NHL
Filip Hronek has been Vancouver's steadiest and most important blue liner through the first month of the season. Bob Frid / Imagn Images
Despite generating shots at an uncharacteristically high rate for two periods on Wednesday night, the Vancouver Canucks broke defensively in the third period and dropped a 5-2 result against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks.
The loss, though accompanied by some better offensive process, was a costly one. It dropped Vancouver’s point percentage below .500 in advance of a gauntlet that will see them face-off against a who’s who of the NHL’s best teams — Colorado, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida, Dallas and Winnipeg — in quick succession beginning this Sunday. It’s a stretch that could well define Vancouver’s season, which makes the Canucks’ missed opportunity against the Blackhawks hurt that much more.
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As much as Vancouver generated on Wednesday night, when the breakdowns piled up and their defensive structure broke down in the third period, it shattered spectacularly. Chicago’s goals weren’t scored off of broken plays or fortunate bounces or seeing-eye point shots. These were big, glaring breakdowns, as Chicago capitalized on a dizzying array of seam passes. The Blackhawks’ offensive onslaught was punctuated by several puck watching sequences by Vancouver checkers that the club won’t be pleased with when they review the video on Thursday morning.
Through 15 games, the Canucks have now surrendered 50 goals against in all situations, giving them the ninth-highest goals against per game rate in the NHL. This team’s identity as an elite defensive side, forged during the 2023-24 campaign, is clearly in a period of transition, even as the quality and depth of the Canucks’ blue line and goaltending tandem remains a clear area of strength.
Yesterday we graded every Canucks forward’s performance through the first month of the season. Now let’s grade every Canucks goaltender and defender who has appeared in at least four games this season based on their performances through the first 15 games. Note that grades are handed out relative to player expectations.
Quinn Hughes: C-plus
2025-26 statistics: 11 GP, 1-7-8
Quinn Hughes is still performing at the level of a workhorse top-pair defenceman, but he’s yet to reach the exceptionally high bar he set for himself over the last couple of years. We’ve become accustomed to Hughes not just being one of the best defencemen in the world, but also being a Hart Trophy-level player. Usually, Hughes is capable of putting an underskilled team on his back and tilting the ice as a dominant play-driver like no other defender in the league.
So far, though, Hughes has looked strangely human.
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Vancouver’s captain has produced a pedestrian eight points in 11 games, including just one five-on-five point. More than the point totals, though, his two-way results have been uncharacteristically soft. The Canucks have been outshot, outattempted, and outscored 11-8 during Hughes’ five-on-five shifts. Offensively, he’s still been impactful in transition, but he hasn’t been able to translate his puck possession at the point into high-quality chances to the absurd degree we’re used to. He’s had a tougher time getting shots through, and he’s had some uncharacteristic puck bobbles and turnovers. He’s been forcing plays and trying to do a bit too much on occasion, which is a byproduct of the team’s lack of trustworthy offensive weapons around him.
Teams are also guarding him a bit differently this year. In the season opener against the Flames, for example, Calgary double-teamed Hughes in certain offensive situations where he had the puck. Hughes was forced to make a pass to get rid of the puck, and because the Canucks don’t have another star offensive threat, they couldn’t make their opponent pay for all the extra attention they paid to Hughes.
Hughes’ four-game absence with a lower-body injury may explain some of the early-season struggles, as his skating and ability to escape tight areas weren’t quite as explosive as usual.
Filip Hronek: A
2025-26 statistics: 15 GP, 0-7-7
Filip Hronek has been Vancouver’s most productive defender five-on-five, leads the team in on-ice goal differential at even strength by a wide margin, has appeared in all 15 of Vancouver’s games and is logging nearly 25 minutes on a nightly basis. Even while acknowledging the force of nature that Hughes is, Hronek has been Vancouver’s steadiest and most important blue-liner through the first month of the season.
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If there’s any blemish on Hronek’s ledger this season, it’s probably his work on the penalty kill. Vancouver’s struggles go well beyond any individual contributor, but the club is permitting goals against at a higher rate with Hronek on the ice in shorthanded situations than they are with any other blue-liner. They’re also surrendering more high quality looks down low in his minutes than they are when Tyler Myers is killing penalties.
Even if Hronek’s stupendous five-on-five results — Vancouver has scored 13 goals, and surrendered only five with him on the ice at even strength through 15 games — are propped up by an unsustainable run of percentage driven luck, it’s difficult to imagine where the club would be positioned at this point in the season without his individual contributions. He’s been a massive, perhaps under-appreciated part of the club.
Marcus Pettersson: B-minus
2025-26 statistics: 15 GP, 0-3-3
Marcus Pettersson’s start has been tricky to evaluate.
