It appears we are getting closer and closer to Evander Kane being dealt from the Vancouver Canucks, as the team has given the forward’s agent, Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey, permission to facilitate a trade for his client. This courtesy of Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali — The Team.
With the team’s permission, Milstein can now talk to other teams to find a fit for Kane, maybe even in the long term with an extension. Kane’s current contract has a modified 16-team no-trade clause, so Milstein will likely work within the 16 approved teams, but it’s possible that an unapproved team may be able to offer Kane a better situation, and that he’d agree to waive in order to go there.
Kane is in the final year of his four-year contract with a $5.125 million cap hit, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his contract. According to AFP Analytics, Kane is projected to get a one-year contract at a salary just below $3 million for his next deal.
The Canucks are currently sitting in last place in the NHL by a wide margin, as their 39 points from a 17-30-5 record put them eight points behind the next-closest team. With them so far behind the rest of the league, selling at the trade deadline is their only option, which is why they’re looking to move on from Kane. They’ve already dealt captain Quinn Hughes and power forward Kiefer Sherwood, with Kane, Elias Pettersson, Conor Garland, Jake DeBrusk, Teddy Blueger, and Lukas Reichel all rumoured to be on the trading block, or at least players whom the Canucks are open to hearing offers about.
Kane has struggled with the Canucks this season, as his nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 51 games is his lowest point-per-game pace since his rookie season in 2009-10. Vancouver acquired Kane from the Edmonton Oilers in the offseason, with a 2025 fourth-round pick going to the Oilers, which they used to draft David Lewandowski.
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What Macklin Celebrini is doing in his sophomore NHL season is downright ridiculous.
After a rookie campaign in which he put up 63 points in 70 games as an 18-year-old, the North Vancouver native’s 26 goals and 48 assists through 50 games this season have him on pace to finish 2025-26 with 43 goals and 122 total points. Absurd. Ridiculous.
Somehow, despite the points, Celebrini’s defensive game and hockey IQ are arguably what stand out most in his game. His reads are top-notch, he anticipates plays well, and he uses his skill to quickly turn the play the other way for his team in the rare case that the puck isn’t already in the offensive zone when he’s on the ice. His 74 points give him a 40-point cushion on the Sharks’ next leading scorers, Tyler Toffoli and Alex Wennberg. Ridiculous.
As the Sharks roll into Rogers Arena on Tuesday night, they do so in the thick of the Western Conference playoff hunt. Currently, the Sharks sit in a three-way tie for the second Wild Card spot in the West with the Seattle Kraken and Los Angeles Kings hot on their heels. Make no mistake about it: the Sharks are where they are largely because of what Celebrini has managed to do this season.
“He is very close to being a superstar in this league,” Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky told NBC Sports Bay Area in December. “I know where he is in the points and how many points he has within the league, top league leaders. And what I love about him is he plays with winning habits. He plays a 200-foot game. He’s physical, which is unheard of for a 19-year-old center to play on both sides of the puck with the intensity that he does and obviously scoring at a high rate, creating at a high rate.
“I think it’s going to just continue to rise, our culture. Whether that’s practice, whether that’s an optional skate, whether that’s a day in the gym, he sets the pace. He’s the first guy in the gym. He’s the first guy working on his body. He takes his nutrition as seriously as it comes. That’s when you really start growing your organization. You look at the great athletes — they carry themselves with leadership capabilities on and off the field or the court or the ice. He’s well on his way to that.”
As Celebrini returns to his hometown once again, one thing is clear: the 19-year-old — who will represent Team Canada at the Olympics next month — has fully arrived as one of the game’s elite players.
Once upon a time, the budding superstar, who was seen on national television chanting “Go Canucks Go” in the stands at Rogers Arena during the 2023-24 playoff run, just a couple of months before he’d be drafted by the Sharks, wanted his favourite team to rebuild.
“I took my opportunity during that game to get one last Canucks chant going… I heard about it at the [NHL Draft] combine, yeah,” Celebrini said with a smile as Sportsnet’s Kevin Bieksa asked him about the moment.
And before that viral moment, Celebrini gave his thoughts on the Canucks’ direction at the IIHF World U18 Championships in Switzerland. In a conversation with Elite Prospect’s JD Burke, Celebrini said:
“Oh yeah, I’m a big Canucks fan … Well, I think they should be in a rebuild phase. I love the team.”
The quote from the 16-year-old Celebrini — who had yet to play his draft season at Boston University — came on the heels of yet another late-season push from the Canucks, this time thanks to Rick Tocchet replacing Bruce Boudreau in January. The Canucks won plenty of games down the stretch and lowered their odds of drafting another North Vancouver superstar who wanted to play for his hometown team: Connor Bedard.
With the need for a rebuild having finally become downright undeniable, the Canucks now sit in the basement of the NHL standings, while Celebrini drags his team into the fight each and every night as they chase down a playoff spot. And of course, the Sharks still have plenty of pieces along the way, and are being cautious not to accelerate out of their rebuild too quickly, even with the addition of Kiefer Sherwood earlier this month.
Sherwood won’t face the Canucks tonight, but once he returns, he could easily find himself on San Jose’s top line with Celebrini.
Perhaps in another timeline, those two could have been linemates in Vancouver.
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When you watch the San Jose Sharks, you’re just reminded of how far the Vancouver Canucks have to go in their rebuild. The 5-2 victory from San Jose? Not surprising. Expected, really. But the ease with which they did it, and with the amount of young talent on their roster not even entering their prime yet, that 2-3 year turnaround for Vancouver feels a bit ambitious, to put it kindly. We’re out here happily discussing 21-year-old Jonathan Lekkerimaki having some real zip on his shot while 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini is putting up a four-point night, 20-year-old Will Smith just behind him with three points, and 19-year-old d-man Scott Dickinson adding two points of his own
It’s even more sobering when you realize San Jose is currently battling to even get into a playoff spot to begin with. Suddenly, that road back to relevancy feels like it might take a few more years than ownership would like.
In the meantime, all we can do as outside observers is see if the Canucks lose with enough fight to make watching the games palatable, and try to ignore that voice in the back of your head that worries Adam Foote will destroy any young player on the team with whatever he calls this system of hockey he keeps presenting us with. Being a Tank Commander means losing, but sometimes Adam Foote is almost too good at it that you do kind of worry if it will impact the development curve of some of the younger guys on the team. There were points during the game against San Jose when it looked like Vancouver didn’t even belong in the same league as the Sharks, and that’s when you wonder if maybe we were so busy wondering if we could that we didn’t stop to think if we should.
Ultimately, I think you have to ride this out and go with a new coach next year, because bringing someone like Manny Malhotra mid-season would probably give you the dreaded new coach bump, which, coupled with a defensive system that probably takes it into account that stopping the puck from entering your net is a good thing, might hurt your draft position. You have to assume that if the Canucks finish last, they will drop to the third pick overall because that’s how the NHL prefers it, so locking up at least a top-three pick feels like a nice consolation prize of having to watch Adam Foote hockey for an entire season.
I wish I had better news for you about Tuesday night’s game. Again, I don’t think it’s effort that was lacking from the team so much as it was just a case of being severely outmatched by the speed of the Sharks, which paired nicely with the seasonal depression that has settled in on the team. The Canucks lost, which is the ultimate goal as always, but unfortunately, they couldn’t make it a fun loss.
If getting to watch the birth of a monster in the form of Macklin Celebrini sounds enjoyable, who will no doubt haunt this team for the next decade plus, then this might be the game for you. His fingerprints were all over this one to the point where all the broadcast team could do was gush about him, and they weren’t wrong for doing so. The “stop, he’s already dead” meme can only carry you so far on a night like this, so you might as well lean into the apocalypse and embrace it.
Let’s drag ourselves closer to the Olympic break, shall we?
OK, so here was the roster news heading into the game, just so we’re all caught up:
- Marco Rossi was doing good with injury rehab but then had a setback, a tale as old as time in Vancouver. If you ever end up as “day to day” in this town, I assume we won’t see you for another season or so. In my head, some guy named Dr. Bobby Bobby runs the head of the medical department in Vancouver and has an endless supply of t-shirts that all read “Good vibes only!” as he talks to you excitedly about this mango puree diet that is going to absolutely change your life.
- Speaking of “see you down the line”, Thatcher Demko was shut down for the season and will undergo surgery in about a week so he can be ready for next September. The Canucks want to assure you it is not related to any of his previous injuries, to which you can take that with as many grains of salt as needed.
- Zeev Buium, last seen taking a puck to the face against the Penguins, was found to have a broken bone near his cheek, and he, too, will be out of the lineup until at least after the Olympic break. No word on if Dr. Bobby Bobby is going to recommend the mango puree to Zeev.
- And lastly, word has come out that the Canucks have tagged in Evander Kane’s agent to help facilitate a trade for the forward, because both sides kind of want it done asap and trading is hard and stuff, how can one GM be expected to make so many phone calls. It’s a bit of an odd situation in that Evander Kane was never a good fit for this team, and he somehow ended up not being a good fit for this team, leaving many to wonder how could anyone possibly have seen this coming aside from EVERYONE.
The game actually started off with a moment where you thought to yourself, “Hey, maybe Macklin Celebrini WON’T get four points tonight!” when Tom Willander opened the scoring after engaging in some solid board work and then skating hard to the net to fire home an Elias Pettersson pass high in the slot:
Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson both take turns drawing in multiple Sharks, who then do this odd thing of cycling off and covering the guy with the puck properly (is that allowed? That’s illegal, right?) but Willander is still able to get the shot off into a screen set up by Jake, blinding Yaroslav Askarov and probably making him feeling a bit miffed about the whole thing.
Please note that I have maybe five total clips that paint the Canucks in a positive light in this game, so you’re going to want to hold onto this moment for as long as possible. Really drink in that “Oh man a Canucks first rounder just scored a goal, the future is bright, the possibilities are endless” energy and hold onto it tightly for the next 10 minutes.
It took Macklin Celebrini just over 30 seconds to big brother the Canucks, metaphorically ruffling their hair and telling them to get to bed, squirt, making it 1-1 off of a Will Smith pass:
I included the initial shot from Macklin Celebrini for two reasons:
- One, to showcase Filip Chytil leaving to go back to his home planet after he tried checking Celebrini. Macklin walked through him like he was a malfunctioning Skytrain gate, and part of me would have understood if Chytil had just skated to the bench and gone home. It’s the kind of thing Quinn Hughes would routinely do to opponents when he played for Vancouver, and it really has that Nelson-Muntz-laughing-at-himself-in-the-mirror-only-to-find-out-it-doesn’t-feel-so-good-when-it-happens-to-you energy. And the thing is, it wasn’t like this was just a one-off, and Macklin did this one amazing deke on the night; he did it like every other shift. Multiple souls were lost to Celebrini walking around dudes and leaving them wondering if hockey just wasn’t for them anymore. The kid is 19, and meanwhile, we’re all like “sure hope JT Miller didn’t bully our former wonderkid into never playing at a high level again,” and it just feels sort of unfair.
- Two, the Canucks defensive “system” has never been great under Adam Foote, but Monday night was the first time I was like, “Ok, yeah, this is on purpose, right? This is not a serious team.” The defensive coverage was awful for most of the game. I know the speed of the Sharks really hampers the Canucks, but it just felt like it was on another level in this one. And as you can see on the goal, after Chytil gets sent into the void, everyone just sort of overloads the right side of the ice. It was four on four at this point, and all four Canucks just follow the puck and forget all about Macklin, who slides into empty space to unload the one timer.
With the game tied at one, it technically meant the Canucks could still win this game.
I will show proof that perhaps, mayhaps, they might have scored a goal on this aggressive forecheck from Nils Höglander that resulted in a shot on net from both Nils and Planet Ice:
With the Kiefer Sherwood trade completed, we will see fewer and fewer of these type of hits into turnovers, so I do appreciate the effort from Nils, even if deep in my soul I know he needs a fresh start somewhere else as I resist the urge to White Fang him.
Then you had Jonathan Lekkerimäki cutting off an outlet pass and unloading a strong wrist shot on net, with Filip Chytil following up on the rebound with a shot of his own:
And you know what, that is a good shot from Jonathan Lekkerimäki. It has pace. It has speed. It feels like it could beat an NHL goalie. It is definitely one of the few good moments to come out of this game, even if it got overshadowed by the Island of Lost Boys they have going on over in San Jose.
