Canucks Live: Rumours of potential big changes to scouting department

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Last home game and second to last game of the most awful, wretched, tortured Canucks season we’ve ever had but there’s hope

Published Apr 14, 2026 • Last updated 25 minutes ago • 9 minute read

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canucks Vancouver Canucks’ President of Hockey Operations, Jim Rutherford and general manager Patrik Alvin. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNGArticle content

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Well, this is it. The last time you’ll go to a Canucks game at Rogers Arena until next fall and the second-to-last game of the worst Canucks season we’ve ever suffered through. Next up will be decisions on the coach and front office, then the draft lottery on May 5. Start building your good-luck shrines, booking appointments with your Shaman, hunts for four leaf clovers, whatever it takes.

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This is traditionally the game where the team will hand out game-worn player jerseys and give out the team awards. This is a truly confounding task this year.

When the Canucks were struggling with expansion in the 1970s and then again in some of those dreadful 1980s or 1990s seasons, they used to award something called the Molson Cup for the player who had amassed the most three star selections. They still award it, but kind of like the place of Molson Canadian in today’s craft beer landscape, it’s watered down and no one really pays attention to it.

Back then the award was often handed to the goalie who would be besieged, play well and then lose.

Cesare Maniago, Glen Hanlon and Richard Brodeur all won it twice in six seasons from 1976-1981 when the Canucks best player was always the goalie. Brodeur won it four times in total, Roberto Luongo holds the record with five seasons won, Kirk McLean, Dan Cloutier, Ryan Miller, Cory Schneider, Ryan Miller, Jacob Markstrom, Thatcher Demko and even Alex Auld have all won the award.

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Who is the Canucks best player this season? Doubtful it’s Kevin Lankinen who has been great at times but has also had his struggles. Is it Filip Hronek? Brock Boeser? Even Kiefer Sherwood?

Imagine if you had a chance to take a kid to the game tonight, and it’s their first game. You go into the souvenir shop and they want a jersey, who do you get? It’s really hard to think of which player is driving the next generation of Canucks fans. Obviously the top draft pick this year will shoot to the top of the charts, but honestly, who would be your choice for a jersey purchase right now?

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Ben Kuzma has his preview of the last home game for you and something for you to ponder if you want to stick around for the post-game festivities.

Drew O’Connor has hit a career-high 17 goals and his 10 at home are the most by any Canuck.

Does that make the big and affable left-winger winner of the most-exciting-player award Tuesday based on fan voting? Possibly. It’s hard to fathom how Elias Pettersson has just six of his 15 goals at home where he gets more favourable line matchups and first power-play-unit priority.

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Maybe goaltender Kevin Lankinen is the unsung-hero-award recipient for facing so much rubber for a team that can’t defend, unless you want to double up on Filip Hronek. He matched a career high with his 48th point Sunday in Anaheim and has played shepherd to a young and emerging defensive core when Hughes was traded. Hronek should also be MVP.

GAME DAYAnd then there was just one

If the Canucks need added incentive tonight in their final home game, it should be to reward the faith of frustrated fans who have loathed the product on the ice at Rogers Arena as much as ticket-price increases next fall.

After all, the Canucks have set a franchise record for fewest wins at home in a season gone completely sideways, so you’d like to think a chance to win their third-straight game for the first time since December is the dangling carrot. And with the Kings claiming a postseason position, and on the back portion of back-to-back games, they’re not desperate.

Then again, they could still improve their playoff position.

How they’ll line up tonight:

O’Connor-Rossi-Karlsson.
Ohgren-Blueger-Boeser.
DeBrusk-Pettersson-Hoglander.
Douglas-Mueller-Raty.

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Buium-Hronek.
M. Pettersson-Willander.
E. Pettersson-Kudryavtsev.

Lankinen.

Win one for the faithful fans

Brock Boeser knows the last game at home can leave a lasting impression for players and fans.

“Obviously, we haven’t been great at home this whole year and if we can at least go out on a high note and get a win for them (fans) that would be awesome.” Boeser said after the game-day skate. “Try to keep this thing rolling and play as hard as we can.”

A modest two-game wing streak bodes well for tonight because there has been noticeable improvement lately of pushing the pace, not giving up the blueline, defending better and scoring on the power play. Especially on a three-game California swing against heavy clubs in the Kings and Ducks.

“We were playing as a team and competing and playing hard. I didn’t think we were taking periods off, more complete and whole games,” added Boeser. “Our forecheck was really good but we’ve got to finish strong in these final two games.

“There’s still a lot to play for and we’ve shown we’re maturing. Some guys are understanding you have to continue to fight and battle. Vibes have been great. Everybody is showing up with the right mindset and that’s a step in the right direction.”

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Scout’s honour

There is loads of speculation about what’s going to happen once the season is over. Change the head coach? Change the general manager? Elliotte Friedman, who tends to get a lot of Canucks scraps tossed his way by ownership, has been musing about changes to the Canucks scouting department.