On one hand, he’s offered mostly steady top-four minutes despite playing with a rotating cast of partners due to injuries. Pettersson has held his own handling difficult matchups and a high volume of defensive-zone starts. The Canucks have a plus-one goal differential during his five-on-five minutes.
On the other, the closer you analyze Pettersson’s performance, the more you notice some yellow flags. His positive goal differential is propped up by spectacular goaltending, as his on-ice save percentage is nearly .960. Pettersson hasn’t been able to tilt the ice as a play-driver, though, with the Canucks getting outshot and outchanced by fairly wide margins during his minutes.
Last year, Pettersson’s play on the penalty kill was elite. He was excellent at clogging passing lanes down low and breaking up plays, leading to a stellar 3.28 goals against per 60 rate. This year, Vancouver’s penalty kill has been hurt by the departure of Pius Suter as well as injuries to Teddy Blueger and Derek Forbort, but you could also argue that Pettersson hasn’t been as sharp. Pettersson’s goals against rate on the PK has ballooned to 12.5 per 60, along with a massive spike in the number of high-danger chances they’re surrendering during his shorthanded shifts.
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Against the Wild, for example, Pettersson’s inability to deny Matt Boldy’s entry led to a Vladimir Tarasenko goal. He generally hasn’t been as effective breaking up dangerous east-west passes through the slot, either.
None of this is to say that Pettersson has played poorly. He’s been thrust into a challenging role with little support and mostly held his own. It’s also true, though, that Pettersson is capable of more, and we’d expect his defensive play to become sharper if the environment around him improves.
Tyler Myers: C-plus
2025-26 statistics: 15 GP, 1-2-3
We’re not going to let this grade be unduly influenced by what we saw in the third period on Wednesday night, which was one of the most chaotic defensive periods of Myers’ campaign. That’s just one game in 15, and that fact is weighted accordingly in Myers’ grade.
Yet some of the more chaotic elements in Myers’ defensive game, which we saw more early on in his Canucks career and less in the past few seasons, have returned through the first month of the campaign. This shouldn’t be a tremendous surprise to anybody. In a more structured environment, Myers’ traits can fit in seamlessly, allowing him to perform like an impactful second-pair calibre defender. As that environment deteriorates, however, Myers’ defensive lapses become more noticeable and pronounced.
Through 15 games, Vancouver has been outscored in Myers’ five-on-five minutes and are surrendering shots, goals and scoring chances against at a very high rate. He’s playing major minutes against top of the lineup competition, in fairness, but that’s consistent with what we’ve seen from Myers across the past few years when he managed more stable defensive results.
At least Myers is producing somewhat offensively; only Hronek has more five-on-five points among Canucks defenders. He’s also been Vancouver’s best penalty killing defenseman, and among the most heavily-used penalty killers on Vancouver’s back-end.
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Tom Willander: B-plus
2025-26 statistics: 5 GP, 0-2-2
Thrust into NHL action earlier than expected because of injuries, Tom Willander has exceeded expectations in the early going. In training camp and preseason, Willander looked like a raw player who’d benefit from AHL seasoning. He skated and defended the rush like an NHLer, but his work on defensive zone retrievals appeared to be a weakness, and he’d make occasional mistakes with his positional reads.
After a debut against the Rangers in which he made overaggressive pinches that put him in trouble, Willander has settled in and delivered some very solid performances. The 20-year-old right-shot defender has shown better than expected poise with the puck. He’s been impactful transporting pucks because of his beautiful skating ability and, crucially, has avoided dangerous turnovers. He’s quickly learned how to keep making aggressive pinches in the offensive zone to keep plays alive, without reckless reads that lead to odd-man rushes against.
Willander hasn’t been excessively sheltered either — he’s averaged just under 15 minutes per game, and against the Wild, saw significant five-on-five action against Kirill Kaprizov. This is still a very small sample, so it’s too early to conclude that Willander is here to stay as an everyday NHLer — Harrison Brunicke, for example, is a gifted 19-year-old defenceman in Pittsburgh who started hot but has struggled lately — but he’s proven he belongs for now.
Elias Pettersson: B
2025-26 statistics: 14 GP, 0-2-2
Elias Pettersson has been a mainstay on the Canucks back end this season, appearing in 14 of Vancouver’s 15 games. That alone is an impressive showing for a 21-year-old defensive defender, and his performance has mostly warranted it.
The physically assertive blue-liner has authority in his game, both in terms of his physical play and his overall two-way confidence. Though not a dynamic puck carrier, Pettersson finds ways to impact the game offensively with punishing pinches and has proved to be a reliable defensive option. He’s also shown some promise while dipping his toe into the water of being a regular penalty killer, and the club is generating really good results with Pettersson on the ice in four-on-five situations, especially relative to the club’s other defenders.