The Sharks would get their second goal of the night off of a Fil Hronek turnover of all things, who failed to clear the puck out of the zone and then had to watch as former Canuck Adam Gaudette once again scored against his former club:
It looks like the puck flubs off of his stick a little bit, and that’s all it takes for that little pissant Celebrini to jump all over it and ruin your night. Macklin keeps the puck in the zone, feeds it over to William Eklund, who then finds Adam Gaudette, while Chtyil politely watches from afar. I will give some grace to Chytil because he was still coming to terms with Celebrini draining his life force on the first goal, but it was not a good look defensively from the Canucks second line centre. Fair to say his defensive effort lacked some urgency.
Only got home and it’s 3-1
Yeah no. Goodnight #Canucks
— Connor (paid my dues)(@cknnr17) January 28, 2026
Next up, it was Vittorio Mancini’s turn to fail to clear the zone, as his turnover would lead to Dickinson finding Alex Wennberg down low, who would turn and find former Canuck Tyler Toffoli for the goal:
Aatu Räty also took his turn at being the guy late to the scene, as he fails to get the stick of Tyler under control, in what is pretty much a mirror image of the Sharks second goal. This would signal the end of Kevin Lankinen’s night, which felt like both an act of mercy and an indictment.
It just felt like life for San Jose was really easy on this night. Too many good looks on net, too much time to place their shots, the Canucks didn’t really make anything too difficult for the Sharks if we’re being honest with each other.
Unless you’ve been laundering money. Then don’t be honest with me. Let me believe you made your money in smart investments, don’t ruin that illusion for me.
OK, let’s get back to the Lekkerimäki wrist shot for a palate cleanser, or as my dumb brain tried to type it, a pallet cleanser:
Look, I get it, the bar isn’t high. But this is all we have right now. And a young player shooting a hard shot on net is about as good as it gets on some nights, so you will damn well eat it, and you will damn well enjoy it.
Run Höglander. Run and be free:
That shot isn’t going in unless the goalie makes an egregious error, but damn it, much like the earlier damn it, sometimes you just take what you can get. And an end-to-end rush with a shot on net felt downright life-changing compared to watching the team struggle to get out of their own zone so they could complete a line change.
Hey, look, we haven’t even talked about the Sharks’ second overall draft pick, Michael Misa, playing against the Canucks. He didn’t score any points, which is a victory of sorts, I guess, but he probably also made Marcus Pettersson wish he was back in the Eastern Conference after Misa danced right around him:
MP3 basically gets to star in a scene from the next “Now You See Me” sequel, as one minute he’s guarding the kid and the next thing he knows, he’s spinning in circles, praying no one saw what just happened. But we all saw it. We all did.
And since it’s been a minute since Celebrini juked someone out of their hockey pants, here is Macklin walking right around Liam Öhgren simply because he can:
If it feels unfair, it’s because it is unfair. We were told teams weren’t allowed to load up on talent like this; you need to trade for Elias Lindholm the second you think you can make the playoffs. Why didn’t the Sharks have to trade for Lindholm? I don’t understand how the system works anymore.
It should have then been 4-1 off a Celebrini shot on a wicked feed from Will Smith, but apparently Macklin is allowed to miss the net?
Again, I am just trying to catch up on the new rules of the NHL. It’s all very confusing. The last I heard, you could email the officials and tell them to lay off your son and call more penalties on the teams that played against your son, so it’s just taking me a while to adjust to it all.
The Canucks started the second period on the power play and once again, we will lean on Lekkerimäki’s shot as the one thing you can try and suckle some joy out of:
I mean, I still screamed when Elias Pettersson passed out of a shot from the slot as it’s starting to feel weirdly personal at this point, but I appreciate getting to see Lekkerimäki try and one-timer a special teams goal.
Filip Chytil would then get his turn at cranking his hog from the slot, but Askarov was up to the task, making a brilliant pad save off of the one-timer attempt:
But for every limited Canucks pushback, it just felt like it was a matter of time until the Sharks would find a way to score again.
With Fil Hronek executing a perfect defensive play to end an odd man rush, good, Teddy Blueger was fingered for hooking Celebrini, because that little malapert is so God damn fast:
And so, apparently giving even more time and space to this Sharks team seems like a bad idea, as Will Smith would score to make it 4-1 after yet another failure to clear the zone, this time at the hands of Marcus Pettersson:
Fail to clear the zone, die at the hands of the children of the future. This is what Homer warned us about. We should have stopped the kids when we had a chance.
Also, please note Macklin Celebrini once again juking a dude into White Rock, as this time Conor Garland, Conor freaking Garland of all people, gets put on ice when trying to close distance on him.
A 5-on-3 Van PP for 1:56 of second period yields zip. #Canucks
— Ben Kuzma(@benkuzma) January 28, 2026
The Canucks best chance at any sort of comeback in this game was clearly the extended five-on-three man advantage, in which they looked pretty cool with the puck, had some good looks on net, but ultimately failed to score a goal:
This is the “Oh, you got 90% on your test? Why not 100%?” except it isn’t mean-spirited, it’s just someone asking the right questions.
Askarov never really seemed to be in too much trouble on the power play, which I think just speaks to the Canucks being a bit slow with moving the puck and telegraphing their plays a little too much. The closest they got to scoring was shooting into traffic with Jake in his Tim Hortons office, but again, it speaks to their lack of finishing skill, even with a two-man advantage.
Evander Kane got into what I would charitably call a “hand selected opponent” as he began throwing down with noted pugilist Timothy Liljgren, he of zero career fights:
Timothy Liljegren would have probably happily finished his entire career without getting into a fight, but if Evander Kane wants to raise his trade value by dropping gloves, then that’s how it has to be.
Of course, Evander got an extra two minutes for doing this, and when coupled with a Marcus Pettersson high-sticking penalty shortly thereafter, it led to the Sharks scoring on their two-man advantage:
Nikita Tolopilo, who had taken over for Kevin Lankinen in the first period, basically knows a puck went past him; he just has no idea how it happened. Or where. Or by whom? Some real season two Dept. Q energy on this one.
In this case, it was John Klingberg sending a perfect shot into multiple screens, leaving Tolopilo wondering whether Eddie Lack had the right idea all along: leaving hockey behind and getting into real estate in Arizona instead.
With the game essentially over at this point, the Canucks managed to score a late power play goal when Captain Hronek walked into an absolute piss missile of a shot:
I also have to agree. Please change the goal song once you’ve traded two more veterans. Give the team a fresh new look. New goal song. New power play song. New penalty song. You’ve been using the same set list for like five years now, for the love of God, give us something new to listen to.
Let Simple Minds rest in peace with the Quinn Hughes era. It will forever be tied to that second-round playoff run, which was both magical and a reminder of how absolutely sh!t everything turned out. Move past it, don’t be lazy, give us new energy.
And as a bonus clip, here is Liam Öhgren making a nice takeaway and almost turning it into a goal:
The only thing better than that is a firm wrist shot from Lekkerimäki, let me tell you.
And that was the game. The Sharks are a much better hockey club than Vancouver. To quote a former friend, it is what it is, for now. I don’t think we need to dive deeper than that.
See you Thursday.
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The last time the Vancouver Canucks faced the Anaheim Ducks on November 26th in Southern California, Conor Garland took a pass from Brock Boeser midway through the second period, deftly stickhandled around defenceman Drew Helleson, and then deked netminder Petr Mrazek to the ice before slipping a backhand into the unguarded net. It gave the Canucks a 3-1 lead in a game they went on to win 5-4. The goal was a thing of beauty – a dazzling display of skill and artistry – and months later, it stands as one of the Canucks’ prettiest goals of the season.
Canucks Goal
Connor Garland with a filthy move to put home his sixth of the year!
Sportsnet | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/RSbJmKooFy
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) November 27, 2025
Somehow, inexplicably, though it’s also the last time Conor Garland has scored on a National Hockey League goaltender.
Yes, in 22 games and more than two months since that highlight-reel marker, Garland has scored only once. It was an empty net goal that sealed a 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers on December 14th at Madison Square Garden.
At the moment, Garland finds himself mired in a 15-game goal drought. But more than that, the veteran winger has gone 11 games without a point of any kind. He last made a dent on an NHL scoresheet with a pair of assists in a December 27th game against the San Jose Sharks.
In a forgettable month of January for the team and for the 29-year-old Sciatute, MA native, the Canucks have been outscored 8-1 in all situations with Garland on the ice. At 5-on-5, that figure is 6-1 and his expected goals for percentage is just 39.9% – lowest among all forwards on the roster.
It’s hard to reconcile the startling lack of output with a player who has made a name for himself through hard work, hustle and a will to rise above. But even those qualities have been in short supply in recent weeks.
This is the same player who drew rave reviews from fans and teammates alike for dropping the gloves and engaging in a spirited scrap with Seattle’s Jared McCann on December 29th. The Canucks scored seconds after the fight and went on to one of only two wins since Christmas.
However, after being injured the following night in a home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, Garland missed two weeks of game action and simply hasn’t been himself since. He has played nine games since returning to the lineup on January 12th in Montreal and hasn’t found a way to make his presence known. Remarkably, in those nine games, Garland leads all Canucks forwards in 5-on-5 ice time and yet has managed only 11 shots on goal over that span.
In that time, 12 other forwards have found their way onto the scoresheet, but not Garland.
It really makes no sense.
Some have theorized that the trade of good friend and longtime teammate Quinn Hughes was a blow from which he has yet to recover. And it very well may be part of the problem. Certainly, the constant losing has to be eating at a competitor like Garland, too. And now there is clearly trade uncertainty for just about everyone on the 32nd-place team’s roster, and the management is signalling the rebuild is underway. Tack on a couple of injuries this season, and it has all amounted to very little in the way of production for a player that shared the team-lead in scoring among forwards last season with 50 points – the second highest total of his NHL career. It also earned him a six-year $36M contract extension that kicks in this summer.
Through the 42 games he’s played this season, Garland has seven goals and 22 points and sits ninth on the team in overall scoring. He’s lost his spot on the top unit power play, and in Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to San Jose, he saw just 11:31 of 5-on-5 ice time, lower than the likes of Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Drew O’Connor, Linus Karlsson, Teddy Blueger and Filip Chytil. He barely played more than Evander Kane, who sat out seven minutes in the penalty box.
Call it a slump, a funk or a run of poor performances, Conor Garland is a better player than he has shown of late. But he needs to find a way to reignite his competitive fire. He’s at his best when he’s buzzing in the offensive zone, shaking off checks and working his way to the front of the net.
Garland thought he had scored on a first period slap shot against Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon, but the goal was waved off after it was deemed Teddy Blueger had brushed Penguins netminder Stuart Skinner at the top of the blue paint. Garland needed that goal. Garland needs something good to go his way. But like the team he plays for, nothing is coming easy these days.
So maybe the sight of an Anaheim jersey on the other side Thursday night at Rogers Arena is what Conor Garland needs to remind him of the goal he scored against the Ducks a couple of months back.
That was a confident player at the top of his game. He seems so far from that player right now.
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When acquired with Zeev Buium and Marco Rossi as part of the Quinn Hughes return, Liam Öhgren was viewed as more of a throw-in for the Vancouver Canucks, considering he was still searching for his first point of the year, 18 games into his season.
However, he’s proven through his first 22 games in a Canucks sweater that he was a valued piece of the trade. An element that may have been overlooked when Öhgren was brought in was the fact that he has a previous relationship with another promising young Canuck, Jonathan Lekkerimäki.
A quick look at their respective HockeyDB pages would show they were on the same team for much of their junior years, but Öhgren gave further details on exactly how their friendship began.
“We both came to Djurgårdens in U16 and played together, played on the same line, pretty much our whole junior levels,” Öhgren told CanucksArmy. “We played on the national team together, [on the] same line there. So yeah, we’ve been good friends ever since we were 16 years old and working our way up to the highest level, and it’s pretty cool and special to be on the same NHL team and playing together in the best league in hockey.”
The two shared that they hadn’t met prior to their time in Djurgårdens, but both knew of each other. However, once they reported to Djurgarden’s Jr., their chemistry began to develop.
Öhgren had 33 goals and 58 points in 30 games, while playing alongside Lekkerimäki, who had 20 goals and 35 points in 26 games in the 2021-22 Swedish Junior season. Their efforts earned them a shot with the big club in the SHL. Öhgren had one goal and two points in 25 games, whereas Lekkerimäki had more success, scoring seven goals and nine points.
