Three losses in a row, and Canucks fans need to hear it. There is no reset button for the season, and the same goes for a full team rebuild. This isn't bad news - or at least it isn't as of October 26th, 2025.
Things could have gone better for new head coach Adam Foote. Four wins in the team's first nine games is less than fans were hoping, but not too much of a surprise. But the number of wins isn't what's holding attention right now. It's Kiefer Sherwood being the team's leading goal scorer. It's Kevin Lankinen with an .873 save percentage in four games.
It's also the perfect fit for Hallowe'en: five players on the injured reserve list, and that's after Pierre-Olivier Joseph returned. Everyone knew going into the year that the Canucks were a thin team, especially at centre. Filip Chytil has the skill to be a B-tier centre on the second line, if hardly a defensive stalwart. Having Teddy Blueger behind him helps there.
We know how that's gone. Both are out, with an emergency trade for part-time centre Lukas Reichel getting airdropped into position
The penalty kill without Pius Suter has allowed ten goals in their most recent eight games. The PK has been a big strength for Vancouver in recent years, but it's slipped this season. They've gone from third overall in 2024-25 to the bottom third in the league so far in 2025-26. Some of this may be in coaching a different system, but the talent available makes the difference, too.
To be fair, this is where a lot of Lankinen's bad stats emerge. He's allowed six goals against on 19 shots, far lower than his usual average. When that happens to a goalie, cast an eye on what plays are being allowed by the team in front of him. It's a stat that will probably return to something closer to normal as the year continues.
Vancouver's power play is once again middling. There have been several games where it could have reversed momentum for them, but fizzled instead. That Quinn Hughes hasn't been his usual world-beating self doesn't help, there. Or anywhere else, for that matter. If he doesn't get his feet back under himself soon,
Moving forward *ahem*, the front lines haven't quite meshed yet. They just feel a little...off. The Calder Trophy line - more on them later - has been the Canucks' most consistent, which is great for them, alarming for Vancouver. Conor Garland and Elias Pettersson the Forward(tm) have started finding some chemistry together, but it's been a long time coming. Overall, finding goals has been hard this season. We knew it was going to be tight, and it has been.
Vancouver's big move in the offseason, Evander Kane, has been slow and inconsistent. Given that he missed the entirety of last regular season, this might just be getting used to the game again when they aren't live-or-die. There have been some good plays, but not a good game yet. And Drew O'Connor may have been a healthy scratch by now if the team weren't in such desperate straits up front.
It's desperate enough that Abbotsford's entire top line of Arshdeep Bains, Max Sasson, and Linus Karlsson has been promoted. Aaty Räty was likely making the team, with Nils Åman keeping his spot as a "tweener", but the others were not likely playing seven in ten games outside of an emergency.
On the other hand, they have been together for more ice time than any other line Vancouver's used. Occasionally, Sasson has had the chance to use his speed higher in the lineup, but the trio has worked well together. It's understandable that Foote tends to keep them as a unit, but it is just a ten-minute unit. They've been a happy surprise, but they aren't going to carry the team.
Chytil has shown his talents and creativity and scoring ability. Lord knows, the Canucks need his speed and ability to carry the puck, but we may have seen the last of him after taking a hard hit in Washington. Best of luck to him, and we'll have to wait to see how well he heals.
But there have been other forwards taking up some of the slack. Brock Boeser is back to his goal-scoring ways, and Garland is leading the team in points. And new addition Reichel has been putting in the work, even if he hasn't had the time to practice with the team yet.
On the defence, while Hughes hasn't been his usual brilliant self, Filip Hronek has kept his play strong. Marcus Pettersson continues to be stalwart, and Tyler Myers is doing his usual "No, I'm better than a third-pair guy" thing that he does every year. The reliance on so many young players hasn't backfired - and that's a win.
Thatcher Demko has been brilliant again so far this season. His recovery has kept the team afloat as everyone has tried to catch up.
This isn't a team that's collapsing. It's one that's keeping afloat in this tightly scheduled season with the Olympic break coming up. Every team is going to have issues with injuries this year, and Vancouver's schedule is heavy early. It hurts not to have downtime, especially when you need to incorporate new players into the team. But that's going to happen to every team.
Now, when we say it's a heavy schedule early, we mean it. They play a game every two days, on the road or at home, between October 16th and November 5th. That's 12 games in 21 days with two road trips, and neither of those to the short-hop of New York. The first month of this season is just survival. It's been tough, but so far they have.
Now, November 5th is a long ways off yet, and we don't know what's happening with Chytil. What they have might not be enough to keep them afloat ten games from now. But reinforcements are coming in Blueger, Nils Höglander, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki up front and Derek Forbort on the blue line.
Trading when you're desperate never gets the best return - and every team in the league thinks Vancouver is desperate this season. Indeed, until Quinn Hughes gives a definite answer, they probably are. And we know he won't give the team an answer until much later in the season, possibly not until this season is done.
Could the Vancouver Canucks decide to fold on the year and go for a rebuild? Sure, they could, if the team wins just a handful of games between now and January. But they will need to play far worse than they have been before that happens.
And they also should see who this team actually is.
