aside from Quinn Hughes or Tyler Myers on a Michael Jordan flu game level can produce any semblance of offence.
Remember when Chytil joined the team and started driving the zone and generating chances? Dead. Gone. Over with.
The GOTI system is either outside of the skill set of this current roster, or the GOTI system has serious flaws that destroy offence at an atomic level.
Best please end it
Jackson LaCombe with the goal and the assists going to Conditioner and Shampoo:
Canucks try to enter the zone, they get countered, and in what is clearly a case of “Quinn Hughes is being held together by duct tape at this point”, Hughes gets beat by a LaCombe dangle.
You can see Chtyil jump up into the rush to give Garland a lane down low, but Conor pulls up and ends up losing the board battle, which, to be fair, is a rare occurrence. Regardless, because Chytil is caught so deep, it allows Anaheim to push back the other way with numbers, also kind of due to Gudas literally holding Garland to the boards for around 18 minutes. No call from the refs, but maybe that’s out of pity due to the power play struggles of Vancouver.
Either way, LaCombe, shockingly, goes glove side high on Silovs, who, shockingly, has drifted to the far right of his crease again.
Ready to pay more for those tickets yet?
Best posterity
Wow. Well dosent matter how many trades we get, this team just isn’t it. #canucks time to rethink everyone. Well not Hughes
— Lucy Hawkins
Troy Terry scored the empty-netter, so I am just posting this so I don’t get fined:
Tyler Myers gets his shot blocked, and it was officially game over.
Congratulations, you made it through another game!
See you Saturday?
Best King Loui
Best those really were the days, my friend
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We’re officially in the bleakest timeline as the Vancouver Canucks are playing terrible hockey, but due to the fact so many other teams in the West are stunningly mediocre as well, somehow remain firmly in the hunt for a playoff spot. Which makes next week’s NHL trade deadline that potent blend of equal parts horror and fascination, aka the matcha Frappuccino of our time.
You’d think after losing to Anaheim on Thursday, then dropping a 6-3 decision to Seattle on Saturday, that maybe the team would lean more towards selling off a few assets come deadline. Or, at the very least, not trade away draft picks to try and bolster a potential playoff run this season. With Quinn Hughes’ body looking like it’s held together by duct tape and used gum at this point, and with Elias Pettersson currently enrolled in the witness protection program, it’s hard to imagine a positive scenario in which the Canucks can trade away enough draft capital to bring in a forward or two to help try and outscore Tyler Myers.
Last year, they took their shot with Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, and we all had a fantastic time. The Canucks rode the highest of highs and all the power to them for giving that core a shot. Those playoff memories were grand, and, heck, I’d go so far as to say it was the best hockey jollification we’ve had in this town in over a decade.
But this year, it’s hard to make the case that the Canucks can find a way to go on a deep post-season run, even if they make some moves at the deadline to add some talent. The main concern you often hear in response to exclaiming that the Canucks should sell at this year’s deadline is “but what message does that send to Quinn Hughes??”, as his pending free agency in a couple of years looms large over this fan base. Which hey, fair enough. Quinn Hughes is the best defenseman this team has ever seen, and every single team in the NHL would line up to give him all of the money if given the chance, much less the team that has his two brothers patting an empty spot on the couch beside them. You want him to enjoy playing hockey, and yeah, he probably would enjoy the thought that maybe his team can win the Stanley Cup on occasion.
I would argue, though, that stumbling into the playoffs for a couple of seasons feels like a hard sell to entice Quinn to stick around. “Hey man, you like first round exits, because we have got you covered.” And with the roster constructed the way it currently is, it’s really hard to picture a trade deadline strategy that would bolster this lineup into being a true contender.
I think there is a world that exists where the Canucks can be extremely proactive in attempting a quick re-tool of sorts in which they can try and build up enough of a core around Quinn Hughes to give him a few shots at deep playoff runs down the road. A couple of savvy moves at this deadline, a solid off-season in free agency, maybe you hit on some of your younger players, and now maybe there’s a path to the playoffs that isn’t just “pray and hope Quinn Hughes can carry us for an entire season.”