“I think we have great chemistry,” Öhgren shared. “We’ve played really good together. [We played] with Noah Östlund in Buffalo; us three were on the line pretty much our whole Junior years. We played really good, put up a lot of points, and won a lot of games for our teams. I feel like we know where each other [are] on the ice, and because we’re good buddies outside the rink.”
“We think the game the same way,” Lekkerimäki told CanucksArmy. “He’s a smart player. So yeah, we’ve found the chemistry out there.”
After the two were drafted five picks apart – with Östlund selected between the two – Öhgren and Lekkerimäki went back to the SHL for their draft-plus-one seasons, where they played for Djurgårdens of the Swedish Division 1 (developmental league). However, as Öhgren was more developed, he began the season with the big club, while Lekkerimäki had a brief two-game stint (two goals and five points) with the Junior team, before re-joining his friend and linemate.
The duo was productive, but Öhgren had more success, scoring 11 goals and 20 points in 36 games, while Lekkerimäki had three goals and nine points in 29 games. Once the playoffs rolled around, the two stepped up their game, with Lekkerimäki finishing as a point-per-game (five goals and 15 points in 15 games), while Öhgren had eight goals and 13 points in 17 games.
But after three seasons and two World Junior Championships under their belt, the duo was finally split.
Now two years removed from their draft season, both Öhgren and Lekkerimäki moved on from Djurgårdens for one final SHL season before heading overseas to chase their NHL dream. Öhgren went on to join Farjestads, while Lekkerimäki joined Orebro. After solid starts to their seasons, Öhgren and Lekkerimäki reunited for one last hoorah at the World Junior Championships.
Donning the Tre Kronor, both skaters played pivotal roles for the Swedes. Öhgren had two assists in seven games, but was viewed more for his leadership on the team, as he was honoured with the captaincy. On the other hand, Lekkerimäki was Sweden’s main goal scorer, leading the tournament in goals (seven) and was awarded as the tournament’s most valuable player.
While both players have different play styles, the contrast in production at the World Juniors goes to show that the duo found ways to complement each other’s game, even though they are very different player types.
“I mean, we’re not really the same players, you know?” Öhgren questioned. “We’re different, very different. I bring a lot of speed, physicality, and win puck battles. He’s very skilled, has a great shot, and we both have a good eye to put a puck in the net. And in that way, we want to score every shift we get together, and that mentality has been keeping us going forward and playing good.”
“He’s a fast skater and a good passer. I just try to be open and find my shot,” Lekkerimäki shared.
As far as they knew at the time, that was the last opportunity they would have to play with each other for some time.
After their respective SHL seasons, both players made the trip overseas to join the organization that drafted them. Lekkerimäki played six games in the AHL, while Öhgren got a four-game stint in the NHL, where he scored one goal and two points.
While both players have had different paths and are still developing into everyday NHL players, the opportunity to play with each other again is not lost on either of them.
“Yeah, it’s very exciting,” Öhgren said. “I mean, we got one shift [on Tuesday vs. Sharks], and it was great, just like old times. So, if we get that opportunity [again], it would be really fun, but obviously, every guy here is really good. No matter who I play with, it’s going to be a great player. But yeah, it’s obviously fun that he’s here, and we’re here together.”
“Yeah, I would love to play with him,” Lekkerimäki mentioned. “We’ve grown up together, so we know each other pretty well, and we can talk about everything. So, if we get the chance [to play] here, it would be very fun.”
And now that Lekkerimäki has been summoned from the AHL, he and Öhgren will finally have another opportunity to play with each other again. They may not have started on the same line in their first game back sporting the same colours, but the duo got a brief taste of action together late against the Sharks. But according to brief line rushes from Wednesday’s practice, the duo flanked Teddy Blueger.
Öhgren and Lekkerimäki could officially be reunited as early as tonight against the Anaheim Ducks.
You could see that the two truly do have a close relationship, one that stems further back than your typical teammate. Following CanucksArmy’s chat with Öhgren, and while speaking with Lekkerimäki, there was an exchange between the two in Swedish that left both players chuckling. When asked what Öhgren said to him, Lekkerimäki replied, “you better say good things about me.”
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Business between the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild couldn’t be in a better place after the two struck the biggest deal of the season in December. With that in mind, could the two sides come together on another deal in the same season?
On Thursday’s episode of Donnie & Dhali — The Team, Rick Dhaliwal mentioned that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the Minnesota Wild liked Conor Garland.
“Conor Garland’s stats, not great since Quinn Hughes – his good friend – left. But teams are still calling on Conor Garland. The Canucks don’t really want to move him, folks, but they are listening. Would not be surprised if the Minnesota Wild like Garland. The only problem with that is they might have issues absorbing Garland’s new contract.
“It would cost a lot. Canucks are not doing a Garland trade unless it’s an offer you can’t refuse.”
While this isn’t exactly a full-fledged report, it did get us thinking: would Garland be a fit for the Minnesota Wild? And what might a trade end up looking like?
Looking into the Wild’s depth chart, the right side of their forward group is fairly accounted for with Mats Zuccarello, Matt Boldy, and Vladimir Tarasenko as their top-nine right wingers.
Up front, Minnesota currently have a full bill of health; here is how the Wild’s forward group looks right now:
The clear, glaring need for Minnesota is down the middle. Specifically, a top-line centre to play between Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov. And those are rare to find and expensive to acquire. Does it really make sense for the Wild to part with top assets that they would need to go out and acquire that top-line centre for another right-winger, who they don’t even have room for in their lineup?
But even if they wanted to, it begs the question: what top assets do the Wild even have anymore?
Back in their December blockbuster, the Wild unloaded the clip on their most valuable assets, sending Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren, and a 2026 first-round pick in exchange for Quinn Hughes. Those are four premium assets: a star-potential rookie defenceman, their top-line centre at the time, a former first-round pick, and a future first-round pick.
So, with four of their top trade chips no longer in their arsenal, what other assets do the Wild have left in the system that the Canucks would have interest in?
Prospects
The cupboards are still fairly intact in terms of the Wild’s forward prospects.
Riley Heidt and Hunter Haight are former second-round picks who are playing in the American League this season, with the latter appearing in five NHL games this season. Charlie Stramel and Ryder Ritchie are having scoring success in the NCAA this season. Stramel is tied for 11th in NCAA scoring with 13 goals and 30 points. And in Ritchie’s first NCAA season, he has four goals and 13 points in 25 games with Boston University. Recent fourth-round pick Adam Benak is having a strong OHL campaign with 21 goals and 53 points with 2026 top prospect and Abbotsford Canucks Head Coach Manny Malhotra’s son, Caleb Malhotra, and the Brantford Bulldogs.
One piece the Wild have reportedly been dangling as a potential trade chip for a significant asset is 23-year-old netminder Jesper Wallstedt. However, goaltending just isn’t a position the Canucks would target given their current organizational depth and competitive timeline.
To read more about some of the prospects above, check out our piece from November, “Which young players might the Canucks target in a trade with the Wild?”
Picks
The Wild are without their first or second-round picks in 2026, but hold their selections in rounds three through seven, including an additional fifth (San Jose).
In 2027, Minnesota still has its first, but traded its second-round pick in the David Jiricek trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. They retain all of their picks through rounds three to seven.
Would it be nice to reunite Conor Garland with Quinn Hughes in Minnesota? Probably. But quite honestly, it doesn’t appear to be a fit.
The Wild currently don’t have room for Garland to play his preferred position in the top nine. And even if they did, would the Wild be willing to offer the Canucks something they couldn’t refuse in order to pry a Garland off their hands? That offer likely includes their 2027 first-round pick and another B-level asset, like a Charlie Stramel.
It’s an interesting question to ponder, but Garland doesn’t seem like a player the Wild would ever get serious about targeting at this juncture.
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After coming off of arguably one of their worst defensive showings of the season against the San Jose Sharks, to the point that even Tom Willander was waxing poetic like a young Thomas Hobbes, it’s safe to say the Vancouver Canucks wanted to have a better outing against the Anaheim Ducks.
And while the Canucks 2-0 victory on Thursday night was was far from a certainty for most of the game, and it won’t be up for any awards in the “most exciting game of the season” category anytime soon, even the most cynical fan had to admit that at least the team showed a bit of bounce back after watching Macklin Celebrini tear through them like a late night of regret at Taco Bell.
If you played this game 10 times, Anaheim probably wins more often than not, but that’s sort of the life of a bad team; you cling and hold onto a game, pray your goalie is feeling good, hope you get some bounces, and try to ride off into the sunset with a low-scoring victory. It’s not a recipe for long-term success, but from a mental relief side of things, there was a palpable sense in the air that Vancouver REALLY needed this one.
When Drew O’Connor opened the scoring midway through the third period, the goal celebration felt like it snuck into a party it didn’t belong to and couldn’t believe it got away with it. For a team that has had more lows than I care to count right now, there was something cathartic about watching a group of Canucks on the ice, forgetting about all the noise and just enjoying the moment.
I’ve long said that this town will embrace a rebuild; you just have to actually, you know, commit to it. Some sides will sneer and say the fans won’t be there during the dark years, but as the game was coming to a close, there was a standing ovation from the fans in attendance. The best moment, though? There was a spirited “We want the Cup!” chant after Teddy Blueger made it 2-0 on an empty net goal, and if that doesn’t showcase the beauty of the pain of this fanbase to you, nothing will.
Despite losing Quinn Hughes, despite watching two management teams come in and fumble their way to irrelevancy for over a decade, despite an aura of “we’re the smartest guys in the room, god damn it” from ownership, if you show even an inkling of a plan to this city, the fans will be there. As you trade away veterans who don’t want to be here for the hard times, as you bring in players who are excited to play in this city, as you actually develop and follow a plan that people understand and trust, these fans will embrace you.
Because while chanting “We want the Cup!” during one of the worst home stretches in Canucks history is self-deprecating in nature, and allows people to laugh so they don’t cry, it shows the passion that is still burning inside of this fanbase. Before Quinn Hughes forced the team committed to a rebuild, apathy had settled in. People were sitting on their hands, not even reacting to blowout losses.
But you do the bare minimum of a rebuild, and guess what? People are starting to come around. Imagine what will happen if the team actually sticks to it and sees it out properly? Dare to dream, really.
Because at the end of the day, fans want to have pride in this team. They want the players to represent the city. They are dying to feel that connection to their team that hasn’t been felt in a long time. It’s felt like countless players have rejected this city to the point that having someone like Uncle Fil hugging everyone and saying he isn’t going anywhere is the heroic moment a fatherless fanbase has been waiting for.
And while one solitary 2-0 victory doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, I think it does underscore a very important point, and that is I think management and ownership has taken this fan base for granted. It treats them with disrespect when it puts the idea that they can’t rebuild, otherwise the fans won’t be there. Hell, they have already been here during the last decade, and that’s when the team was putting up the same results a rebuilding team would have done anyway.
It’s putting the onus on the fans, as if to say it’s their fault they are in this mess, that they can’t be trusted, when those same fans have been pleading for a long-term plan for years upon years. It’s insulting at its core because it treats fans like imbeciles. “How could they possibly understand and support a rebuild? No, no, no, it’s much better to go all in on a two-year window.”
So it’s either the owner thinks you’re an idiot, or it’s basically a cowardly way to chase playoff revenue in the short-term without giving the fans the proper respect they deserve by investing in the team properly and building a winner. Pick your poison.
Which is why I hope ownership hears those “We want the Cup!” chants and hears them for what they are: a fan base finding a way to celebrate the small moments during the dark times. A fan base waiting and ready to get behind a rebuild so that one day those “We want the Cup!” chants will be shouted out in earnest.
Because this town deserves a winner, and it’s time ownership proves they deserve this team and these fans.
Well, we're seven minutes in and haven't given up three goals yet, so that's a good sign#Canucks
— Dragon Was Slayed (@522IntoOvertime) January 30, 2026
Make no mistake about it, Anaheim has a team that can score some goals. There are even rumours out there that they used to be Mighty Ducks, but my Disney+ subscription expired, so I cannot confirm or deny it at this time.
The point is, I think Vancouver still had fresh memories of that Sharks game running through their heads, as the first periods dating profile would be labelled “cautiously open to experiencing life again.”
