By: Brayden Fengler / November 18, 2025 I’m a new Dad as of the beginning of October, so I am still getting used to the new schedule that a baby imposes on ones life. While there are many things that I can now no longer do on the regular, I can, in theory, still do one thing that I enjoy, which is write about the Canucks… in theory.
However, as I mentioned, new Dad, getting used to things, my writing output is not as linear and as quick as it has been in the past. Over the last week and a half, I’ve started to write various articles about this team, specifically trying to look into their injury woes.
However, every time I’ve made headway on something, due to my slower pace of writing, before I can finish what I’m working on; a new body has fallen, a new Canucks is out, and new implications emerge for this team in the short and the long term.
I may be exhausted mentally and physically from the joys and stresses that come from being a new parent, but the Canucks may be exhausting me more. So I’m gonna vent, this article is not a key introspection on how the Canucks can combat and adjust for some of their missing pieces.
This article is complaining, just complaining. Just the ramblings of a sleep-deprived parent who wants to watch some good Canucks hockey or at least competent Canucks hockey, but we’re just not getting it on the regular.
The Injuries
Currently injured within the Canucks organization, we have Jett Woo, Guillaume Brisbois, Nils Höglander, Derek Forbort, Filip Chytil, Teddy Blueger, Thatcher Demko and of course, up until two games ago, we also had Quinn Hughes out for a spell. Demko we will get to in a moment, but a quick comment on the rest of that list… What the hell is going on!
Those players listed are also just the players who are currently missing due to injury. In addition to injuries that have taken players fully out of the lineup, we have seen more Canucks leave games due to close call incidents on the ice. Take Filip Hornek as a recent example, who left their recent contest against Carolina for a time, after an elbow to the head from Andrei Svechnikov. Who knows what he and other Canucks like him may be battling while still staying in the line-up.
The number of injuries is just crazy, and it honestly feels personal at this point. It’s hard to watch this team and get excited about literally any progress when almost every game, you hear the phrase “insert Canucks player is being helped to the bench”. Injuries aren’t strictly anyone’s fault, which only adds to frustrating feelings around this team right now.
Sure, an argument could be made for looking into whatever strength and conditioning regimen this team is on; maybe there is more that could be done to prevent certain injuries. But unless Canucks trainers are helping players convert their bones to glass, injuries are simply going to happen.
This is frustrating as well because although injuries happened to this team early last season, the bigger issue circling the drain for most of that year was the J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson drama. So with that now behind them, it’s hard to watch their season’s fresh start, start like this.
The way to combat injuries is depth, which is something that the Canucks just don’t really have. Already to start the season, Conor Garland was a first liner with Elias Pettersson. I love Garland, he is doing great things right now with this team and is a big part of what’s keeping it afloat.
But that’s the problem right there! It shouldn’t be Garland gluing this team together. Garland is at his best as a firmly middle-six piece that can add impactful depth to a team’s line-up. When Garland is your be-all and end-all of a team’s offensive production, the ceiling needs to be raised and should’ve been before the season started.
Goalies
I’m not surprised, but are you freaking kidding me! We can’t keep doing this. What is going on with Demko? We have had Demko as a Canuck for 9 years. During that time, he has played 252 games for the team.
Let’s, for a second, just look at the amount of hockey games Demko has played, just after the shortened COVID season and excluding this one that’s ongoing. That’s four seasons from 2021-22 to 2024-25. The average NHL starter plays 50-60 out of every season, let’s split the difference and just call it 55 games a year.
Over four seasons, that should be 220 games played for a designed NHL starting goalie that stays healthy. Let’s be kind and honestly real, and shave 20 games off that total. Let’s assume that for about five games a season, it’s reasonable for some minor injuries to occur or a leave of absence to happen, that would keep an otherwise healthy goalie out of some games.
So if we want to say that over the last four seasons of NHL action, an average starting goalie should have 200 games to their name, where does Demko sit? Demko would is at 170 games played over the last four seasons, a negative 30-game difference or -7.5 games a year that a healthy starter should be playing in.
At a certain point, it’s like…. what are we doing here? It keeps being said, and understandably so, that when Demko is healthy, he’s great. But maybe it’s time to accept that he’s not healthy, not in the way that matters. That the frequency with which he is physically unable to start for this team is outweighing the good he does when he can.
I wanted to believe that Demko was 100% headed into this season, and maybe he was. I wanted to believe that he and Kevin Lankinen where going to split the net and be the least of the Canucks worries. As the kids would say (but not mine because he’s less than two months old), “holly freaking air ball”.
I think something in me has finally snapped. I’m of the mind now that once Demko has a decent sample size under him, The Canucks need to seriously consider shipping him off for parts.
Could he go somewhere and play amazingly the rest of his career and not even so much as catch the common cold ever again, sure that could happen. But let’s ask ourselves, Canucks luck aside, do we really think that as Demko ages, things are going to get better?
Pettersson Blocking Shots
Canucks socials put out a post about how Elias Pettersson has been dominant with his shot blocking this season. It’s evident that this is the case if you have watched Petey during any game, the man has been fearless and effective in this category. He is 14th in the league as well, which is impressive. But is this what we want out of Elias Pettersson?
On that list of shot blocking leaders, Pettersson is the only centre in the top 14 and the only centre until 50 on that list. Every other player… yeah, a defenceman. The other centre at 50 is Austin Matthews, who is (checks notes) injured now. Is this what we want our first-line centre to be dominating in?
If I were the smartest man in the world (stay with me, stop laughing) and I could take a really good punch to the face, like I can take a punch and get up like no one’s business, that’s cool, I guess, but I would think we’re putting the real money maker at risk by doing that over and over again.
I’m not saying Pettersson should stop what he’s doing, but maybe some other players could step up, take the load off in certain situations. Because somehow, with all the injuries this team has had, Petterson and his shot blocking machine body has not been one of them. But I’m afraid that won’t last, and then Garland (one’s he’s back from his fight related injury) will need to split into two people to keep this team from playing against AHL teams.
Whining and Complaining
I just want this team to be competitive or even consistent. I’ll take that. If they’re bad, stay bad. If they can pull it together, let’s pull it together, but this middling injury-ridden start to the season is killing my love of watching this team play.