Otherwise, we find ourselves back in that Benning nightmare of “just get in and see what happens” logic, which, even if you make that magical run to the Finals as a wildcard team, traditionally ends with sadness and misery. Although, if you’re lucky, you might end up with the most miserable-looking goalie you’ve ever seen accepting a Conn Smythe trophy in the loss.
The problem with all of that, however, is we know the Canucks owner likes himself some money. Downright loves it. Would bathe in it if he could. Scrooge McDuck swimming in a pile of gold coins wasn’t a cartoon to him; it was a blueprint. I would argue that Jim Rutherford is also a man who has no problem going all in if he thinks he can sneak into the playoffs. And if you’re watching this team play hockey right now, I have to assume even Frankie and Jim would agree that this roster isn’t showing promising signs of locking up that wildcard spot.
Which brings us back to the deadline and wondering just what the hell this team is going to do. Are they going to trade out assets to bring in some veteran talent to try and get into the playoffs? Or will they slow-play this season and attempt to plan for next year?
With an owner probably planning the next winery he is going to buy with those potential playoff funds, and a management team that has shown a desire to win now rather than later, it feels like additions are most certainly coming.
Whether that is the right move or not, well, now we’re back to that Jim Benning era special of “let’s wait and see”, which, to be honest, is some of the scariest words you can whisper in this town.
So I guess let’s wait and see?
Best random number generator results
GAME ON.
Sportsnet
Sportsnet 650 pic.twitter.com/CPNsO2l501
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 2, 2025
On the one hand, they’re not winning games, so why not just throw the lines in a blender?
But on the other hand, what are these lines? It feels like AI generated this lineup, and we’re all kind of wondering why Blueger has six fingers and why Kevin Lankinen looks a little too much like Dave Foley.
Which, to Rick Tocchet’s credit, I guess it didn’t matter in the end anyway? The team used the exact same game plan they brought out against the Ducks in which they played well for the first period before collapsing into a blackhole of sadness and rejection quicker than your last Tinder date.
Best I’m a fan of these things
The first clip of the game is Fil Hronek getting absolutely drilled into the boards, and I am including it because I just like big hits:
The game started with a huge hit on Fil and ended with a huge hit on Fil, so if you’re a big fan of bookend storytelling, oh boy, did this game deliver. Nothing sells tickets quite like literary mechanics at work.
Best throat goat
Drew O’Connor and Tyler Myers got the first goal against Anaheim, and on Saturday against Seattle, they almost opened the scoring yet again:
The play starts off with a good steal from Doc and then transitions into a nice give-and-go between himself and the Chaos Giraffe. Much like last game, Doc had himself a good bottom-six game in that his speed was on full display, as were his attempts at generating shot chances. But much like last game, the bar of “Hey Doc had some good shifts!” being one of the high points from your forwards is never a place you want to find yourself in. The fact Doc was more memorable than anything Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser did is a very large problem for a team that is desperate to win hockey games against bottom-feeding teams.
Again, they lost to Anaheim and Seattle, two teams that are probably just as upset they beat the Canucks as you are, as they game plan for a high pick in the NHL draft. This is not a good look for anyone.
Best efforts
Quinn Hughes played the last few games as the “7th” d-man, just in case his injuries prevented him from playing the entire game. So leave it to tonight, when the team finally just dressed six defenseman, to be the game where it appeared his injuries became too much for him to take a regular shift.
To his credit, he still played almost 22 minutes, which put him just seconds behind Hronek for the most ice-time of any Canuck player. But with the game on the line in the third period, he began missing multiple shifts and was seen sitting on the bench stretching his body, seemingly trying to see how much he could give.
But if we’re being honest, this was a very poor game from Quinn Hughes. Don’t get me wrong, a poor Quinn Hughes still plays at a higher level than most everyone on the Canucks, but we just aren’t used to seeing Hughes on the ice for so many goals against.