It’s no secret that defensive structure has been an issue all season long, and while there were some moments where it reared its ugly head in this game, for the most part? This was one of Vancouver’s better defensive efforts on the season. The Canucks didn’t endlessly overload one side of the ice or have players scrambling to figure out who to cover; they played a pretty tight game.
Naturally, the offensive output was limited due to this approach, especially in the first period, as I think both teams used the opening twenty minutes to feel each other out.
I want to give kudos to Lukáš Dostál first and foremost, however, as he had the gumption and tenacity to face down the Canucks best even strength threat in Drew O’Connor and didn’t even blink:
There was no piss running down his leg, the moment was not too big, as Dostál calmly looks off Drew before handing the puck off, even though DOC still almost scored because he is our five on five overlord and you just have to embrace it.
The Canucks next chance on net didn’t look nearly as intimidating, however, as Jake DeBrusk had a two-on-one set up by a long-distance outlet pass from Marcus Pettersson that ended with Jake toe-dragging into the swamps of sadness:
You can almost see Jake realize he’s committed to the toe drag; he knows it’s not going to work, but he’s stuck in the deke animation, so he just holds it and hopes it sorts itself out.
As for the Ducks, early on during a power play, Beckett Sennecke found himself all alone in front of Nikita Tolopilo, but Cutter Gauthier beamed him instead of hitting the net:
This is notable because the end of the game is highlighted by Gauthier making awful decisions with the puck, and also because in my head I was like “I am positive you spell Beckett’s last name ‘Senneca’ and oh boy, was I ever wrong.
You’ll also notice the Canucks doing their thing where they have three guys sort of drift away for reasons (bees?), leaving a guy wide open, and this was when it felt like the Canucks were in for another long night. They’d have their spirited opening five minutes, but then the other team would score a few goals, and then the night would be spent praying Crazy P stays out of your section.
And when the Ducks got a two-on-one that Ian Moore just missed scoring on, you felt like the loss was inevitable:
When Mikael Granlund started skating around Marcus Pettersson, making him do the turnstile dance we’ve seen far too often this season, you were merely wondering how many goals the Canucks would lose by:
But the Ducks didn’t score. And they would continue to not score. And while the Canucks would give up some good looks on net, for the most part, they were downright competent on the night. And anytime Anaheim got a high-danger chance, Nikita Tolopilo and/or Kevin Lankinen were there.
And while the Canucks didn’t score either in the first period, Jake DeBrusk and Linus Karlsson evened out the shot clock on one play alone, getting like five shots in one sequence:
Jake and Linus have the same sort of net front game, where they both do the most damage in the blue paint, which is why I want more of them on the same power play unit. Let’s really dive into some Hunger Games shit here, see who wants to save their district more.
It reminds me of that one glorious season where Brock Boeser and Andrei Kuzmenko were almost fighting each other to be the first guy to tip in a puck in the crease. I would sit and wait in excitement to see who would be the first guy to score, signified by Kuzmenko doing goal celebrations even EA Sports felt was a bit over the top, or signified by Brock Boeser looking glumly into the distance as he pondered his goal.
During some plays, Kuzmenko and Boeser would be standing right beside each other in the crease, and damn it, it was like watching Rocket League in real life, trying to see who would snake the goal at the last second. It was beautiful.
Late in the first period, Ryan Poehling did a juke that involved him moving his stick out of the way whilst flinging his body in the general direction of Tolopilo, which feels a bit too much like an NHL Hitz strategy?
It was a bold move, Cotton, as the Ducks were handed a penalty on the play, and the goal was waived off. Not literally handed a penalty, but you get it. You get metaphors.
My main takeaway from this play, however, is just the lack of reaction from the Canucks. Look, I’m not saying you need to be dropping the gloves every chance you get, but it feels like someone taking liberties with your goaltender is a good spot for that? Even in the game against the Penguins, Brock Boeser gets hit with a headshot, and there is just nothing. No push back. Just acceptance.
And I get it, losing is hard. Being stuck in this mindset is a tough thing to break out of, especially in a season where it feels like nothing matters. But the veterans have to be the leaders we’re told they are. The young guys have to prove they belong in this league. There is always something to play for on an individual level; you just have to find it.
Part of the rebuild is making a team that is hard to play against. You might lose, but hell, the other team is going to be grumbling about having to play you. You want them remembering your name when they need to stretch for 15 minutes the next day before they can even get out of bed.
You need to take offence to everything, you need to go full Minority Report. If you even THINK a player might commit a crime against your team, take them out like Gudas did to Aatu Räty later in the game for daring to…hold his stick near his goaltender?
Make a player think twice before they go near your crease. Make them hesitate, even if only for a brief second. Make them run the equation of “is this worth my time?” when they see a puck battle in front of them.
Make teams earn their wins against you.
Filip Chytil hasn’t set the world on fire in his return, but he’s also coming off a long injury layoff, so I am more than willing to give them the rest of the season before we dive too deep into his gameplay. His zone entries have been noticeably absent, but that’s also the easiest way to get cranked with a huge hit, so he can be excused if he’s easing himself back into everything.
That being said, he is still getting some scoring chances; he just doesn’t have the finish yet. Linus Karlsson set him up for a rush with a brilliant pass from his knees that ended with Chytil sending the puck high over the net:
You can see his game is in there, but yeah, he needs some time to shake off the rust still.
Plus, he’s playing on one of the worst teams in the league. I can’t imagine a worse place to try to get back into your groove.
No, Nikita did not pull a Luongo; there was no washroom involved in this absence. He got the concussion protocol, which meant Lankinen had to come in and make one solitary save off of Chaos Giraffe before handing the nets back:
It just feels right that Tyler Myers almost scored on Lankinen for his one save of the game. As a result of Lankinen playing, Tolopilo lost his shutout as it gets recorded as a team shutout, which feels unfair. If Elias Pettersson makes some saves in net, the shutout isn’t a team shutout; it’s not right, damn it.
Regardless, Nikita rejoined the game and immediately made some big saves to let you know that Big Rig was back:
I have no nickname for Tolopilo yet, so we will be trying some as we go along.
You never know when a scout is watching and can help get you traded, which is why I assume Evander Kane kicked it up a notch in the second period with a couple of dangerous scoring chances.
The first was off of a Conor Garland takeaway that ended with Elias Pettersson sending a backhand pass out in front to a hard-charging Kane:
Garland, who has seemingly died inside ever since Quinn Hughes was traded, had one of his better games in this one. That being said, he has tarnished the Corolla name by disappearing since “The Trade”, so his nickname has been put on hold until he rediscovers his form and/or gets traded to Minnesota to be with Quinn forever.
Evander Kane then had a breakaway chance go awry, as much like Jake DeBrusk earlier, he got stuck in a dangle animation and ended up going right around the net as he ran out of room:
Beckett Sennecke then returned fire with a couple of shots off a faceoff, but Nikita denied him both times:
Look at him getting off being withholding.
Then Elias Pettersson almost scored to end the second period when he banged away at a rebound from a Tyler Myers corner slapshot:
The second period felt like the Canucks got a bit looser. They were willing to open things up to try and score, almost as if they had survived an entire period without being scored on, and life suddenly seemed full of so many options.
There were long stretches where the Canucks moved the puck around the offensive zone with confidence, and they even got Anaheim into the dreaded “shift clock overlay” situation, where they had the Ducks stuck in their own zone for minutes at a time.
They didn’t score, mind you. The offence is still pretty stagnant and uncreative. But at least they tilted the ice for parts of this game.
Halfway through the third period, however, Drew O’Connor, the Even Strength Maestro, said enough is enough, and it’s time for a change:
Räty makes a timely check along the boards, Jake DeBrusk finds Drew O’Connor in the slot, and DOC knuckles one in past Lukáš Dostál. This was then followed up by grown men taking turns shaking each other in excitement, and I couldn’t be more here for it. Just a fun moment in a long, dreary season where it was nice to just sit back and enjoy hockey for the sake of hockey.
Good to see some toughness by D-man Elias Pettersson. Precious little team toughness this year, for example when their goalie got run over in the 1st#Canucks
— James Kwantes(@jameskwantes) January 30, 2026
Speaking of team toughness, Defensively Minded Elias Pettersson has been one of the better Canucks in terms of having a snarl around the net during his career here. He’s one of the main guys who might shove you in the face or spit on your shoes if you happen to glance at his goalie. And while some of that toughness and some of those hits have dried up as of late from the young defenceman, I chalk that up to a player struggling on a season in which nobody understands what the defensive structure is supposed to be. I imagine he is quite lost in his head at times, which would be understandable.
And while figuring out his gap control and making better decisions needs to be his priority, seeing D Petey take out Olen Zellweger for daring to poke at the puck near his goalie, well, that warms my heart:
That’s what this team needs more of. You can’t give up an inch for free in the NHL; you have to make them work for it. You want to poke at the goalie, you’d better be ready to pay the price.
You see Conor Garland making a good defensive play before slashing a stick and taking a penalty:
I see Garland giving his team endless opportunities to shoot the puck down the rink without getting an icing call, which is what Teddy Blueger promptly delivered on:
While I admire the accuracy of the Blueger shot, I do want to give a shoutout to Gauthier for making some of the worst end-of-game decisions possible. It’s not often we get to laugh at another team making terrible life choices, so please humour me.
I just don’t know why, with the goalie pulled and already up a man, you decided to twice just send the puck into traffic in front of the net. You have a bit of time and space to find a good look on net, so I don’t think you need to be hurrying in passes from bad angles like this.
Hell, even a hard shot from the point is a better option than farting the puck into traffic from the corner.
Drink it in.
Next up? Toronto.
Maybe winning two games in a row isn’t such a bad thing.
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Former Vancouver Canucks defenceman Tucker Poolman has shared what led to the end of his NHL career. In speaking with Brad Eliot Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, Poolman opened up about the symptoms he experienced and the process of finding a diagnosis.
Poolman said he first began to feel symptoms of dizziness, lightheadedness and fatigue the following morning after a game against the Edmonton Oilers on January 25, 2022.
In the following game, Poolman played, but logged just under 8:00 minutes of ice time after being pulled from the game due to feeling numbness on his face, hands and torso.”
The defenceman would not return to the Canucks lineup until a game in April that same year, where he played seven shifts before having to leave due to more symptoms. Telling Schlossman, “I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m playing well right now. Also, I’m probably going to hurt myself.’ Physically, things were shutting down. I thought I was going to go crashing into the boards.”
The following season, Poolman attempted to make a return after feelling better in the offseason; however, that return would only last three games, which ultimately ended up being the final three games of Poolman’s NHL career.
After a frustrating search for a diagnosis that included many visits to specialists across North America, Poolman was diagnosed on March 9, 2023, with a rare autoimmune disease called Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy (AAG). Poolman began to receive some treatment, which caused his “flare-ups” to subside.
Following his treatment, Poolman did attempt to make a comeback once he began feeling better. He started working out in his home, though this attempt ended up being short-lived as the “flare-ups” started once again.
Poolman began more treatment, to which he “responded well.” Though, according to him, he will likely have to manage this disease for the rest of his life. “The medication helps, but at this point, I don’t think I’m ever going to get back to 100%.”
Poolman’s wife, Jesse, said it was difficult for things to end the way they did. “We loved Vancouver. We were excited to be there for four years. That was devastating to have that come to an end. But overall, we were grateful he was starting to feel better.”
Poolman signed a four-year deal with the Canucks during the 2021 offseason, though ultimately he only played 43 games over a season and a bit. The team paid out his contract, until they dealt him to the Colorado Avalanche with a fourth-round pick for Erik Brännström in 2024.
Poolman is now living in Grand Forks and is a volunteer coach for the East Grand Forks Senior High boys hockey team.
You can read the full story from Schlossman by clicking here!
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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!
Starting Lineup
Warmup #Canucks lines vs. @MapleLeafs
Kane. EP40. Garland.
Chytil. Kämpf. Karlsson.
Öhgren. Blueger. Lekkerimäki.
O’Connor. Räty. DeBrusk.
EP25. Hronek.
Joseph. Myers.
MP29. Willander.
Tolopilo
4pm on @Sportsnet650 https://t.co/J6DNM1E8Qt pic.twitter.com/xV4QIffdTn
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) January 31, 2026
First Period
I had a bad feeling that Canucks fans were in for another “We weren’t ready to go at puck drop” kind of game when Elias Pettersson, Evander Kane, and Jake DeBrusk spent the game’s opening shift falling over inside the d-zone against Auston Matthews, Max Domi, and Bobby McCann.
