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While our other teams basked in a brilliant weekend, the Canucks reminded us how far away they are from being a real contender
Published Nov 24, 2025 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 9 minute read
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Brock Boeser tries to get his stick on the rebound after goalie Dustin Wolf of the Calgary Flames made the initial save during the second period Photo by Rich Lam /Getty ImagesArticle content
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The weekend provided a stark reminder of the NHL purgatory the Canucks are stuck in.
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On Friday, a sold-out crowd at the Pacific Coliseum were wowed by Vancouver’s newest sporting entity as the PWHL Vancouver Goldeneyes took a thrilling 4-3 overtime win in front of a wild crowd.
On Saturday, the Whitecaps took a sold-out B.C. Place through a ride wilder than the PNE roller-coaster, giving up an injury time goal and finishing extra time with just nine players, seeing the ball breach their box but hit the post three times and the crossbar once before sending LAFC home for the off-season in a penalty shootout. The Caps now move on to the Western Conference Finals.
The Canucks? Well they hosted the 31st-placed Flames and offered up a Sunday night effort that had all the pop and fizz of a glass of ginger ale that has been left in a glass for a week. Yikes, were they listless.
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With the Vancouver Goldeneyes winning their inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League game Friday before a packed Pacific Coliseum, and the Vancouver Whitecaps following Saturday with a dramatic penalty kicks triumph at sold-out B.C. Place to advance to the Major League Soccer conference final, the Canucks had to keep pace.
The NHL club needed to remind everyone, and maybe themselves, of their place atop the popularity podium that’s also being challenged by the B.C. Lions, who nearly advanced to the Grey Cup. Lots of options to spend the sporting dollar.
Nothing sells better than winning and a 5-2 loss against a club playing back-to-backs, and showing more push and resolve, isn’t going to move the fan meter. Either is a horrible 3-7-1 record at home and 9-12-2 mark overall. Is it the mental hurdle of putting on a show or something more significant?
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“I don’t think it’s anything, honestly,” Canucks head coach Adam Foote told Postmedia before puck drop. “We go back and dissect it, who was in net, who was hurt, or what injury happened. We can do all that, but to me, it’s a waste of time.
“I’m not being disrespectful of anyone, and if I think it’s a problem, I’ll tell you. Sometimes, teams I’ve been on get too cute at home and try the extra move and get jammed up early. Maybe, you’re on to something. Maybe dig deeper. It’s too early in the year, and with the injuries, we’ll keep eye on it for sure.”
Nikita Tolopilo makes a save on Nicolas Roy of the Golden Knights on April 16, 2025 at Rogers Arena. Photo by Derek Cain /Getty ImagesMONDAY PRACTICEPatera assigned to Abby, Tolopilo recalled
We start the day with a bit of a morning zinger.
The Canucks have recalled goaltender Nikita Tolopilo from their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford.
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General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that G Jiri Patera has been assigned to Abbotsford (AHL) and G Nikita Tolopilo has been recalled from Abbotsford (AHL) under emergency conditions.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 24, 2025An emergency goalie recall is made when a club has fewer that two healthy stoppers, six defencemen or 12 forwards. If a team has an emergency situation, and lacks the salary cap space for a regular recall, they can make an emergency recall. The Canucks recalled Patera with Thatcher Demko injured and Tolopilo got the call under the same circumstances.
Players recalled this way are paid their normal NHL salary, but their salary is not counted against the salary cap during the emergency.
Tolopilo, an undrafted giant in the net at 6-foot-6, 229 pounds, appeared in two NHL games last season and went 1-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average and .885 saves percentage. He’s 1-3-1 with Abbotsford this season with a 3.35 GAA and .901 percentage.
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Tolopilo will conceivably play in one of two back-to-back games, either Friday afternoon in San Jose or Saturday night in Los Angeles. He suffered an early season lower-body injury in the AHL but pronounced himself ready for the net at some point on this trip.
“I feel great and it’s nice to be back from the injury and feeling good about myself,” Tolopilo said after practice. “That was a long month but I put in a lot of work. I’m just doing my job every day in practice and if my chance comes, I have to make sure I’m ready.
“I know it’s a tough schedule, but I’m just preparing. Even the (NHL) preseason games helped me a lot and this is not a big change for me, just a different league. I just have to stop the pucks. It’s simple.”
Thatcher Demko will continue his rehab from a groin injury on upcoming road trip.
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Whiteboard was getting workout
We used to call former Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins ‘Whiteboard Willie’ because carried one behind the bench.
Adam Foote had a long pre-practice session with his club Monday to go over systems and strategy for a four-game road trip that opens Wednesday in Anaheim. Zone exits were the first priority, which is understandable. And then zone entries were on the menu. Foote looking for speed, crispness, net presence.
There were also confined area 2-on-2 battles for getting to the net and defending with better body positions.
Centre Teddy Blueger was also spotted in a red non-contact jersey.Practice lines, pairings at RA:
Kane-Pettersson-DeBrusk.
Garland-Kampf-Boeser.
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O’Connor-Raty-Sherwood.
MacEachern-Sasson-Karlsson.
