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Canucks Live: Limping home, Vancouver's assignments don't get any easier

The Canucks are mired in a long losing streak and the Stanley Cup champions are their next homework assignment at Rogers Arena on Tuesday

Published Oct 19, 2026  •  Last updated 1 day ago  •  5 minute read

Pyotr Kochetkov of the Carolina Hurricanes saves a shot attempt from Paul Cotter of the Vancouver Canucks during the second period Photo by Jared C. Tilton /Getty Images

School was in session Monday at Rogers Arena.

Lots of instruction on maintaining right direction during drills. Lots of pointing, some yelling. Whiteboard getting a workout.

Centre Marco Rossi absent again with an illness.

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This season is supposed to be about learning and growth. But, as the Vancouver Canucks gamely but predictably blew their second two-goal lead in as many games in Tampa on Saturday, their six-game road trip finished without a win and with just one loser point to show in the standings.

Patrick Johnston highlighted the impact the losses are starting to have as the team headed home.

This stuff is hard. Very, very hard. The Canucks have lost seven straight. The last three games they had leads. The last two games they had early leads. And yet they keep getting crushed by their own mistakes.

“I mean, it sucks to lose. It’s frustrating. But I mean, we need to trust the process.”

That’s (Linus) Karlsson, trying to keep his chin up. But I’ve spoken with this guy enough times to know how intense he is, about why he does have a letter on his jersey. There’s little doubt he’s here to play the games, to play them hard.

The mood in the room, he acknowledged, is tough. No one wants to lose seven games in a row. There have been good moments, and yet …

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“We need to battle a bit harder,” he said. “And I mean, it’s time to learn.” 

The losing streak overall stands at seven straight as Vancouver gets a day to catch its breath before playing the reigning Stanley Cup Champions Caroilina on Tuesday at Rogers Arena.

The schedule has been brutal to the Canucks. They’ve played three of the top four teams in the NHL in Vegas (#1), Carolina (#2) and Edmonton (#4). They’ve also faced the Rangers (#6) and Tampa (#7). The only teams they’ve faced outside of the top 10 are the Islanders (#16), Devils (#22) and Flames (#32).

Ironically, the Flames — whom the Canucks did beat — got a win against the Hurricanes in Calgary on Sunday.

Fans will be forgiving of losses this season if effort and progress are there. One of the sadder turns the team took on the trip was a cratering of confidence in a couple of their most important prospects, which is something perpetual losing can bring.

But two pieces of the Quinn Hughes trade that the Canucks are counting on mightily for the future, Zeev Buium and Marco Rossi, have slid into scratch territory with a string of struggling performances.

Speaking of Hughes, he and his teammates with the NHL’s fifth-best squad come to Vancouver on Sunday. Ben Kuzma has this week’s schedule set out in this article.

Greg Wyshynski was calling shots for breakout NHLers for the 2026-27 season and listed Marco Rossi as maybe ready to make “the leap to stardom.” So far we aren’t sure but here’s what Wyshynski is saying now:

My bold prediction before the season on the Canucks was that Rossi would find his game in Vancouver and become a No. 1 center. He has started strong with four points in four games. The problem is that he might end up thriving on the wing rather than at center. Well, it’s a problem for me at least. I don’t think the Canucks care where he scores, just that he does.

The Athletic’s weekend review highlights early season trends, in particular, by looking back at old ones from last year. And that includes a long-forgotten decent start by the Canucks.

Lots of teams were looking up at the Canucks – Vancouver ended up finishing dead last by 14 points, which is to say that they were the worst team by a mile. But you wouldn’t have known it from a look at the standings at this time last year. The Canucks were two points out of a playoff spot, with plenty of teams behind them. Among those stragglers: the Boston Bruins (27th), Minnesota Wild (29) and Tampa Bay Lightning (30), all of whom ended up making the playoffs with 100 points or more

The Athletic’s weekend rankings have the Canucks solidly in last place for this season though. Even though they’re ahaed of L.A., Calgary, and Philadelphia, which is shocking considering they’ve netted one point in the las seven games.

1. Vancouver Canucks (2-7-1, -15) – They’ve been holding their own against some good opponents, but losses are losses, and that 2-1-0 start feels like it was a long time ago.

In another look around the league, the Athletic looks at one unlikely trade candidate on each team. As you can expect, the Canucks prism on this kind of concept is complicated.

The Canucks are rebuilding, and it’s going to be a long process. Given where Vancouver sits and what its results have looked like, everything has to be on the table. The veterans with term — even up to players such as Filip Hronek and Elias Pettersson — are very much on the radar as potential trade chips. I don’t know that we’d be shocked even if Vancouver found the right deal involving a younger Canucks player. — Thomas Drance 

The Hockey News had a look at the Canucks at the 10-game mark compared to last season.

The 2026-27 group has started the year with a 2-7-1 record. Despite not having Hughes, this season’s team has outscored the 2025-26 group by a count of 30-28. On the flip side, this year’s rebuilding team has allowed 45 goals compared to last season’s 31.

Another interesting trend is the special teams units. The 2026-27 group holds a slight advantage on the power play at 20 per cent compared to 18.2 per cent. As for the penalty kill, 2025-26 has a significant lead at 72.2 per cent compared to 58.1 per cent.

Ultimately, it will be interesting to see the final results between these two teams. This year’s group has a head start as they are in an intentional rebuild, but there is a chance they surpass the point total of 58 established in 2025-26. For the meantime, however, the 2026-27 has some catching up to do after picking up just five points over the first 10 games of the campaign.

Perspective with this team is important this year and you’d do well to remind yourself their three most important prospects, Braden Coots, Caleb Malhhotra and Adam Novotny are developing in other locations and building for the future. Steve Ewen highlights a big weekend for one of the Canucks prospects.

Novotny’s three goals and two assists in a 6-0 Peterborough Petes romp over the Barrie Colts pushed him to 16 points through 10 games and had the Czech winger fourth in the league as of Sunday morning. Saginaw Spirit forward Dima Zhilkin leads the way with 21 points. 

All three of Novotny’s goals came on the power play and were part of a 5-of-6 night with the man-advantage for Peterborough. The Petes power play was fourth in the OHL to start play Sunday, clicking at 30.9 per cent (17-of-55). 

1. 
   Canucks Schedule: Troika of trouble awaits, including return of Quinn Hughes
2. 
   Canucks Prospects: Adam Novotny's five-point outburst propels Peterborough to victory

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