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Even when we look at usage context, Pettersson’s form this season still checks out positively. While he’s been deployed in a third pair role throughout the campaign, he’s been deployed against middle-six competition at a league average rate. He isn’t seeing top-of-the-lineup competition at an average rate, but it’s clear that Canucks coaches aren’t working overly hard to shelter him, a sign of the trust that he’s earned.
Pierre-Olivier Joseph: C-plus
2025-26 statistics: 8 GP, 0-0-1
Every team needs a veteran, workmanlike No. 7/8 defender who is low-maintenance. This player needs to be comfortable sitting in the press box for long stretches without pouting, but also serviceable when called upon to play games. Joseph’s play has been ordinary, but he’s done this thankless job adequately.
Joseph’s first two or three games weren’t the best. He didn’t have the smoothest puck touches in the defensive zone, which hindered the team’s ability to orchestrate clean breakouts. And his in-zone defensive play wasn’t the sharpest. Joseph’s play has been sturdier and less mistake-prone in more recent appearances. It’s also noteworthy that the Canucks have narrowly outshot opponents during Joseph’s shifts.
Ultimately, though, Joseph’s usage also speaks volumes. The lanky 26-year-old left-shot has averaged just 12:40 per game and been leapfrogged on the depth chart by a couple of Vancouver’s young defenders. He’s pretty clearly a notch below Forbort in terms of his value as a player.
Victor Mancini: C
2025-26 statistics: 5 GP, 0-0-0
Victor Mancini is athletically gifted with a 6-foot-3 frame and plus skating ability, but there’s still considerable work for him to do to establish himself as an NHL defenceman.
The 23-year-old right-shot defender has the potential to make flashy plays as a puck rusher, but his reads, positioning, and overall two-way IQ are still a work in progress at the NHL level. He isn’t yet an above-average contributor on zone exits, despite his physical tools, and his defensive play needs continued refinement. Territorially, the Canucks have surrendered far more shots and scoring chances than they’ve generated with Mancini on the ice at five-on-five.
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Mancini’s campaign has been interrupted by an injury, but his usage was trending downward even before he got hurt. After playing a healthy 15:24 in his season debut against the Blues in early October, Mancini’s ice time dipped below 10 minutes in three of his last four games. Mancini’s performance hasn’t been terrible — it’s not as if he looks grossly out of place. Still, he hasn’t yet earned the trust of head coach Adam Foote.
Thatcher Demko: A
2025-26 statistics: 9 GP, 5 W – 4 L – 0 OTL .912 sv%
Thatcher Demko has had a phenomenal start to the 2025-26 season.
The 29-year-old goaltender has bounced back authoritatively after a down year plagued by injuries. Demko has been sensational in most of his outings, giving a team that has been outmatched on many nights a chance to win because of his heroics between the pipes. It’s especially impressive because the club’s defensive environment hasn’t been nearly as good this year as it was under Rick Tocchet — Vancouver is a bottom-five team in allowing five-on-five shots against per 60.
Demko has saved nearly 10 goals above expected, ranking sixth among all NHL goaltenders, according to Evolving-Hockey’s model. He’s looked calm and in control with his positioning and crease movement, effortlessly taking away in-tight chances, even when preceded by some east-west passing. He makes difficult saves look easy, but can also make occasional outrageous, desperation stops through pure athleticism and power.
Demko wasn’t at his sharpest during his last two starts against Nashville and Minnesota, but overall, he’s arguably been the Canucks’ MVP so far.
Kevin Lankinen: C-plus
2025-26 statistics: 6 GP, 2 W – 4 L – 0 OTL .880 sv%
Goaltending is extraordinarily volatile, especially over a sample of games as minuscule as the six that Kevin Lankinen has started for Vancouver to this point in the season.
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Vancouver’s nominal backup has been frequently used, but has posted a below average save percentage, has underperformed in “goals saved above average” metrics and has delivered Vancouver just two quality starts in six attempts.
Look a bit further into his performance, however, and you’ll find that Lankinen has been perfectly fine at five-on-five. You’ll also find that very few of the goals that Lankinen has permitted have been scored off of mid or low quality shots against. He’s making the saves that a goalie should make.
Where he’s struggled is in stopping the high danger scoring chances, which the Canucks have been surrendering too frequently, especially in penalty killing situations and when defending in-zone at five-on-five. The way this oft-depleted Canucks team is performing at five-on-five, they’ve often required heroic goaltending performances. Lankinen has been better than the surface level save percentage numbers would suggest, but he hasn’t delivered the sort of heroic, game stealing performances that he managed for Vancouver throughout last season and that the club requires, given their overall form at the moment.
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