My concerns were eased (mildly) when the Canucks began attacking the Leafs in waves throughout the opening ten minutes. Yes, by “attack,” I mean “cycle the puck in the offensive zone before throwing thoughtless, low-percentage shots toward Joseph Woll from the perimeter.”
I’ve got to give credit to the team sitting dead last in the NHL standings. Their “home” crowd opened the game with a raucous (and disgusting) “Go Leafs, Go!” chant before the Leafs had even registered a shot on goal. It was as tough a crowd as it gets. Spite is a powerful weapon, and the Canucks rallied from a concerning opening shift to play a competitive, nearly hightlight-less first period.
The Canucks’ best look of the period came with two-and-a-half minutes left in the frame, when a step-in one-timer from Marcus Pettersson hit a skate, stopping under Woll’s right skate.
The Leafs’ best look of the period came shortly after, with Brandon Carlo stepping in for a one-timer off of Tolopilo’s right pad. Carlo’s look led to a prolonged shift stuck inside the d-zone for the Canucks.
Most noteworthy was Evander Kane leaving the game after blocking a shot. And this spotlight of Pierre-Oliver Joseph’s kicks.
Pierre-Olivier Joseph arrived to the Canucks' game against the Ducks in shoes designed by the kids at BC Children’s Hospitalpic.twitter.com/Cwp1avhrgG
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 30, 2026
Second Period
Jonathan Lekkerimäki broke the stalest of stalemates with an absolutely deadly wrist shots from the slot over Woll’s right shoulder.
1-0 Canucks
Jonathan Lekkerimäki rips one home to start the scoring in the 2nd!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 1, 2026
Defenceman Marshall Rifai did not pick up a secondary assist on the goal sequence, despite his ill-advised rim around the boards to no one in a Leafs sweater.
Canuck-Karma nearly reared its head shortly after when Oliver Ekman-Larsson rifled a one-timer off the crossbar and wide.
Invigorated by the weight of a Calder Cup Championship ring and the sight of Lekkerimäki’s goal, Aatu Räty almost made it 2-zip with a tester off Woll’s shoulder at close range.
Rifai was the beneficiary of a (pretty obvious) goaltender-interference assessment that denied Elias Pettersson (the forward) a goal that would have doubled the Canucks’ lead. Otherwise, it would have been a minus-2 in less than six minutes of ice time for the rookie defenceman.
Pettersson's goal has been overturned. It remains 1-0 Vancouver.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 1, 2026
Liam Öhgren and Lekkerimäki sprang on a breakaway off an odd bounce in the neutral zone, but could not materialize a shot on goal.
All throughout the second, Tolopilo stood tall, steering aside difficult shots from elite shooters with ease. William Nylander had 3 shots, Auston Matthews had 2, and on his 3rd shot of the game, Nic Robertson found the equalizer, with fellow Nicholas (Roy) tipping his one-timer past Tolopilo’s right pad with less than seven minutes to spare.
1-1 Tie
Roy ties it up at one.
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 1, 2026
The tie game barely lasted a minute. Jumping up into the play, Tom Willander scored his 4th goal of the season off a genuinely slick East-West pass off the zone entry.
2-1 Canucks
Willander answers back quickly and the Canucks are ahead again!
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 1, 2026
Pobody’s nerfect. Naturally, after regaining the lead, the Canucks spent the next two minutes stuck inside their d-zone, desperately trying to break up the Leafs’ cycle. The Canucks rallied and continued to batter the Leafs with dangerous looks.
Then, at the conclusion of the period, Elias Pettersson (the defenceman) took issue with a post-whistle crosscheck from Scott Laughton, engaging in his second (very cool), aggressive, post-whistle scrum in as many games.
The post-whistle shenanigans meant that the start of the 3rd period would see two minutes of 4-on-4 action.
Third Period
Trailing by a goal and not thoroughly convinced that they’re out of the playoffs, the Leafs woke up for the final frame. Shortly after the 4-on-4, Max Domi equalized for Toronto with a bizarre-o trickler stemming from a mad d-zone faceoff scramble.
2-2 Tie
Domi ties it off the faceoff. 2-2
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) February 1, 2026
You had to feel for Tolopilo, who has been solid as a rock in his last two starts for Vancouver. Robbed of a shutout because of a concussion spotter against Anaheim, and an ugly-as-hell goal that gave up the club’s lead.
The Canucks were on the backfoot throughout the first half of the final frame. Score effects definitely played into the lopsided shot totals. However, the Leafs edged Vancouver 8-1 in their pursuit of an equalizer.
Throughout the final half of the last period, the Canucks appeared content to sit back and hold out hope for overtime or the shootout. Whether that was “deliberate strategy” or “necessity due to exhaustion from having been outshot 16-2 over 15 minutes” is tough to say.
Linus Karlsson broke up the monotony of ‘Canucks d-zone struggles’ by leading a rush through the neutral zone before hammering a one-timer off Woll’s chest from a terrific cross-ice feed by Filip Chytil.
The Canucks’ passive turtle play paid off, securing themselves at least a single point for their efforts.
Overtime
Starting overtime for Vancouver were David Kampf, Filip Hronek, and Jake DeBrusk.
Despite winning the opening faceoff, John Tavares swooped the puck out to Jake McCabe, who immediately entered the Canucks’ zone for a scoring chance.
Elias Pettersson (the forward) danced around the offensive zone on a shift with DeBrusk and Hronek, but the three could not connect.
William Nylander responded in kind with a handful of dangerous looks alongside Auston Matthews.
The Hronek-Pettersson duo took a turn with Conor Garland, and had the Leafs absolutely scrambling in their end inside the crease, with EP40 flubbing a wraparound that would have squared it away for Vancouver.
The Pettersson almost game-winner gave way to a breakaway chance for Auston Matthews, who was hauled to the ice by Garland on the backcheck. The refs gave Matthews the rarely-seen overtime penalty shot opportunity in place of a power play, which Tolopilo promptly turned aside.
Because of Tolopilo’s heroic efforts, the Canucks were headed to the shootout.
Shootout
They couldn’t do it in regulation, but Nylander and Matthews scored in the shootout for Toronto, while an exhausted Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk could not for Vancouver.
The end.
Another quality tank game. Decent bite. Decent effort from an undergunned squad. One point out of a possible two.
It wasn’t the worst way to spend your Saturday night!
What’s your instant reaction to this game? Let us know in the comments section below!
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Watch the Toronto Maple Leafs suffer and potentially hurt your draft position? Or lock down another loss in your thirst for first?
That’s the scenario Vancouver Canucks fans found themselves in Saturday night, who probably walked away with mixed feelings after watching a 3-2 shootout loss to Toronto.
The ultimate end goal is, of course, racking up the losses; we all know that. To be a Canucks fan is to know that even finishing dead last in the NHL only means Vancouver will pick third overall in the 2026 draft. Sure, they “could” get first or second, but this team has been around long enough to know that just isn’t how things work in the National Hockey League, a point the carnival wheel back in 1970 made clear early. At the very least, finishing dead last means you can’t fall further than third, which is as close to an ultimate victory as this team can get this season.
It’s why you have to live in constant fear of the Canucks going on a hot streak and finding a way to claw out of the basement, or setting some obscure record of being the worst team in the standings to finish the year on a 15-game winning streak. If there is a way to historically fumble a situation, it usually tends to find its way to the west coast of Canada, self-inflicted or not.
But on the other hand, there has been a healthy debate about how the way the Canucks have been losing might be affecting their younger players’ development. That even the remainder of this season offers many opportunities for the rookies to grow and learn, which is hard to picture when it’s in the usual form Adam Foote hockey has provided. It’s tough to watch Zeev Buium get trounced 6-0 night in and night out and think, “Excellent, he is going to learn so much from another horrible loss.”
To their credit, however, Vancouver has now played two games straight where, dare I say it, they have looked competent defensively? They aren’t world beaters by any stretch of the imagination, and they still require a healthy dose of luck and bounces to go their way if they want to secure victories, but they’ve at least looked ok.
We haven’t seen endless stretches of the Canucks loading up one side of the ice, or multiple players chasing one guy, leaving the opposition wide open in front of their goalie. Instead, we’ve seen what all lower-tier teams should strive for, which is a stingy team playing cautious hockey and seeing if they can steal a win on occasion. There were times when Toronto would cycle the puck, and I think even they were surprised when Vancouver kept their composure and didn’t lose their defensive assignments, keeping the Leafs to the outside of the ice.
So with the added bonus of the Canucks playing relatively ok hockey, it was also nice to see some of the young players shine during the game. This was about as good a tank game as you can get, to be frank. Tom Willander had a nice offensive rush up the ice that resulted in a goal. Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Liam Öhgren teased the city with the kind of chemistry normally reserved for hit shows on Crave. And Nikita Tolopilo had hands down my favourite game from a Canucks goaltender this season, with a gutsy effort that showed him stopping 39 of 41 shots as he dragged his team to overtime with the Leafs controlling most of the third period.
And while part of me hoped for a Canucks victory, if for no other reason than to see if it would cause Toronto to hold a players-only meeting to try and figure out how they could lose to Vancouver, it was still one of the more entertaining games of the season. One in which, yeah, you could see some glimpses of potential in players that might be part of the solution one day.
The first period from Vancouver played out pretty much how the game against the Anaheim Ducks did.
On one hand, you had the Canucks playing cautious hockey and waiting to see if a goal would happen to come their way. They weren’t going to force the issue, mind you, but if a puck found its way near Toronto’s net, they wouldn’t mind tapping it in.
On the other hand, you had the Leafs, who entered the game reeling, losers of six straight, and coming face to face with the thought that they might be the baddies. A loss to Vancouver felt like it might break them down to their very core, so it wasn’t too surprising to see them starting off the game looking a bit tight, almost like a playoff game.
And much like the game against Anaheim, I whispered “You got this DOC,” knowing Drew O’Connor would put the other team on notice with an efficient forecheck leading to a pedestrian scoring chance:
Drew skates from his own faceoff circle and still beats everyone to the puck, and while I know DOC has trade value, and the Canucks should be like that carpet store on Burrard where it had a store closing sale for around 12 years, I will say I have grown fond of watching him ply his trade here. He just plays a very honest game. He’s the NPC in Red Dead Redemption that you go out of your way to make sure they don’t get killed because he just brings a level of purity to your town.
Speaking of solid games, PO Joseph had one of his better games for Vancouver as well, highlighted early by him shutting down a William Nylander pass to Matias Maccelli in the slot:
Again, not world beating. But even making solid, smart plays in their own zone has been a mountain too high to climb for this team this season, so kudos have to be given to them when they finally tighten things up.
And when the Canucks did stumble, Nikita Tolopilo was there to make the save. He never looked panicked; he never looked frazzled. In fact, at times, he looked bemused that Toronto thought they could score on him. I think he reads the puck really well, which allows him to be in position for shots, so you don’t see him lunging and putting himself out of position too often.
Max Domi tested Nikita early on when he found Auston Matthews with a betwixt the leg pass that caught Aatu Räty out of position:
Aatu Räty continues to concern me with his defensive zone coverage, but this is also a team that has had an entire roster looking like old bananas left in their locker for over a semester, so I don’t want to come down on his play too harshly. There is probably no better time than now to play him and see if he can work through some of these kinks, but even with the Foote System asterisks beside his name, I do wonder if his defensive issues will hold him back from carving out a traditional bottom-six role.
And speaking of working through their kinks, Tom Willander made the type of pass that will give all coaches heartburn when he tried to sauce a backhand pass through the air on a backcheck, which, were it not for Marcus Pettersson, could have been a clear-cut breakaway for Bobby McMann:
For the most part, though, Vancouver kept their mistakes limited and made sure the first period was kind of boring. Which is a good thing, mind you.
They had some shots, but none of them were super threatening. Natural Stat Trick had the Canucks with one high-danger chance in the opening frame, and that lines up with the eye test. A lot of their chances were low-high passes to the point man, who would throw it on net:
The odds of Chaos Giraffe scoring on that shot are slightly higher than if anyone else took it, merely because it’s Tyler Myers, and an anvil could fall out of the sky and take out Joseph Woll, as those are the Acme rules CG57 lives by. The main takeaway from that play is the nice pass from Filip Chytil, who continues to struggle to have an offensive impact, but you can see his game is peaking at you from around the corner. It’s smiling shyly at you from across the bar, hoping you’ll come over and buy it a drink so it can open up to you and see if this thing between you is real.