And the first Kraken goal came as a result of Hughes throwing a pass behind Pius Suter at the point, which led to an odd-man rush goal the other way:
The Canucks had two forwards skating in deep on the initial rush and I just assume they saw Quinn Hughes and thought everything was going to be all right. When you’re Quinn Hughes and every pass you make is almost perfection, it’s hard to imagine a world in which Gods can bleed, but that’s where we found ourselves.
Shane Wright took advantage of this miscue by drawing in Hronek before feeding a slick backhand pass over to Andre Burakovsky for the one-timer, leading to the early 1-0 lead, followed by one of the best goal songs in the league.
Best a wild chaotic giraffe appears
Look, if Tyler Myers can rush end to end, surely Elias Pettersson can rediscover that form as well?
Alas, Tyler Myers was stopped by Joey Daccord, but you have to give credit to CG57 for making things happen the last few games. Dude has his chaos absolutely dialed into the “good” direction right now.
Best game plan execution
The best period from the Canucks was clearly the first period, as they played what I would call top level GOTI hockey. The kind of hockey Rick Tocchet would bring home to the family and tell them they’ve adopted it to replace their last son, a storyline Face/Off actually used in one of the wildest endings to a movie I have ever seen. But I digress.
The point is that Tocchet loves an aggressive forecheck. And while I fear a system based on “Move your feet at all times, full speed only, never stop stopping” has some holes in it, when it works, it looks great, as seen here with Nils Höglander and Kiefer Sherwood:
They simply out-worked the Kraken on this shift, scaring them into getting rid of the puck so quickly that they eventually just said “eff it, here you go Suter” and let him score the goal so they could go for a line change. It’s hard working hockey at its finest, and it paid off for the Canucks in the first period in big ways.
They continued to pressure Seattle in the period, leading to a post from Dakota Joshua, followed up by Dak setting up shop in the crease to create traffic for the deadliest shot known to man, the Derek Forbort wrister:
This was something Tocchet specifically called out last game when he said there was no traffic in front of the goalies, leading to an easy night for the Ducks. Against the Kraken, you could see the team making concerted efforts to clog up the GOTI and try and take away the eyes from Joey All Right. Now, do I love an offensive game plan centered purely around “stack the middle of the ice, wrist shots from the point for everyone?” No, no I do not. But that is a way you can score goals in this league and is clearly the main way this team feels it can generate points. At the very least, it’s a step up from watching Quinn Hughes dangle all over the ice only to shoot the puck at a goalie who can see it the entire way.
And hey, the Canucks were doing their best to make it work, as Jake DeBrusk would later hit a post after more hard work from Nearly Nils and Pius Suter led to a loose puck in the slot:
Now the Canucks would eventually lose this game of course, but at least their hard work on the forecheck led to 11 high danger chances on the night, more than double what they got against the Anaheim Ducks. So if you’re handing out moral victory gold stars, that clearly deserves one, even if it’s kind of depressing to be talking this way after a game against a team many points behind you in the standings.
Best point shot offense
Speaking of shots from the point leading to goals, leave it to the Chaos Giraffe to break a stick on his slapper, leading to the perfect off-speed pass down low to Filip Chytil:
Chandler Stephenson stumbles off the draw which allows Chytil to find himself wide open to tuck that puck in around Joey All Right, giving the Canucks their first goal.
And if not boxing out your opponents and goals off of faceoffs are your kink, better grab that Vaseline because this is the game you’ve been waiting for!
Best last gasp
The first period was so efficient from the Canucks that even their power play looked pretty solid? Good puck movement and quick shots led to Brock Boeser getting a good look in the slot that ended up hitting Jake DeBrusk:
Fun fact: That was Brock Boeser’s only shot attempt of the game. Which isn’t fun so much as a “right right right” sort of moment of reflection.
Not to be outdone, Elias Pettersson ended the game with another zero-shot night, but hey, at least he had four attempted shots?
Is that where we are now? Celebrating attempted shots?
I miss 2023.
