What to do if the Canucks are good to start the season
The Vancouver Canucks kick off the 2026-27 season on Tuesday night, and excitement is at an all-time middle.
While fans are largely happy that the Canucks are rebuilding with a clear direction under new management, both the team and the fans have to face the reality of another probable last-place season where they’re unlikely to win many of the 84 games they’ll play.
That’s a good thing from a long-term perspective. The Canucks badly need another top-tier prospect to add to the likes of Caleb Malhotra, Braeden Cootes, and Adam Novotný, and the best way to do that is to finish last, ensuring the best odds of picking first overall in the 2027 NHL Draft.
The 2027 draft class is headlined by Calgary’s Landon DuPont, a potential franchise-defining defenceman who could fast-track the Canucks’ rebuild in a hurry. He’s even a longtime Canucks fan.
So, fans have a vested interest in the Canucks losing a lot of games this season.
But hockey is an inherently unpredictable sport. As much as it seems likely on paper that the Florida Panthers are going to run roughshod over the rest of the NHL and the Canucks will sink to the bottom of the standings, things can change in a hurry when teams actually hit the ice.
So, what if the Canucks buck the odds and get off to a hot start to the season, threatening to derail the rebuild before it even begins?
1. Don’t panic
This is the most important step.
You might be thinking to yourself, “This is going to ruin the tour — er, rebuild,” but a hot start might not mean anything.
The 2025-26 Canucks won their first game of the season 5-1. In fact, they won four of their first six games.
The 2016-17 Canucks set a new franchise low in goals-per-game and finished second-last in the NHL; they won their first four games out of the gate and only lost their fifth game in the shootout.
So, a hot start might not mean much at all. Remain calm.
2. Check the advanced statistics
Perhaps those hot starts by previous terrible Canucks teams aren’t particularly reassuring. So, let’s turn to something that regularly brings people down: math.
It’s entirely possible — nay, even likely — that the Canucks early-season success is just a facade built on unsustainable luck. That means it’s time to check the analytics.
Even if the Canucks manage to outscore their opponents early in the season, odds are that their underlying numbers aren’t great. Maybe their Corsi is in the sewer, meaning they’re getting outshot every game. Maybe they’re giving up a ton of high-danger chances that somehow aren’t going into the net. Maybe their PDO — their save percentage and shooting percentage — is insanely, unsustainably high.
Surely, the Canucks will regress and come back down to earth. It’ll be fine.
But what if the underlying numbers aren’t all that bad…
3. Consider that maybe the Canucks might actually make the playoffs
It could happen, right?
4. Laugh hysterically
Calm down, get ahold of yourself!
5. Convince yourself that Landon DuPont isn’t even that good
Do the Canucks really need a number-one, franchise-changing defenceman? The last one they got didn’t turn out so well.
Besides, Landon DuPont might not be the next Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar; he might only be the next Matthew Schaefer.
6. Enjoy the good times while they last
Here’s the real lesson out of all of this: since hockey is so unpredictable, you have to enjoy the good times while they last, even if it’s likely they won’t last long.
The chaotic nature of hockey makes every goal and every win that much more precious. If the Canucks happen to have a hot start or hit a random winning streak in the middle of the season, don’t fret: enjoy it.
Really, hockey is an incredibly difficult sport, and it’s near miraculous that anyone is good at it. So, celebrate those miraculous moments while you can.