Hughes-Myers.
M Pettersson-Hronek.
E Pettersson-Willander.
The Canucks also assigned left winger Mackenzie MacEachern to their AHL affiliate on Monday.
Foote: ‘Cigarettes, cashews, scoring chances’
Adam Foote is always in teaching mode. Are his students listening?
“Where are we defensively? We’ve got to close cycles,” said the bench boss. When a guy drops it (puck) in the corner and another guys picks it up, are we there fast enough? Are we identifying and able to close? Some of it’s being young or young and not strong?
“We allowed 12 scoring chances (Sunday) at 5-on-5 and that’s not a lot. Four go in on missed box-outs. Usually, you pick those up quicker, but I don’t want to over-analyze. Where are young guys going to learn the game? I don’t want to bury a situation, I want to teach.”
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That’s great. But are the Canucks hard enough in their own zone?
“No disrespect, but people really don’t know and are just looking at numbers from people that could be in Russia in a basement having cigarettes and cashews telling their scoring chances,” said Foote. “We’re going to depend on our guys and really recognize what we believe has to be fixed and what doesn’t.
“But you guys are bang on that we’ve got on on guys faster and close it.”
Much more about Sunday slide
Iain MacIntyre has detailed the peril the Canucks find themselves in while they’re in this latest skid.
The race the Canucks are falling into is for last place in the NHL and the best lottery odds in the Gavin McKenna draft sweepstakes.
There are, of course, 59 games to go, so the Canucks have plenty of time to rescue themselves. Or they could get worse.
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The Flames, whose three-game winning streak mirrors the Canucks’ three-game dive, are now only one point behind Vancouver and passed the Nashville Predators on winning percentage on Sunday. The Tennesseans are last in the NHL with 16 points, four behind the Canucks with two games in-hand.
So, yes, the Canucks are closer to last place overall than the final playoff spot.
The Athletic have looked at the plight of all the Canadian teams and the reality of what the Canucks are is really hitting home.
Vancouver Canucks: They’re just not very good. Worse, they’re in danger of falling out of the playoff race completely. And if Vancouver fans think they’re sick of the Quinn Hughes discourse now, wait until this team is 10 points out at the holiday break and facing a second half of treading water at best.
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And it doesn’t get much easier. The Canucks now embark on a four-game road trip, the three California teams and Colorado. That’s four teams in the top 10 with the Avs having the best record and the surprising Ducks being fourth in the league. Yikes.
It’s as crippling as the league’s worst penalty kill, giving up the second most goals per game, and most in the third period with games often on the line.
With the playoff bar set at 96 points, the Canucks need to leapfrog six teams and go on an incredible 36-19-5 run just to squeeze into the post-season, which is more ludicrous than likely.
There’s just too many problems, and too much noise around the future of Quinn Hughes, what the clubs needs and what the plan really is — re-tool or admitting to a rebuild without saying it?
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After all, teams in a playoff position on Nov. 27 have a historic 77 per cent chance of advancing to the playoffs, but it’s not an exact science.
Craig Button: Vancouver Canucks irrelevant in the NHL
TSN analyst Craig Button was ranting on the Frank Seravalli show Frankly Hockey this morning when asked about the Canucks. And frankly it seemed he wanted to be controversial – or maybe he just doesn’t like the Canucks?
They are a participant in the league right now. They go on the schedule and every team gets to say we have the Vancouver Canucks coming to our building or they go to Vancouver. Vancouver right now is irrelevant. They are an irrelevant team.
… this is what they’ve been for the last ten years, 12 years, and there’s no signs that it’s changing. I thought that they had a chance to be a playoff team this year. I really did. But after watching that game last night; back to back you haven’t played since Thursday you have the Calgary Flames coming in and that’s the way you play? Like Sorry. Honestly, the Vancouver Canucks if you look around the league and you give a does-it-matter meter they’re right at the bottom of the does-it-matter meter when it comes to relevance in the National Hockey League.
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Trading away Quinn Hughes -it could never happen! Right?
Yes the crazy talk will only get louder if the Canucks keep losing. And already there are rumblings like this one from the Hockey Writers. It doesn’t add anything new but it’s a reminder and maybe more.
Talk of Quinn Hughes leaving Vancouver isn’t new, but it feels louder now. The big question is whether he’ll sign his extension come July 1. This season has been a test not just for the Canucks, but for Hughes himself. He seems to have made it clear: the team’s performance this season will heavily influence any decision on his future.
If that’s the case, things aren’t looking great for keeping him in Vancouver right now. Hughes has made no secret of his disappointment with last season, and this season hasn’t changed much. On top of that, Thatcher Demko’s injury history adds another layer of uncertainty in the net. If the Canucks are going to trade Hughes, it will have to be a blockbuster—someone of his talent doesn’t move cheaply.
For fans, it’s hard not to feel a bit of déjà vu. Nothing’s official yet, but the combination of contract talks, roster struggles, and the need to plan for the future makes a trade feel increasingly likely. Where Hughes lands will say a lot about the direction of this team in the years ahead.
Check back for more Canucks news throughout the day …
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