Best iron deposits
Jake DeBrusk got his second post of the night when he utilized Conor Garland’s trademark “mini-stick offensive hockey” approach in which you attempt to hide in plain sight by ducking really close to the ice by a post, praying nobody sees you, and then using your hockey stick like it’s 30 centimeters long:
Hey, it almost worked, and I honestly giggle every time I see a player who joins the team embrace the Corolla Garland way of life.
Part of you might have watched this game and said a couple of posts go the Canucks way, and maybe this is a different story. And look, I don’t doubt that; I think luck played a factor tonight in derailing one of their better efforts in a while. But you’re also dealing with a Canucks team that hasn’t been good enough this season, so on those nights where luck doesn’t go their way, it’s compounded by the fact they’re out here losing games against Anaheim, where luck wasn’t a factor at all.
If you win four games and lose one due to luck, that’s all good; elite teams have that happen all the time.
When you’re out here struggling to get two wins in a row, all of a sudden, that “bad luck game” is just another flavour profile used to explain that your team lost yet again.
Best bring out your dead
If Vancouver won the board battles in the first period, it clearly switched to Seattle’s favor in the second period, as they began to force the Canucks into making turnovers or losing coverage in their own zone.
Seattle tied the game up after winning a board battle, leading to Oliver Bjorkstrand standing all alone in front of Kevin Lankinen for the tip on the Brandon Montour shot:
Hronek leaves Oliver all alone and shows up far too late to offer up any defensive coverage, which essentially gives all the time and space in the world for Bjorkstrand to line up his deflection. Normally, that is Quinn Hughes’ side of the ice, but he ended up battling in the corner for the puck, and Hronek failed to recognize that he needed to slide over in his coverage. Which is pretty par for the course for this Canucks team, as their ability to box out the crease has been absolutely brutal all season long.
Even worse than the goal? The footage of Quinn Hughes trying his best to contain his man ending in him falling to the ice and taking quite a while to get back up:
It’s abundantly clear that Hughes barely made it through this game, which explains why it was one of those rare nights where he made multiple mistakes that led to a goal against. The heart is willing, but the body isn’t able sort of deal.
It was an admirable effort from the captain, but you also have to wonder, if Quinn Hughes breaks himself in half just to get into the playoffs, how much of him will be left over to help with a post-season run in which the physicality ramps up tenfold? I know he didn’t hear no bell, but man, that’s tough to watch your franchise player struggle to get up off the ice.
Best short-handed dingle dangle
Dakota Joshua, looking like 2025 John Cena, hits Joey All Right with a shot he never saw coming:
Again, we have a clip featuring the speed of Doc on display, as his ability to transition quickly up the GOTI is what leads to this 2-on-1 with Dakota Joshua. And Joshua, that’s the kind of skill we saw a lot of last season, the skill that earned him his new contract. In terms of “maybe they plan for next year and hope some of their younger guys hit”, Dakota Joshua should be included in the “maybe he finds his game again next year” category, considering the off-season he had this year.
Also, doesn’t it feel like the last time we saw a nice goal like that was around three years ago? No offence to greasy goals, but it’s nice to see some slick moves once in a while, you know?
Best failure to launch
How much longer are we going to let Petey take important draws?#Canucks
— caleb kirby
Not only did Elias Pettersson lose the draw, but he then released Matty Beniers, allowing him to skate unimpeded to the net to get his stick on the Vince Dunn shot:
Yes, JT Miller probably would have won that draw. And yes, he probably would have yelled at Collin Delia at some point. I don’t know how or why; I just know it would have happened.
Look, if Elias starts losing the “little things” crown, what do we even have left? Defensive responsibility is the only thing we can bring up when the orcs are at Helm’s Deep demanding to be let in so they can trade the Swedish winger. Without the little things, we’ve got nothing, and that is a really rough look on this goal.
And sure, multiple tipped goals against? That feels like some bad luck. But you also can’t help the other team out by leaving them all alone so they can take their time, adjust their helmet and fix their hair before trying to line up the deflection.
Again, this team is absolutely horrendous at boxing players out near their crease, and Saturday night it was on full display yet again.
