The Vancouver Canucks have played their first ten games of the season.
They sit with a 5-5-0 record, right at .500! Vancouver is also fourth in the Pacific Division. With ten points, they are three behind the Vegas Golden Knights, who have the Pacific Division lead.
Of course, it is the end of October, and there are still plenty of hockey games to come over the next few months. Could the Canucks make the playoffs? Maybe or maybe not.
There have been good things and bad things. Let’s go over ten takeaways from the first ten Canucks games.
#1: Kiefer Sherwood has been dynamite
After an impressive first season with the Canucks, Kiefer Sherwood picked up where he left off.
The Columbus, Ohio native has been quick, physical, and has been scoring goals. Sherwood leads the Canucks in goals with six. That includes this highlight reel goal in the 4-3 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.
Sherwood’s contract is up at the end of this season. At this rate, he is going to want a massive payday and lie down on a stack of dollar bills. According to CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal, things are quiet on the Sherwood contract front.
#2: Elias Pettersson is slowly looking like himself again
It’s been a rough year and a half for Elias Pettersson. This season, he hasn’t looked like the 102-point player he once was, at least not yet.
The good thing is that he is starting to show improvement. Pettersson has started looking more mobile, for instance.
Pettersson has three goals and five assists for eight points in ten games. That isn’t bad at all, and that is on pace for a 66-point season.
Speaking of goals, it looks like the confidence is starting to return for the Swedish centre. This one-time goal was vintage Pettersson.
Canucks fans should hope the confidence fully returns and Pettersson finds consistency offensively.
To make things even better, he has been one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL so far this season. Pettersson has 23 blocked shots and which leads all forwards. Once again, not bad.
#3: Thatcher Demko has looked good
There were a lot of questions surrounding Thatcher Demko heading into this season, especially after he signed a three-year extension in the summer, which takes effect next season.
It was clear that the Canucks still trusted Demko as their number one goaltender. But could he stay healthy? When he is, Demko is one of the NHL’s top netminders.
So far in 2025-26, he has looked exactly that. Demko has come up big and kept Vancouver in games, and has made incredible saves.
Demko’s numbers this season have been good: a 4-2-0, record, 2.36 GAA, and a 922 SV%. Hopefully, that continues.
#5: Kevin Lankinen hasn’t done well as a backup
Unfortunately, Demko’s backup hasn’t been as good. Kevin Lankinen signed a five-year extension in February with an AAV of 4.5 million dollars per season. This was a reward for his stellar play last season while Demko was injured.
But Lankinen hasn’t done well so far. He has a 1-3-0 record, a 3.74 GAA, and an .873% SV percentage. The Canucks planned for a 1A/1B tandem.
They cannot have Demko carrying the workload again. They also cannot overplay Demko to the point where he gets injured again.
Lankinen has time to improve, but if he doesn’t, things will get ugly.
#6: Evander Kane has mostly looked invisible
It was a questionable move when the Canucks acquired Evander Kane from the Oilers for a fourth-round pick last June. However, there was hope he could bring some offensive depth and even play on the top two lines.
But so far, he hasn’t looked great. Sure, he has four assists, and he also leads all Canucks forwards (that have played 60 minutes) in expected goals with 7.23 at 5 on 5 per NaturalStatTrick. However, Kane leads the Canucks in most expected goals against at 5 on 5 (8.1), high danger chances against (81), and scoring chances against. (80) He also has the lowest shots for percentage at 5 on 5. (42.18%)
Kane hasn’t made the most of his first-line minutes and hasn’t wowed offensively, and has looked ineffective on the power play. Defensively, he hasn’t looked great either, plus he has taken some unnecessary penalties.
It’s early, but the acquisition of Kane hasn’t looked good.
#7: Adam Foote’s deployment has been questionable
Adam Foote is a rookie head coach. There is always a risk when a team hires a head coach with no previous head coaching experience in the NHL. But of course, the Canucks hired Foote so he can gain experience and turn things around.
Foote has done all right so far. He has preached a more aggressive system compared to Rick Tocchet’s. However, he has faced some criticism too.
The most notable part is his deployment. Foote has made questionable lineups, juggled his lines, and given certain players more ice time than others. That includes playing the likes of Max Sasson over Pettersson in the 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins or playing Kane over Jonathan Lekkaramaki on the first power play unit.
However, it took guts from Foote to play three forwards in overtime against the Oilers on Sunday, and it worked. Ten games into Foote’s tenure as Canucks head coach, he’s made some mistakes, but it seems he is trying to learn from them and make adjustments.
#8: The Canucks need to take more shots
Last season, the Canucks were one of the worst offensive teams in the NHL. They finished second last in shots per game with 25.5. Only the Montreal Canadiens were worse.
This season, it has so far been more of the same. Vancouver is 28th in shots per game with 25.6. Yeah, not much improvement.
Whether that is on the power play or at 5 on 5, the team seems hesitant to shoot. The Canucks seem so intent on finding the perfect play. Sometimes, you have to let it go.
#9: Special teams aren’t the best
The Canucks special teams are in the bottom third in the NHL.
The power play has had its struggles. There are times when they have trouble getting set up and entering the offensive zone. Plus, it also didn’t help that they looked hesitant to shoot. In recent games, the Canucks power play has shown some life. Hopefully, that is a sign of improvement and not just a glimpse. The PP currently is 22nd in the NHL at 18.1%.
The penalty has struggled. The Canucks have given up poor goals on the penalty kill by giving teams easy shooting lanes.
#10: The injury bug is hitting hard
Injuries have never been kind to the Canucks, and this year is no different.
Seven players are injured. That includes captain Quinn Hughes, who missed Sunday’s game against the Oilers and is set to miss Tuesday against the New York Rangers. The 2024 Norris Trophy winner’s status is day to day, and it is a lower-body injury. For the Canucks, that could actually mean days to weeks, or even months. Defenceman Victor Mancini is also out with a lower-body injury and is day to day.
Nils Höglander has been out since the preseason, and Filip Chytil seemed to have suffered another concussion after being hit by the Washington Capitals’ Tom Wilson over a week ago. Teddy Blueger is on the injured reserve, and now Derek Forbort has been put on LTIR.
Injuries suck, but they obviously can’t be an excuse for the Canucks. Let’s see how they continue to navigate them.