Chytil passing aside, it was, yeah, just a lot of “hammer some shots on net and see what happens”:
The shot looks more dangerous because it gets deflected, so it forces Woll to make an awkward toe save, but you get the gist.
As for Toronto, they had a couple of really good looks on net, but Tolopilo, or ‘Tolipedo’ if you’re Craig Simpson, shut them down easily:
Nothing to write home about after one period, BUT, for a team that has been incredibly bad this season, people outside of this market have no idea how much of an improvement that is. It’s like applauding yourself for getting up in the morning and making breakfast for once. Sometimes you just have to celebrate the small things in life to build momentum.
And yes, eating yogurt out of the container is making breakfast. I don’t like the tone of your voice, thank you very much.
There was a time when the Canucks drafted Patrick White, and Dave Nonis talked about his release and his shot. It bordered on comparisons to Markus Naslund, which felt lofty, but hey, it was the 2000s; times were different back then. Sugar Ray was a thing, Tommi Santala was the best fourth liner in the NHL, and abandoning your car in the basement of GM Place was a time-honoured tradition.
So when people talked about Jonathan Lekkerimäki’s shot after the Canucks drafted him, you initially prepared yourself for the inevitable decline in the hype.
But as we’ve seen over the last few years, this kid’s release is so sick that no known antibiotics work on it:
That’s a grown-ass man’s release right there. That’s the kind of release someone does in beer league, and you automatically go home and search for them on HockeyDB because you just know that guy was drafted in the NHL once and he is clearly smurfing for the other team.
It clearly helps that he has space to pick his spot, to which I remind you of the Mason Raymond rule, in that everyone in the NHL can look like Ovechkin during practice, where they have all the time in the world to do their thing. But we also know Jonathan Lekkerimäki can pull off this shot in tight windows and with little time. It’s the kind of shot you want to see more of because it’s such a god damn weapon. You almost flinch watching it because you know how cruel it is that he’s using that against another human being.
Now, he has a long way to go, and a sick shot does not make a career, but like any good tank game, you can see the vision.
You can also see the chemistry Liam Öhgren might have with his former Swedish linemate, and you can’t help but wonder if that might end up being a thing. You dream about a world in which the size and speed of Liam opens up time and space for Lekkerimäki to pick his spot cleanly, leading to many a goal celebration.
You also find yourself wondering how attached the Buffalo Sabres are to Noah Ostlund, but that’s a dream for another day.
For now, it’s just delightful to see two young kids make an impact in an NHL game, because that’s the direction this team needs to keep heading.
Anything that reminds me of the 1994 playoff series between Toronto and Vancouver is a good thing, so count me in as someone who loves this jersey matchup.
It looks even better when Tolopilo, aka The Human Tolopedo, stops Max Domi dead in his tracks, before being bailed out by the post on the follow-up shot from former Canuck Oliver Ekman-Larsson:
It doesn’t look as good when Raty is stopped in the slot, and Drew O’Connor pushes the rebound wide, but still, pretty cool:
It looked like the Canucks had gone up 2-0 on an Elias Pettersson goal, but it was waived off due to Conor Garland’s goaltender interference:
Make no mistake: if this had been a playoff game, I would have spent four straight days complaining about how the league got this one wrong. About how Woll was already out of the blue paint and put himself out of position. How Garland barely leaned on Woll, and that the Leafs goalie pushed himself out of the crease because he lunged for a shot. About how Colin Campbell was probably behind this somehow, someway, I just haven’t proven it yet.
But it’s a tank season, so I found it hard to get too riled up over it.
I could see it from both sides, to be honest. I think Garland doesn’t go out of his way to not impede Woll, and possibly pushes him a bit. I also think Woll wandered too far from his net and was dead in the water anyway after he misplayed the initial shot. Him trying to fight back through Garland looked like it was outside the crease enough for the goal to count, but again, what are you going to do?
Sometimes it’s best to take the Tony Soprano approach.
Öhgren and Lekkerimäki didn’t score on this play, but damn it, it’s fun to watch them create chances:
Morgan Reilly and Matty Knies do a good job of breaking the play up, and the pass from Liam wasn’t the most accurate thing in the world, but we’re clearly at the point of “play these two kids together forever/rest of the season because we have nothing else to look forward to.”
Just give us kids enjoying hockey together instead of wondering if players have too much emotional baggage from moving on from a Quinn Hughes-led team. I shouldn’t be measuring the sadness in a player’s eyes after every game; I don’t want that metric in my life anymore.
I cannot remember the last time a player enjoyed a media scrum in Vancouver. Yet, there was Liam last game using a goalie stick to interview Defensive Minded Elias Pettersson. This is the future we need. Raffi Torres eating pizza in the background, or Öhgren using goalie equipment as a microphone. Without goofy stuff like this, we die in a hockey market; it’s like Tinker Bell rules, but modified for sports.
I think we saw the best and worst of the current iteration of Elias Pettersson in this game. We saw the defensively clutch, extremely smart hockey player that can knock down passes in his own zone and set up counterattacks in the blink of an eye:
And seeing that casual shot from Evander Kane and Conor Garland’s recent play, it does make one hope for a future in which he gets some new linemates who can do more with his playmaking setups. It’s been many a year of saying “he needs linemates,” and there is an argument to be made that at 11.6 million dollars, you should be able to generate offence on your own. But I also think it’s very true that this year has been a rough ride in terms of his linemates not producing on the chances EP40 is setting up, so his point total this season isn’t as alarming to me as previous years.
That being said, we also saw him falling down an awful lot in this game, which is something I truly thought would go out of his game as he got older. The Sedins wrote the book on adding balance to your game, but we just aren’t there with Elias. If you will allow me to fast forward to an overtime shift, at one point, John Tavares absolutely bullied EP40 off of the puck like he was his younger brother:
Elias Pettersson continues to have one of the most fascinating career arcs to me, as I truly have no idea how it is going to all play out.
All I know is he was one of only two forwards who didn’t register a shot on net tonight, and that feels like such a fixable problem for him, yet here we are again.
While the Canucks had a solid game defensively, they still had some breakdowns, one of which led to the Leafs’ first goal. Chytil and Lekkerimäki were the forwards down low on this rush, yet neither of them took Nicholas Roy, who skated directly into the middle of the ice for the one-timer goal:
You can see Teddy Blueger, the last man back, skating his ass off to try and make a play on the puck, but alas. In a perfect world, Teddy as the centre protects the middle of the ice, but he is clearly not in position to do so, which is where Chytil or Lekkerimäki need to cover for him.
Not the most egregious mistake on the night, but a costly one.
The Canucks would then score on the next shift, as Evander Kane sauced in one of the most beautiful passes of the season to a hard-charging Tom Willander:
Tom Willander’s career is just starting, and while he certainly has holes in his game, his skating remains an elite asset for him. He needs to keep fine-tuning it and knowing when to jump up in the play, but he nailed it on this goal. With four Leafs players caught deep, he knows he has some leeway to jump up, giving Evander a target to pass to. The finish is also clinical.
Now, let’s get back to that pass from Evander. Just an absolutely perfect, filthy, disgusting pass that you know would be really fun to hang out with at the bar. Oh, the stories that pass would tell.
That’s the Planet Ice in the offensive zone that drives up his trade value. For all of his defensive issues, the man has some serious skills in those hands.
Linus Karlsson would then almost score to end the period, but once again, Woll’s foot is begging for an OnlyFans account to be created:
And if that wasn’t enough, here is DPetey showcasing some more of that snarl we saw last game, when he pushed back against Scott Laughton, trying to get up in his business:
See? This is the kind of game fans want. Just show that you care, and people will get happy and support it.
With the third period barely underway, Max Domi would tie the game up on a bit of a lucky goal:
It’s basically as if EA Sports scripted this one, as the puck rolls up over Tolopilo and ends up dribbling into the net. The only thing missing was the custom goal celebration and someone complaining about Domi’s HUT value.
I also find some peace in the fact that other fan bases are as excited about trade value as Vancouver is for veteran players.
The third period was all Toronto, and that’s when Tolopilo shined. This was the period where I got into that zone of almost wanting the other team go get shots, because I couldn’t wait to see how Tolopilo was going to stop them. That kind of braggadocio only occurs when a goalie is feeling it, and it’s safe to say Nikita was locked in after letting in the Domi goal.
Which is a good sign! That’s the kind of goal that Dan Cloutier would have taken three years to move on from.
Nikita, though? Stone cold assassin.
500 career goals, John Tavares wants to go glove hand? Not today, buddy:
Oh, you want to throw in a shot from the point and see how he deals with traffic? Buddy, Nikita drives in Vancouver, that doesn’t faze him:
John Tavares’ shot wants to test that glove hand again? Thought the first save was a fluke? Sit down:
You want to scramble in the crease and see if Nikita can keep his composure? Not an issue:
The thing I loved most about Tolopilo’s game was how quickly he recovered and got back into position, and how he fought through traffic to make the save.
To Vancouver’s credit, they didn’t bleed chances as they have in games past, but Nikita still had to make seven high-danger saves to keep the game tied. It was just a gutsy effort from a goalie who probably didn’t think he was going to get much NHL action this season, and now we’re at the point where he clearly deserves his third start in a row on Monday.
Or at the very least, get to play a few minutes in Kevin Lankinen’s game so he can know what it feels like to have a shutout stolen from him.
The Canucks push back in the third period? Not much, to be honest.
We saw Chytil’s offence across the bar again, giggling coquettishly and dropping their handkerchief on the ground to catch our attention, but unfortunately, he spun and put the backhander high:
And we also saw Chytil set up Linus Karlsson for a vicious one-timer that forced Woll to make a game-saving stop on:
So again, Chytil is showcasing some of that offensive skill. He just hasn’t fully clicked yet and put it all together.
Which meant this game went to overtime, which ended up giving us the best extra frames of the season in terms of entertainment value.
First up, yes, your eyes do not deceive you, that is David Kämpf taking the opening draw in overtime. Only to watch as Jake McCabe sprinted by him to almost score a goal:
That’s a massive stop from Tolopilo, and he had to face down another huge scoring chance when William Nylander just ran out of room on a breakaway:
You’ll notice Nikita gets back into position almost immediately and starts tracking the puck, and is already in position for the second Nylander shot, no sweat, no problem.
The much-maligned Conor Garland then tried to summon his inner Corolla by jumping on a fortuitous bounce off the end boards that he just failed to convert into a goal:
Garland would again have a chance to end things when Jake DeBrusk committed Jake on Jake crime by picking the pocket of McCabe and finding Conor all alone for a mini breakaway, but much like Nylander, he skated himself out of a scoring position:
All of which led to Uncle Fil loading up the cannon to unleash an absolute piss missile of a shot, just kidding, he faked the shot and found Elias Pettersson down low, who couldn’t stuff the puck in, and ended up with Auston Matthews getting a breakaway:
I know some people might be frustrated the Canucks didn’t score there, but I am here for the creativity on this play. Sometimes I get tired of shots into traffic, so if it’s three-on-three, sure, why not have at it? Fake your shot and feed EP40 down low, make it look pretty. If that goal goes in, it’s a top highlight of the year, and what else do we have going for us, really?
Now, since Garland trucked Matthews on the breakaway chance, Auston was awarded a penalty shot. But you know who didn’t give a sh!t about that? Nikita Tolopilo:
Just an ice-cold assassin out there. I absolutely loved watching Nikita in net on this night.
The game would go to the shootout, where Jake DeBrusk pulled off the rare double post no goal:
Before Nylander and Matthews beat Tolopilo to secure the win:
Ultimately, losing that game is what’s best for the standings, but the Canucks continue to crawl towards a team that can be enjoyable to support during a rebuild.
With the trade deadline looming in a month, all that’s next is shipping out some contracts and getting more draft capital.
The blueprint is right there.
That’s impressive, it truly is. But the man needs to start setting some shot records soon. It can’t all be defensive.
Best jersey Botch
I see what you did there.
Best whoops how did this get in here
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It’s February. The countdown is on to the Olympics, but before then, the Vancouver Canucks still have a couple of games to play. The team is in Utah and Vegas this week before the National Hockey League goes dark for three weeks. While NHL hockey will stop, Canucks talk will not. You’ve got plenty of questions about this hockey club and, as always, we will do our best to answer some of them with our weekly Monday mailbag. Let’s get started.