Ian Cole wouldn’t have let that happen; that’s all I’m saying.
Best make your own luck
Eeli Tolvanen put the Kraken ahead for good when he, and this might shock you, tipped a shot from the point via Ryker Evans:
It’s safe to say the Kraken had more tips than a Nintendo Power from 1989 on this night, but once again, the Canucks did themselves no favours. In particular, a rare Quinn Hughes turnover leads to the puck staying in the Canucks zone, and then when Quinn’s stick breaks on the play, instead of following his man and attempting to offer up token resistance, he just sort of floats over to Teddy KGB Blueger’s guy. Teddy turns around as if to say, “Oh wait, you want me to get Tolvanen?” but by then, it’s too late. Eeli has had around 14 days to set up his first mortgage payment, allowing just enough time to tip the shot.
Quinn Hughes gave up on this play, and I have to assume it’s because his body is just done at this point. He just sort of grabs the nearest guy and prays the shot doesn’t go in, which is clearly stealing my beer league hockey strategies. Stay and pray is something I invented, and I demand royalties.
Best regression
The Canucks ended the period with six shots, a far cry from the fifteen they put up in the first, but at least their third one was a beauty:
See, even a broken-down Quinn Hughes can still make delectable outlet passes to Fil Chytil, even if Joey All Right makes the big save. At least there was a bit of pushback to end the period, and yes, I am quite clearly grasping at straws at this point to find any positives.
“Hey, you might have sh!t your pants, but at least your mom is dead and wasn’t here to see it” isn’t the most inspiring message to send, but it’s all we’ve got.
The other good shot of the period came from, who else, Tyler Myers:
If ever there was a sign Quinn Hughes is hurt, it’s him dealing the puck to Tyler Myers so he could dangle and shoot on net, and all of us nodding along, knowing that it was the right play.
Best pick-me-up
They also haven’t won a game trailing after two periods this season, so the good news is Jeff’s tweet could have been even more depressing had he wanted it, but he held back so he wouldn’t bum you out. He did that for you.
Best Hughes meltdown
A Kiefer Sherwood turnover led to Quinn Hughes praying Burakovsky would just sort of go away if he waved his stick in his general direction:
Yes, something leads me to suspect Quinn Hughes isn’t playing at 100% right now.
Just a working theory, mind you.
Best clap bomb
Brandon Montour would then officially officially put the game away in the third period when he would casually walk in and unleash a slapshot right by Kevin Lankinen:
Now, Connor Ingram would yell at me if I suggested Kevin Lankinen might want that one back, but I will say that this game was probably heading in this direction either way. Just a general lack of pushback from a team that cannot play consistently to save its life.
Best what about Vancouver?
For those sickos who want to see what the Canucks offered up in terms of offensive push back, the best chances in the third period were probably this Hronek shot that led to Doc getting a shot off in the slot after Chytil cut off a clearing attempt:
And then Carson Soucy shot a puck that led to Doc almost getting the rebound:
Like straight up, I have no clips of Pettersson or Boeser to show you. The only Brock highlight I had was him ripping his lone shot attempt into the back of DeBrusk, and the one good shift Pettersson had ended with him taking a penalty, so I didn’t even have the heart to clip it. I couldn’t come up with a fun way to explain how sad it was that one of the best shifts EP40 has had in a month ended in a penalty because it’s wild that “dove to keep the puck in at the line and made a couple of passes” is the new bar for a good Petey shift. It is incredible how far his game has fallen, and this is coming from someone who laughed at people who wrote him off earlier in the season.
I just can’t explain it. I don’t understand it. How is this the Elias Pettersson we watched tear up the league when he joined the Canucks? No reason has been offered up, so all we can do is sit back and watch in amazement as Drew O’Connor outshines their highest-paid player in an almost must-win game situation.
Best moral victory
For real though, the moral victory here is that Tyler Myers prevented Joey All Right from scoring a goal:
Sure, Seattle got their empty-netter, but at least the tallest player on the ice had the height to jump up and block Joey’s goal attempt. I don’t think we could have handled a 6-3 loss AND a goalie goal against.
