By: Brayden Fengler / March 5, 2025 One minute you’re studying line deployment for the Young Stars Weekend in Penticton and then you look up from your phone and it’s March. On the verge of a wild card spot and a still too be determined post season birth, the Canucks are now 75% through this NHL season.
Throughout the year I made a point of checking this teams pulse every 20 games to get a sense of how this team trends during the year.
Before we get too far into the final stage of this season, this is the perfect time to review the Canucks’ performance and see what kind of season this has really been for Vancouver.
Canucks First 20 Games
While stars like Elias Pettersson were struggling to get off of the ground during the first 20 games of the season, the team on the whole did not have a bad first run of games all the way up until late November.
| Wins | Losses | OTLs | Div Standings | West Standings | NHL Standings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 6 | 3 | 3rd | 6th | 11th |
The Canucks started the season with two back to back over time losses against Calgary and then Philadelphia, followed by a loss to Tampa Bay. However after those first three games the Canucks won their next four and would pick up 15 more points by their 20th game when they beat the Boston Bruins 2-0.
Again, considering Pettersson’s slow start, combined with early season personnel set backs with Dakota Joshua and Thatcher Demko out, this was a respectable showing for the Canucks after 20 games.
At the time there was reason to be impressed with what the Canucks had done, while working through there early season personnel challenges. There was not much reason to panic at the time, because it stood to reason that if the Canucks can stay competitive without being 100% healthy, than the sky must be the limit once again this season when they are all together. That was the thought at the time anyway…
Canucks After 40 Games
As another 40 games came and went, at best the Canucks were treading water, at worst they were beginning to slip in the wrong direction, losing a grip on their division and conference at the half way mark of the season.
| _ | Wins | Losses | OTLs | Div Standings | West Standings | NHL Standings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 GP | 11 | 6 | 3 | 3rd | 6th | 11th |
| 40 GP | 18 | 12 | 10 | 4th | 8th | 14th |
| Diff | +7 | +6 | +7 | -1 | -2 | -3 |
In seven games total, almost half of their 20 games within this snap shot, the Canucks took the game to overtime and lost. Within this 20 game time span the Canucks added just as many wins, seven, as they did overtime losses.
Vancouver picked up a total of 21 points during this range of games, but had they converted those over time losses into wins they would’ve moved onto their 41st game with 28 more points earned as opposed to 21.
These failures to convert, saw the Canucks drop one to three positional spots across their division, conference and league wide standings. Most notably the Canucks were relegated to a wild card spot by this point in the season, when early on they had been able to stay within the top three teams in their division.
As the Canucks marched to 40 games played this was also when the J.T. Miller saga was really beginning to make noise around the team. With injuries and other adversities still a factor it is no doubt that the tensions between J.T. Miller and Pettersson at the time did not help to bring the team together. The teams’ inability to get on the same page hurt them over this stretch.
60 Games Played
With another set of 20 games in the books, bringing the NHL season just one quarter of the way from completion, things have not trended any better for the Canucks. In fact Vancouver is still treading water in the standings but it looks like at any moment they could be going under.
| _ | Wins | Losses | OTLs | Div Standings | West Standings | NHL Standings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 GP | 11 | 6 | 3 | 3rd | 6th | 11th |
| 40 GP | 18 | 12 | 10 | 4th | 8th | 14th |
| 60 GP | 27 | 22 | 11 | 5th | 9th | 19th |
| Diff | +16 | +16 | +8 | -2 | -3 | -8 |
With J.T. Miller traded at the end of January, an assumption could be drawn that this weight of the Canucks’ shoulders in the form of Miller’s departure may be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Additionally, with the introduction of new players, such as Filip Chytil, who has seen individual success meshing with the Canucks system so far, perhaps indicated that everything was on the up and up.
But yet again that has not been the case for the club. Vancouver has slowed down it’s number of contests which they drag beyond 60 minutes, only going beyond regulation three times between their 40th and 60th game of the season, winning all but one of those games. However in the category that really counts there has not bene enough movement.
This 20 game stretch was Vancouver’s worst. Losing the one game in overtime plus 10 more in regulation, causing them to leave this stretch of games with just 10 wins.
While the Canucks have stayed a hair above 500 hockey, other teams in their division and across the league have been passing them. Since the first snapshot of 20 games played the Canucks have fallen to 5th in their division, and or essentially on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs, unless something changes.
They fell another three spots in their conference since their 20th game played. Lastly, while this number matters the least the Canucks were once the 11th best team in the NHL after their first 20 games and are now in the bottom half of the league at 19th in league wide standings.
It is worth noting that some issues for the Canucks have still persisted all season, such as Demko’s on and off again play due to continued injury. But Kevin Lankenin has been remarkable for Vancouver, so their netminders are certainly not something that can be pointed to for the blame in any capacity.
22 Games to Go
With just over 20 games left to go before it’s curtains on this NHL season, it’s clear that the direction the Canucks have been trending all year is down.
They have been remaining just competitive enough to give themselves a shot at the playoffs, but have not maintained a level of play that should give fans much confidence in their abilities even if they were to make it in.
Something needs to change for the Canucks and soon. With seven divisional match-ups still to come for the Canucks within their last stretch of games, they still have the power to shape their future. But if they don’t improve the way they have been trending, their 82nd game of the year will be their last until next October.