Everything that has gone wrong for Vancouver Canucks this season
The Vancouver Canucks entered this season as Stanley Cup contenders, hoping to improve on a magical 2023-24 that saw them make Game 7 of the second round.
Fast forward a few months and expectations have changed. Almost everything that could go wrong for the Canucks, has. They’re on the outside of the playoff picture looking in and without a strong second-half of the season, they could be heading back to the draft lottery.
So after a rough few months, here is everything that has gone wrong for the Canucks so far this season.
Defence becomes a disaster
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The Canucks defence corps was a question mark heading into this season but few predicted they would be this bad. Outside of Quinn Hughes, who has elevated his game after winning the Norris Trophy last year, and Filip Hronek, there’s not a defenceman who hasn’t been consistently caved in.
The biggest disappointment so far is Carson Soucy. He delivered solid second-pairing results last season, especially in the playoffs where he and Tyler Myers made up a useable defensive pairing. That has not been the case this season.
Soucy has a 41.43% Corsi and the Canucks have been outshot 317-227 with him on the ice at five-on-five.
The team’s offseason additions, such as Vincent Desharnais and Derek Forbort, haven’t worked out all that well. The Canucks chased size and brought in big bodies but they haven’t been able to maximize their production and the lack of puck-moving ability is evident on a nightly basis.
Injuries for all the stars
Sportsnet
The Canucks got extremely lucky with injuries last year as most of their stars didn’t miss any time at all. That could not be more different this year.
Nearly every big-name player has missed time for the Canucks over the first half of the season. Hughes, Hronek, Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, and Thatcher Demko have all dealt with at least one ailment that’s kept them sidelined.
The Canucks recent 6-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets was the first time they had all their stars available this season. And the injuries haven’t only affected the stars, with Dakota Joshua, Forbort, and others having also missed time.
The club will be hoping for better injury luck over the rest of their schedule.
The Miller-Pettersson drama
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The story of the 2024-25 Canucks cannot be told without mentioning the Miller-Pettersson drama. It’s never been a secret the two stars aren’t best friends but tensions have seemingly boiled over this year, first with a slashing incident at practice and since with a huge number of reports surrounding a rift in the dressing room.
This story would not be a story if both players were producing results on the ice. Unfortunately, they’re both performing far below what’s expected. Neither is near a point-per-game, a mark they both bested last season.
The distraction has gotten so bad the Canucks are reportedly considering trading one of the players before the deadline as a solution. Whether that comes to fruition remains to be seen, but the fact it’s being talked about at all shows how serious this has gotten.
Secondary scoring is all but gone
Timothy T. Ludwig/Imagn Images
It’s not just the Canucks stars who haven’t been living up to their normal standard. Key depth players from last season have failed to replicate their scoring numbers, resulting in an anemic offence that ranks 22nd in goals-per-game.
Both Nils Höglander and Joshua were handed new contracts before the year started for their breakout seasons. They have combined for five goals more than halfway through the schedule, far below the 42 they had together last year. In fact, they’re on pace for fewer combined points this season than just goals they had last year.
Kiefer Sherwood and Pius Suter have stepped up and already reached the double-digit goal marker, so there have been some positives from the team’s bottom six.
Tocchet has lost the Midas touch
@Canucks/X
Rick Tocchet captivated Canucks fans last season. His calm, steady demeanour helped navigate the team through rough patches and all of his tactical moves, whether it be putting together a new line or a defensive matchup choice, paid clear dividends.
Tocchet was rewarded with the Jack Adams Trophy, the first of his career and the third in franchise history. Everyone was excited to see what he had in store for his second full season behind the bench.
The results have been disappointing, to say the least. His lineup choices, consistently prioritizing bigger defencemen over puck-movers, have frustrated some fans, and the team never seems to have the energy needed to win in this league.
How much of that falls on Tocchet is hard to measure. At the end of the day, a lot of it is on the players’ shoulders. But whenever something went wrong last year, it always felt like Tocchet had the perfect antidote ready to go, and that’s not what’s happened this season.