Best closing statement
Post-game comments from Tocchet echoed much of what he’s said all season long: Key moments were there for the taking, but nobody could step up. We’re at the point where we could all recite his post-game comments off by heart at this point. Which brings us back to, just what does this team do at the trade deadline?
I guess all we can do is wait and see.
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With a giant inflatable coffee cup as a backdrop, the Vancouver Canucks returned to Rogers Arena for a noon hour practice on Sunday. The inflatable was on display as part of a minor hockey tournament that occupied the building for much of the weekend.
#Canucks today️
Joshua-EP40-Boeser
O’Connor-Chytil-Garland
DeBrusk-Suter-Höglander
Aman-Blueger-Sherwood
Bains
DPetey-Hronek
MPettersson-Myers
Forbort-Soucy
Mancini pic.twitter.com/A6eJc8nDhR
— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) March 2, 2025
While the coffee cup was hard to miss, it was the absences of captain Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko that loomed larger for the hockey club. Hughes is listed as day to day with a new injury not related to the oblique strain that kept him out of six games and the 4 Nations Face-Off recently.
“He tweaked something else so it was more precautionary,” head coach Rick Tocchet said after the 45-minute on ice session. “Kind of a maintenance day, but we’ll see how he is tomorrow and go from there. We have a day off tomorrow and we’ll see if he gets on the ice on Tuesday.”
The other notable absence from practice on Sunday was goalie Thatcher Demko, who left the team’s February 8th game against Toronto with an undisclosed injury. The club had said after the break that Demko would not travel with the team on its five-game road trip that wrapped up last night in Seattle. The hope was that he’d be available for practice up the club’s return from the road. That wasn’t the case on Sunday, but Tocchet believes it shouldn’t be long now before Demko is back with the group.
“He just started skating a few days ago, I don’t know if it’s two or three times he’s been on the ice just to skate so I think he’ll ramp it up,” the coach said. “I don’t know exactly when, but at least he’s skating.”
Without Hughes at practice, the Canucks had a steady rotation of the seven defencemen on the ice. Rookie Elias Pettersson saw shifts with Filip Hronek, however Victor Mancini also slid into Pettersson’s spot at times throughout the drills.
Up front, the Canucks used the same line combinations that generated three goals in Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Kraken. With just 10 goals on the five game road trip, offence remains the primary issue for the hockey club.
To that end, Rick Tocchet revealed that the Canucks have considered bringing Jonathan Lekkerimäki up from Abbotsford for a third NHL stint.
“Yeah, we’ve talked about it, sure, one hundred percent,” Tocchet said. “I know everyone wants to score, but there are a lot of elements to scoring. Lekkerimäki is a guy we’re really trying to teach down there. Yeah, he’s got a great shot, but he also has to get to the inside. He has to be able to play that style of play. So when he comes up here – this will be his third time if he comes up and there’s a good chance he will – hopefully he applies that inside game which he can do. He’s got a hell of a pair of mitts on him.”
The Canucks are home now for four straight and seven of their next eight. They have just one game – Wednesday against Anaheim – before Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
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Welcome back to Stars of the Week at CanucksArmy! Every week, we’ll be bringing you our Top Three best and brightest performers on the Vancouver Canucks that week. Disagree with our picks or have your own stars to nominate? Let us know in the comments below!
Are the Canucks okay? No. They passed “okay” a long time ago. They now occupy a space between “resigned acceptance” and “delusional optimism” that is perfectly fitting for March hockey. Take your pick on the path you would like to take.
The close to their road trip perfectly exemplifies the baffling contradictions of the current Canucks. They did not even play awfully by this year’s standards, save for their unacceptable 5-2 loss against the Anaheim Ducks. A well-fought overtime win against the L.A. Kings was welcomed, and they played just fine against the Seattle Kraken before falling apart in the latter half.