It was difficult to understand the thinking on Saturday night as Jonathan Lekkerimäki logged one 25-second shift over the final 12:03 of the third period. And then watched as many others got shifts in an exciting 3-on-3 overtime. Head coach Adam Foote was asked about it postgame and said that there were concerns over Lekkerimäki’s defensive game, but that he expects the forward to learn quickly so that he can be an option in similar circumstances. No one is saying that Lekkerimäki needed to log more ice time than others, but he ought to have played more than he did.
The stakes are as low as they can possibly be right now, and the Canucks remain the last-place team in the league. Play the kids. Live with whatever mistakes they may make and use those as coachable moments. If this team is truly committed to the rebuild, it needs to start making decisions that will help advance the rebuild. Parking a player like Lekkerimäki for the second half of the third period and all of overtime didn’t make any sense on Saturday. And still doesn’t a few days later.
In my mind, Lekkerimaki is the purest shooter on the Canucks. Why didn’t he partake in the shootout?
— GeeNVee (@GeeNVee) February 1, 2026
Well, we don’t know for certain that Lekkerimäki wasn’t part of the shootout plan. The Canucks only had two attempts, so the third shooter remains a mystery. My hunch is it would have been Liam Öhgren who has scored on two of his three attempts for the Canucks this season. But maybe it would have been Lekkerimäki. Maybe. We all remember his stick twirl before scoring in a shootout in New Jersey last season.
And he had already scored a pretty goal earlier on Saturday. So he certainly deserved some consideration. With Elias Pettersson now 0 for 5 and Jake DeBrusk just 1 for 5 (although, to be fair, he hit both posts with his attempt on Saturday), perhaps it’s time for the Canucks to reconsider their shootout roster altogether. Run Öhgren out first. Let Lekkerimäki have a go. Give Drew O’Connor a shot. Maybe see what Tom Willander can do. When the top of the order is a combined one for 10, it feels like it might just be time to redefine the top of the shootout lineup.
I’d have to say Tom Willander simply based on the competition Cootes and Buium will face on future Canadian and American Olympic rosters. Only 13 right-shot Swedish defencemen have appeared in an NHL game this season. So it’s a limited field to begin with. And at 35, Erik Karlsson is likely appearing in his final Olympic games, which further clears a path. Willander has plenty of developing to do before he’s on the Swedish Olympic radar, but he also has plenty of time to continue to grow his game. We’ll see how Buium and Cootes fare in the years to come. Both have represented their countries at the World Juniors, and Buium played for Team USA at the World Hockey Championship. The Olympics are another level altogether, but it’s certainly something any top NHL prospect can aspire to.
I’m pretty sure the Trevor Linden ship has sailed. Linden gave it a shot and wound up on the wrong end of a power struggle to rebuild the roster a decade ago. Linden seems like he has settled into a successful business career away from the rink and I just don’t see him deciding to return to hockey management. And the Sedins appear to have found their groove in player development, but have shown no signs of wanting to climb the corporate ladder at Rogers Arena. At one point, a few years back, they looked at various opportunities within the team’s front office and decided they could best apply their skills on the ice rather than in the boardroom. By the looks of it, they seem fairly content doing their part in player development both in Vancouver and in Abbotsford.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a fascinating story. As of this writing, they are on a six-game win streak and sit eighth in the overall NHL standings with 67 points. But their top five scorers are 31 or older (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Anthony Mantha, Bryan Rust and Erik Karlsson). Three of those five are over the age of 35. So what happens when Crosby and Malkin – two of the greatest players of their era – decide to pack it in? Where will that leave the Penguins? Obviously, they look to have landed a terrific young player in Coquitlam’s Ben Kindel, but he’s the only roster player under 25 who has made any sort of statistical impact this season.
So it feels premature to declare the Penguins’ rebuild on the fly a true success at this stage. Kyle Dubas has shown a willingness to make moves to help the hockey club and will surely continue to try to address needs with an eye to the future. But let’s slow the roll on any sort of victory lap for the Pens at this point. They still look like a team that will take them as far as Sid and Geno will take them. And that hardly sounds like a rebuild of any kind to me.
I’m saying Gavin McKenna. I know Ivar Stenberg struck gold and looked good at the World Juniors and profiles as a guy that will be ready to hit the ground running in the NHL when his time comes, However, I still think if the Canucks have the chance to grab McKenna, they should. Don’t overthink it. Run to the podium and pick the guy that’s been hyped for years now. He’s starting to find his scoring form at Penn State, he would be putting up ridiculous numbers had he spent his draft year in the Western Hockey League, and he seems like the type of prospect the Canucks could market to a fan base hungry for a next wave of star power.
As for what to do if they wind up third, I think you take Keaton Verhoeff and figure it out from there. I know this team needs offensive help, but a talented right-shot defenceman is always a coveted commodity. I think it would be a misstep to look past Verhoeff with the third pick. Unless the Canucks were prepared to move down in the first round and gain some draft capital for their efforts. But after the way this season has gone, it would be ludicrous for the Canucks to wind up with anything less than the third overall selection.
What went wrong with prospect evaluation in drafts like Julevi and Virtanen and how do we avoid that in the future?
— ZaiderJake
Clearly, much went wrong with those high first-round picks in 2014 and again in 2016. Jake Virtanen checked off a lot of boxes with size, speed, skating ability, and the fact he was a local product, but his hockey IQ and the drive to excel were lacking. Needing a defenceman after selecting forwards in the first rounds in 2013, 2014 & 2015, the Canucks locked onto Olli Juolevi after he excelled at the World Juniors and never really seemed to consider alternatives.
The organization is still paying for those whiffs a decade later. However, the management group responsible for those picks is no longer in charge, and this new front office has a solid track through its first four drafts (seven of their picks have already touched NHL ice – six for the Canucks and Hunter Brzustewicz for Calgary). There is always an element of risk when evaluating teenage hockey talent, but this group seems to have a handle on its scouting process. Obviously, the stakes are massive when picking near the top of the draft, but it sounds like any one of the top five in this year’s draft class has star potential. You’d like to think the Canucks can’t miss regardless of where they are slotted at the top of the first round.
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As the Vancouver Canucks embark on a final mini road trip before the Olympic break, they will be doing without two of their top-nine forwards.
Ahead of their Monday night game against the Utah Mammoth, Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote confirmed the club would be without wingers Brock Boeser and Nils Höglander for the road trip, and thus will be out until after the Olympic break.
You can watch Foote’s answer at the 1:55 minute mark below:
"There's an energy around the guys. It's been the last 4 to 6 days… we're more connected and just got to continue it tonight."
Head Coach Adam Foote speaks on tonight's matchup in Utah, the energy around the players with their mom's around and more.#Canucks | @theprovince pic.twitter.com/o8D6jJhLOh
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 2, 2026
Boeser last appeared for the Canucks on January 25, in a matinee match against the Pittsburgh Penguins. As the Canucks were trying to mount a three-goal, third period comeback, Boeser was at the netfront chaos, waiting to bury the loose puck if it became available. Penguins forward Bryan Rust skated through the slot area and made direct contact with Boeser’s head on a hit, and left the Canuck forward down on the ice as time expired.
Rust was suspended for three games for his actions. Monday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators will be the final of Rust’s three-game suspension. He will be eligible to return for the Penguins’ two final games – against the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres – before the Olympic break, while Boeser remains out for his team’s final two games.
Canucks fans haven’t seen Höglander since January 27, against the San Jose Sharks. He managed to finish the contest, but finished with the lowest ice time of any Canuck forward. His last shift came with under seven minutes today, where he appeared to be ailing after engaging with a Sharks defenceman on the forecheck.
Höglander missed the Canucks’ first 29 games of the season after suffering a lower-body injury that required surgery in the second preseason game. Since he returned, the 25-year-old Swede has just two assists in 18 games while averaging just 11:32 minutes of ice time.
The Canucks will attempt to finish strong before the break against the Mammoth and Vegas Golden Knights, now without the likes of Brock Boeser or Nils Höglander.
After suffering a 6-2 loss at the hands of the Utah Mammoth, it’s safe to say both Vancouver Canucks players and fans alike are looking at that Olympic break finish line with a desperate longing in their eyes. It was a night that Annie Wilkes would have felt was a bit much, in which nothing much went right for Vancouver.
Not that there can be many letdowns in a season where you’re drowning in last place, it’s a bit like complaining about the menu options on the Titanic while it’s sinking. Sure, you’re going to drown, but was mashed potatoes too much to ask for? But it still felt like a bit of a stumble for a team that had put together two solid defensive games in a row.
We walk away from this loss with no new talking points. The veterans remain untraded, and with a trade freeze staring them down on February 4th, it doesn’t leave much time on that front. The Canucks lost, which was ultimately the right result, and we’ve already talked about that angle to death. Coach hurt young player development? Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick.
My biggest takeaway from this night of hockey in the NHL is just watching the games around the league and seeing so many exciting highlights, from Tage Thompson spinning his way to a spectacular goal, to old friend Quinn Hughes putting up three assists even if Brendan Gallagher did walk him like a poodle, to watching young BC born superstars Macklin Celebrini and Conor Bedard facing off in a showdown of both the future and the now.
And I didn’t even talk about the absolute filth that Mikko Rantanen unleashed on the Jets (RIP Luke Schenn’s soul).
The point is, I yearn for the day when the Canucks are exciting again because right now, they are downright unwatchable. Which, yes, comes with the process of rebuilding, I get that. But you just see all the talent around the league, and you wonder if maybe a 2-3 year rebuild is aiming a little too high for Vancouver. As much as a silver lining the play of Liam Öhgren has been for Vancouver, it pales in comparison to the rosters half the teams in the league are trotting out.
And no offence to Evander Kane, but I yearn for the day when you could watch someone fight Liam O’Brien, and it felt like it mattered, like it was for a greater purpose. Tell me Evander Kane isn’t oozing with the “hired mercenary who always turns on people but you have no other choice but to work with them, and oops, yep, they betrayed you” trope energy.
It’s just a team without absolutely zero aura right now, which makes some of these nights feel extra long, you know?
There wasn’t too much from Vancouver in this game, but a job’s a job, damn it, so let’s dive into it so we can file this game away under the “Hey remember that season Vancouver ended up picking third because they dropped two spots in the lottery?” folder.
I was initially disappointed that Nikita Tolopilo didn’t get the start in this game, as he earned it after his showing against Toronto, but after seeing the result, I am somewhat relieved he didn’t have to go suffer. Kevin Lankinen is a veteran; he knows not to get too angry when Tom Willander has two choices to make and surprises you with a third by covering nobody on an odd man rush:
To be fair to Tom Willander, maybe he saw Evander Kane covering Jack McBain in the middle and was worried Kane would let up on coverage (he did), but by doing so, he let Nick Schmaltz get his first of three goals on the night. Honestly, McBain almost tapped the puck in anyway, so in a lot of ways Willander’s instincts were right.
That being said, it was a bad defensive breakdown pretty early into the game, which kind of set the tone for the night. It wasn’t as bad as some nights have been; there was definitely an element of bad bounces working against the Canucks, but it also felt very much like a “you earn your good luck” night from Utah as well.
I just miss the days when Rick Tocchet had the Mammoth’s old city struggling to score a goal a game, you know? Everything was so much simpler back then.
Like crying while eating a frozen burrito eaten in the middle of the night as you decompress from the day, sometimes it’s the little things in life that get you through life. And on this night, Liam Öhgren was once again a bright spot on a season in which there have been oh so few of them.
As an added bonus, Conor Garland broke his 13-game pointless streak, sending the puck up so Liam could skate into it with speed, ending with a clinical shot for the finish:
A tip of the hat to Teddy Blueger for pulling the puck back to open up the passing lane to Garland in the first place, as the chemistry between Ted and Conor continues to spark here and there, reminding us of a time long gone. We talked about it during the homestand, but I really enjoy this trio as a line. I don’t think much of anything will put up wins on this season, but just in terms of watching a competent line doing competent things, these three will probably be near the top of the list for Vancouver.
And because life is about to get much, much harder for Kevin Lankinen in this article, here he is making a great side-to-side stop on Clayton Keller:
And in case you want to see the exact same shot, except a few minutes later, here is Clayton Keller once again sliding into open space and cranking another one timer like a young Chev Chelios:
Should Keller be able to continuously get open like this? Of course not. But as noted Canadian poet laureate Avril once said, sometimes life’s like this, uh-huh, uh-hugh, that’s the way it is.