Friedman notes that almost the whole Canucks scouting department have contracts that are ending, which either hints at organizational chaos and negligence, or a wholesale change. Does it make sense to change your whole scouting department when the season for scouting is over and you potentially have the highest pick you’ve ever had and your biggest volume of draft capital ever over the next two seasons? Asking for a friend, and thousands of season ticket holders.

Maybe it’s things like this that had agents saying that Vancouver is the worst run franchise in the NHL.

Patrick Johnston will have a more detailed look at this later this morning so come back to check that out.

On an unrelated note we ran a poll yesterday of who should come back next season. You voted Jim Rutherford 12 per cent, Adam Foote 7 per cent, Patrik Alvin 1 per cent … and 81 per cent of you said no one, clean the whole house out.

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Prospect point

The Athletic’s excellent Scott Wheeler has done a ranking of the top 100 already drafted prospects. Players have to be under 23 to qualify for his list so Zeev Buium was on his list last year but has ‘graduated’ from his prospect definition for this year’s ranking.

The Canucks have four players represented, all in the fifth tier: Jonathan Lekkerimaki, number 45 overall, Tom Willander at 50, Liam Ohgren at 51 and Braeden Cootes at 68.

Here’s a selection of what The Athletic had to say about the players, you should check it out and read his full analysis.

Lekkerimaki

Maybe most important of all, he has added some more tempo to his game so he doesn’t have to default to long shots through feet because he can’t attack defencemen one-on-one quickly enough. He has started to push the pace more and to draw more penalties because he’s more comfortable hanging onto pucks longer and taking some bumps. His skating and tight turns in particular have got quicker. He has played with a little more fight. He’s still figuring out how to be more consistent and how to make his talent work in the NHL, and he’s never going to be a burner in terms of speed, but he has the skill and finishing.

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With the right coaching and usage, he has upside as a top-six/PP1 finisher — you want the puck in his hands. He’s imperfect, though.

Willander

Willander doesn’t have dynamic skill or creativity on the puck, and his offensive-zone instincts are still coming, but he could become a two-way transition monster in a second-pairing role with continued development. Because of how high a level he defends and skates at, he rarely has bad games and play has normally tilted in his team’s favour at lower levels. And even though the offence doesn’t always pop inside the offensive zone, he’s a comfortable puck mover and transporter. He’s going to have a long career as a No. 4.

Ohgren

Öhgren put together one of the most productive age-adjusted seasons in the history of Sweden’s top junior level and two strong performances internationally for Sweden in his draft year. And he was in the middle of following that up with a strong post-draft season in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan while riding a three-game point streak when he got injured late in January 2023, only to return and pick up where he left off in the home stretch and into the playoffs. Two years ago, after developing a nagging injury in off-season training, Öhgren then didn’t play with his new club in the SHL until late November and had to be eased into the new level, but finished with a very respectable 19 points in 26 games before coming over to make his AHL and NHL debuts. He was also a little snake-bitten for a third straight World Juniors, going goalless on 26 shots (second on Sweden) despite some really good looks. He was nearly at a point per game last season in the AHL as a 20-year-old and 21-year-old, too.

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Ultimately, I expect Öhgren to have a long career as a solid NHL player and secondary scorer.

Cootes

He’s a strong skater who plays with energy and detail, earning the trust of coaches with his diligent, complete game. He’s a good athlete. He plays with determination as a good penalty killer and five-on-five driver. He plays the bumper on the power play well because of his nose for the net and competitiveness to get to pucks. He gets open and has an NHL wrister and release. He always seems to be lurking around the slot and involved in everything. He works and makes little plays, arriving on time in good spots. He’s just a smart, well-rounded centre.

I’ve wondered about whether he has enough skill to become a top-six type, but he also confidently projects as a top-nine NHLer. His U18s sold me a little more on his skill, and there was a lack of talent around him in Seattle last season, but the World Juniors also showed that against top competition he can struggle to make an impact; his production has never been high-end and he’s average-sized. He has secondary skill and can make plays, though, even if it’s not the focal point of his game. I’m a little lower on him than where he was picked in last year’s draft, but his combination of work ethic, smarts, competitiveness and reliability should result in a long career in the league.

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Defector, an excellent, irreverent sports site that was born out of the good parts of the Deadspin implosion, has some good/fun NHL coverage. Here’s their end of season analysis of the Canucks year where they say a nice thing, and a mean thing about every team that doesn’t make the playoffs.

Vancouver Canucks

A Nice Thing: There’s always next year!

A Mean Thing: There’s always next year.

Have fun golfing, everyone!

Check back for more Canucks news throughout the day.

Canucks Preview: Home is where heartache lingers for Rogers Arena finale

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Canucks Live: Rumours of potential big changes to scouting department

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