The problem is they cannot seem to function as a whole unit. When they don’t have the scoring, their sturdy goaltending and low-event defensive hockey keep them in games, and when they have the scoring, their defence and goaltending fall apart.
Nothing about this year’s team has been fully “on” simultaneously. I don’t have to be the next person to wax poetic about Elias Pettersson turning into Casper the Friendly Ghost on the ice because everyone has an opinion, and no one knows the truth but him. Maybe he doesn’t even have the full picture. It might make it difficult when everyone in the market has their own idea of what’s gone wrong in your game, and absolutely no one has answers.
That’s enough group therapy for this week. Let’s get on with the good news.
Tyler Myers
Tyler Myers is an enigma of a hockey player. Last week, he was one of my dishonourable mentions after what may be one of the worst periods of hockey I have ever seen him play. This week, Myers earned a third star after one of his best periods in recent memory.
Tyler Myers’ game swings back and forth like a pendulum swings on an old grandfather clock. Alas, Tyler Myers, much like that grandfather clock, is a beloved family heirloom that belongs in the room, and we love it all the same.
He went down against the Kings after taking a puck to the neck, in a pretty scary sequence for anyone watching live or at home. Luckily, he returned the next night only to put up a stellar performance in a not-so-stellar night for the Canucks. He took an early penalty, only to break out of the box for a bonafide Tyler Myers insane moment. He scored and followed it up with a primary assist on Pius Suter’s goal. Were these the only two Canucks goals of the night? Sure. It was a great game of Tyler Myers versus the entire Ducks roster.
Myers followed this up with a solid night in Seattle – a likely place for him to do so – despite the team’s shortcomings. The third period against Seattle saw him take a nearly 164-kilometre-an-hour (102 MPH for you imperial system folk) shot. Welcome back to the classic Tyler Myers slapshot that would get him served a speeding ticket on the highway. What a week.
Filip Chytil
Filip Chytil has been one of the strongest forwards for the Canucks since their return from the 4 Nations break – truthfully, since he arrived in Vancouver. It is hard to tell whether this is recency bias, whether he hasn’t yet been bogged down by the game plan that Rick Tocchet loves to talk about, or some combination of the two.
He has added an undeniable offensive edge that was desperately needed and clearly shines in even-strength scenarios. With the power play looking how it has been, having a reliable producer at 5-on-5 feels refreshing – add that to the list of things I never thought I would have to say this time last year. In fact, telling my March 2024 self that Filip Chytil is a Vancouver Canuck and J.T. Miller is not would probably be shocking enough. Understandably, there are still many raw emotions floating around about this trade. It is still far too soon to determine who won this transaction, but ultimately, Chytil is shaping up to be a very reliable addition so far.
Dakota Joshua
Dakota Joshua is well-deserving of a hat tip this week. Between overcoming surgery and treatment following his cancer diagnosis and dealing with further injury, he’s only managed to play 35 games thus far. Quite frankly, I’m willing to give him a lot of leeway. He overcame a very serious health scare even to play this season. I see no reason why he cannot return to unsung hero level territory in a better year for both the team and him personally.
The Seattle game was again an example of a solid effort that fell off the rails, but one of the highlights was a shorthanded goal from Joshua. Pius Suter and Kiefer Sherwood hold the only other two shorthanded goals this year, and it was nice to see him join their ranks.
Joshua also found himself starting this game alongside Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser on the top line, which is the equivalent of your primary school teacher seating the quiet student with two of the problem kids to “keep them in line.” He clearly is a player who takes adversity in stride and puts in a full effort, no matter what situation he is asked to perform in.
Get ready, hockey fans! The Daily Faceoff Deadline is happening on March 7th from 11 AM to 4 PM Eastern, and you won’t want to miss it. We’ll be LIVE, breaking down every trade and big move as it happens, with instant reactions and expert analysis from the Daily Faceoff crew. Plus, we’ve got special guests lined up throughout the show, offering exclusive insights from some of the biggest names in the game. From blockbuster trades to surprise moves, we’re covering it all. Tune in to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and follow Daily Faceoff socials on March 7th to catch all the action!
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