Ohh, la-la-la-la.
2 goals on 4 shots where is Tolopilo to save us ?#canucks
— -Rutherford's-Traded Quinn Hughes
(@Jhammy51) February 3, 2026
Hey man, lay back, it’s all been done before.
Goals, that is.
Sean Durzi would quickly take care of that whole pesky “tie game” situation Vancouver found themselves in when he set up Nick Schmaltz for his second goal of the night off of a faceoff:
The worst part is that Schmaltz didn’t even have to do anything to get open like that, Filip Chytil just sort of “later homies” his way out of frame, while Tyler Myers had a decision to make, cover the middle or run to the corner to cover a dude, and you know our Chaos Giraffe can’t resist the pull of the corner.
And to be clear, that’s Chytil’s guy. Myers did nothing intrinsically wrong on the play; he released his guy off the draw and went to the net, and then assumed Chytil had Nick. If Myers jumps up to cover, he leaves Durzi all alone in the corner, which arguably isn’t the worst thing in the world, but this also kind of shows the zero-sum game the Canucks defensive strategies utilize most nights.
Lankinen probably also wishes he didn’t slide so far to his right, but honestly, this was a night in which everything was going against him. He should be happy a car didn’t run through the boards and hit him.
Sportsnet reminded us of a quaint January stat for Vancouver in which, you know what? They might be the most dangerous team in the NHL. By the numbers. Kind of.
Anyone who has watched this team knows they are not generating good-quality, high-danger chances. There is a difference between what Colorado creates and what Vancouver creates. The Canucks are very much in their ‘Nailed It!’ phase of their life in which nothing looks like the picture in the recipe book, despite their best efforts.
Aside from their first goal of the night, it was more of the usual from Vancouver, in which they flung the puck towards the net and tried to get a piece of it:
Again, that’s not the worst play from Tyler Myers and Evander Kane, but when that’s a high point of your offence, you know you’re in a bit of trouble.
As the game wore on, you just felt like it was a night that was getting away from Vancouver. Cracks started appearing, and the chances began piling up for Utah, many of them self-inflicted wounds from Vancouver’s side of things.
Dylan Guenther almost made it 3-1 at one point when Marcus Pettersson inexplicably decided that a no-look backhand pass into the middle of the ice on the penalty kill was just the strategy needed at the moment:
That’s a bold play from the veteran Canuck who has struggled as much as anyone on the backend this season. I swear to God, Adam Foote’s system is slowly killing all of the defencemen on this team aside from Uncle Fil.
Zone exits just seemed to be a hill too high to climb for Vancouver, though, as Linus Karlsson would find out when he sent a pass that Chytil blew the zone on, and Defensive Oriented Elias Pettersson looked upon with sadness, before Uncle Fil had to save the day and block the shot:
This is life when you don’t have Quinn Hughes auto-generating 85% of your zone exits all by himself, a point further hammered home by PO Joseph, who couldn’t get the puck out of his zone even when he was within a few feet of it:
The only time PO Joseph should be fancy is when Spotify steps up and leans into his Iggy Azalea listening habits.
Or for the truly cultured people amongst us: Reba McEntire’s listening habits.
The good news is that Jonathan Lekkerimäki didn’t finish dead last on the team in even-strength ice time.
He finished the night second last in even-strength ice time with 8:28 minutes.
He finished just ahead of Filip Chytil, who didn’t return to the game after the second period due to injury.
Look, when you’re down in a game, you need your veterans out there to make sure it doesn’t turn into a 10-2 game; you have to keep it to a respectable six goals against. The kids don’t know that yet.
I feel like it’s a safe bet to say that Liam Öhgren could be a very useful roster player for a good team one day. He just has a high-end work rate that couples nicely with his natural skill, which shines especially bright on a team filled with veterans who can’t stop watching YouTube highlights of their playoff run from a couple of seasons back, wondering how it all ended up like this.
So, while there is something deflating about lifting Liam up like a young Lion King and presenting him to the crowd every time he has a competent shift, that’s sort of where we are right now: figuring out who might be part of the building blocks of the next regime.
Which is why we will enjoy moments like this, where he rushes in and takes on two Utah players and prevents them from making a zone exit, leading to an extended shift in the offensive zone:
Not the sexiest highlight…wait, you know what? Sometimes fundamentals are sexy, damn it. Sometimes being able to quickly count up your Cribbage score before anyone else is the height of sexuality, and I am tired of pretending it isn’t.
You had the nobs, Elizabeth. You forgot the nobs again.
Planet Ice both giveth and taketh, mostly depending on which zone he’s in.
Offensive zone? Hell yeah, Kane is going to get his scoring chances, and heck, he might even hit a post after Garland saves Willander’s bacon on a back check:
But then, when you get into the defensive zone, the power of the ring becomes too much to bear, and Gollum Kane comes out, and now he’s lazily sweeping his stick in the general direction of someone, taking them down by shoving his stick betwixt their feet:
And while Planet Ice is in the box muttering about dirty hobbitses, here’s Mikhail Sergachev one-timing a puck off the leg of Marcus Pettersson, right past Lankinen:
The Canucks are kind of stationary on the penalty kill, but they’re still ok as a point shot shouldn’t be that scary. Except when it deflects off your leg as your season from hell continues.
Then, to add insult to injury, Mikhail Sergachev waves in the general direction of someone and absolutely no sells it:
Was it at Evander? Was it the players’ mothers who made the trip? Was it a genuine wave? Was it dripping in mockery?
We might never know.
The Canucks Mum's aren't mad, they're disappointed. #Canucks
— Rob Hodkinson(@RobHodkinson) February 3, 2026
Clayton Keller saw Sergachev score by banking the puck in off a Canuck, and he was probably all “hell yeah, that looks awesome, I wanna do that”, so here he is banking a puck in off the skate of Defensive Guru Elias Pettersson:
The important thing to note is how much time Keller has to decide what he wants to do in life. Be a doctor? Be an actor? Score a goal? Anything was possible in that moment; Clayton never felt lighter in his life. Suddenly, the weight of the world was off his shoulders, and the only decision he had to make was who to fist-bump in celebration first.
Utah did not relent in the second period, as Teddy Blueger got absolutely dog-walked by Schmaltz after PO Jospeh and DP25 took turns trying to out-polite each other on a line change.
“No, you go on.” No, no, you go off.” “No, no, I insist, you change first.” “My good man, I couldn’t possibly intrude upon your day like that.”
All of which led to Lawson Crouse narrowly missing a Schmaltz centring pass for a tap-in:
This was a night in which Schmaltz probably could have had eight points, so you do, in a way, feel lucky he only got the four.
JJ Peterka would then make it five for the Mammoth after Marcus Pettersson once again failed to clear the zone, leading to an extended shift for Utah ending in a goal:
The Canucks were chasing the puck the entire shift, and honestly, I just felt bad for Lankinen at the end of it all. He’s basically swimming in his net, praying the loud buzzer doesn’t go off again. There was something dystopian about watching him in net during the second period.
Blueger's goal at least makes it interesting #Canucks
— JohnnyCanuckDownUnder(@NuckDownUnder) February 3, 2026
The good news for trade deadline enthusiasts is that Teddy Blueger notched his fifth goal in nine games after Conor Garland found him in the slot with a pass from the corner:
Garland and Blue Blue would lead the team in points with two each, which, hey, sure, sounds good. Nothing seems to matter this year, so I don’t know if this increases their trade value or if they are staying here forever. Who knows.
All I know is they still have some chemistry, as they would almost score later in the third period when Garland again set up Blueger in the slot from the corner:
There was once a time in which Blue Blue and Corolla were part of an elite third line unit that wasn’t relied upon to be the best trio on the ice.
Remember the Lotto Line?
Remember when Tyler Toffoli was a sign of things to come?
Good times, good times.
After keeping Utah hemmed in their own zone and getting the dreaded “shift length” chevron, Vancouver would promptly feed the puck across the blueline and lose the offensive zone:
Weeeeeeee!
OK, let’s get back to Planet Ice. It’s the third period, and his team is losing badly. He’s been chirping the other team all night, but it doesn’t quite land the same when you don’t have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl around to back your sh!t talking up. It’s hard to “Scoreboard!” someone when David Kämpf is out there trying to go end to end.
So what do you do? You get angry and throw a big hit, as Evander did on Durzi in the third:
Sean Durzi left the game after this hit, so if you’re selling at the deadline, you lean into that. What a physical presence Planet Ice brings to a lineup, what a nice boost of offensive skill as well. No, no, don’t ask about defence, look at the hit, always the hit.
Kane then even went so far as to draw a penalty by going full Planet Ice and tripping Jack McBain off the faceoff and garnering a reaction worthy of sitting in the penalty box:
There is a level of Jarkko Ruutu in that that I can’t help but respect.
Unfortunately, the Mammoth killed off the penalty, and then we ended up right back at the start again, with Nick Schmaltz scoring his third goal of the night on a setup from Keller:
Uncle Fil goes for a pinch and gets beat, and then Utah executes the two-on-one perfectly.
That being said, Tolopilo totally stops that one, right? I am not saying he wins the game; I am not saying he doesn’t let in a lot of goals in this game if he started, but I am positive he stops this one particular play.
All of which brings us back to Evander Kane and him getting saved by the officials when they broke up Liam O’Brien trying to fight him:
Nikita Zadorov would have taken off his own skate and beaten the officials in order to get at O’Brien there, that’s all I am saying.
Still, you package some of these highlights from Kane, add some star wipes, and you can probably get a decent return at the deadline.
Back when the Canucks had swagger.
By the time the end of the game rolled around, Utah was straight stunting on the Canucks, pushing hard for the seventh goal:
Utah was just flat out the better team on the night. There is no other spin to put on it. We don’t need to dive into “what does this all mean??”
It’s just a simple fact that Utah was the better team on the night, and Vancouver had no answers.
And onwards we march.
The question on everyone’s mind, is it concussion related?
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What a difference two years make.
Two years ago today, this (should we call it infamous now?) photo at NHL All-Star weekend was snapped.
The Canucks, who went on to win the Pacific Division before being eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, boasted seven representatives at NHL All-Star weekend just two years ago.
From left to right:
-Goaltender Thatcher Demko, who posted a .918 save percentage across 51 starts and finished as runner-up to Connor Hellebuyck for the Vezina Trophy.
-Brock Boeser, who not only eclipsed 30 goals for the first time in his career, but reached the 40 goal mark as well before producing at a point per game clip through 12 playoff games (with seven goals).
-JT Miller, who put up 103 points and eclipsed 30 goals for the third straight season in 2023-24.
-Quinn Hughes, holder of multiple Canucks franchise records among defencemen, would go on to win the first Norris Trophy in Canucks history later that season.
-Elias Pettersson, well on his way to eclipsing the 100-point mark for the second-straight season, Pettersson’s production declined later this season, but he still managed to finish with 34 goals and 89 points.
-Elias Lindholm, acquired by Calgary just days prior, he played a key role for the Canucks down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Of course, this was also the last NHL All-Star weekend, as the 4 Nations Face-Off served as a replacement in 24-25, and the 2026 Winter Olympics will see the NHL pause its season for nearly three weeks beginning this Thursday.
So where are those All-Stars of two years ago now? Again, working from left to right…
-Has played in just 43 non-consecutive regular-season games since then, and is now out for the rest of this season with the second hip surgery of his career.
-Signed a new contract after feeling disrespected by the organization, has struggled to score goals since the club traded away his linemate.
-Boeser’s linemate, traded for a 1st round pick (which turned into Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor before anyone had time to blink), Filip Chytil, and Victor Mancini. Things have gone poorly for him with the New York Rangers, where he was named captain at the start of this season. The Rangers are now entering a retool phase.
-Asked out of Vancouver, and helped kickstart a long overdue Canucks rebuild, that fans are currently waiting to see if the organization can be patient enough to see it through.
-Signed a big-ticket long-term contract extension in March 2024, and has scored 32 goals in 144 games since.
-Walked in the offseason to sign as a free agent with the Boston Bruins.
The only one of these players who will be in the Canucks’ lineup Wednesday night when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights will be Elias Pettersson, as Brock Boeser is out with a concussion and Demko is recovering from surgery. Oh, and Rick Tocchet was an All-Star coach that year as well, and went on to win the Jack Adams Award.
What a difference two years can make.
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