If you’ve watched any Canucks hockey so far this season, you can tell Quinn Hughes hasn’t been quite himself. We’ve yet to see him take over a game and dominate play like we know he can. He also hasn’t been as defensively sound in his own end. But at the same time, he’s still Quinn Hughes and in the grand scheme of things, he remains one of the elite defensemen in the NHL.
Hughes has five points through eight games so far this season, which is well below his standard. One of the biggest critiques early in his career was that he didn’t shoot the puck enough. Since 2023–24, Hughes has averaged 7.13 shot attempts per game, which paid off as he scored 17 goals in 2023–24 and 16 in 2024–25. So far this season, he’s averaging 7.5 shot attempts per game, leading the team.
The thing I’ve noticed, though, is whether Hughes might be shooting too much. We’ve seen him try to force shots through traffic instead of making the simple pass, an issue that’s especially magnified on the power play. 70% of Hughes’ shots this season have been blocked or have missed the net. Vancouver’s power play is running at just 17.4% on the season, which ranks 23rd in the league.
Hughes is usually a major reason why the power play succeeds, so is he now the one holding it back? It’s still very early, and the Canucks have dealt with plenty of injuries already. Some of this may be Hughes trying to force offense, and some could be the team adjusting to a new system under Adam Foote.
Like I said before, he’s still Quinn Hughes, and I know he’ll find his game soon. But so far, I think giving his season a B grade is fair.
Has Elias Pettersson been better than last season? Yes, but the bar wasn’t set that high. Is he back to his elite, top-10-center-in-the-NHL form? Not quite. But his start to the season is definitely a step in the right direction.
His four points in eight games aren’t eye-popping numbers, but you can tell he isn’t the same player who was battling through a multitude of issues last year. He’s playing with more confidence and isn’t hesitating or being indecisive with the puck. He’s starting to drive play more each game, and we’re starting to see his signature dekes we’ve become so accustomed to in years past.
That said, I still want to see him shoot the puck more and use his one-timer. In his 102-point season in 2022–23, Pettersson fired a career-high 489 shots, 6.1 shot attempts per game. This season, he’s only on pace for 279 shot attempts. That number needs to skyrocket if Pettersson plans to return to his old form.
The playmaking and puck skills are still there, and his four points could easily be 10 or 11 if a few bounces had gone the other way. What earns him the B+ grade for me is how good he’s been defensively. Pettersson’s 200-foot game has always been a strong suit, and so far this season, he’s second among forwards in blocked shots, including a huge block late in the game against Alex Ovechkin to help secure a Canucks win. He’s also taken on increased penalty-killing duties in Teddy Blueger’s absence.
There’s still another gear to Pettersson’s game, but he’s off to a very encouraging start.
Thatcher Demko is back to his Vezina-calibre self. After an injury-riddled year and a half, Demko clearly felt he had something to prove, not just to Canucks management but to the entire NHL, showing he’s still one of the league’s elite goalies.
He has three wins in five starts, a .927 save percentage, a 2.24 goals-against average, and ranks fourth in the NHL in goals saved above expected with 7.1.
Of course, his long-term health is still a concern, but it looks like the Canucks have finally figured out how to manage his workload. They’ve been rotating between him and Kevin Lankinen to start the season, and I expect that to continue. Given Demko’s injury history, I wouldn’t expect him to play more than 55 games this year, and that’s probably what the Canucks need to keep him fresh.
With how depleted the lineup has been to start the year, the Canucks will need their goaltending to bail them out, and Demko is the kind of goalie who can steal you games. You have to be pleased with his start to the season, as am I, giving him a well-earned A grade.
He has three points in six games — all goals. Boeser’s shot is elite, and he’s shown it time and time again, which is one of the many reasons I’m happy the Canucks re-signed him. He’s also improved his net-front presence, deflecting pucks and getting those greasy goals.
I was feeling super optimistic about Boeser bouncing back this year and potentially returning to his 40-goal form, but with Filip Chytil’s absence, I’m not so sure. Historically, Boeser isn’t a play-driver; he needs a center to feed him the puck. If he plays with Elias Pettersson, I’ll feel more confident, but as of now, I think Boeser will be most effective on the power play.
As mentioned before, the Canucks’ power play hasn’t started well, but should improve, and when it does, Boeser’s production will follow. For now, six games in, I think a B- grade is fair.
The only thing saving Evander Kane from an F grade is his alley-oop assist against Dallas. Otherwise, the Evander Kane experiment in Vancouver hasn’t been great to say the least.
Are you surprised? A 34-year-old player who’s been regressing for the last four years and is a defensive liability isn’t working out (pretend to be shocked). Not to mention his $5.1 million cap hit, which Vancouver took on from its biggest rival, letting them clear salary cap space scot-free.
Kane has three assists in eight games. That’s all that shows up on the box score, but what doesn’t show is his plethora of offensive-zone turnovers and horrendous play in the defensive zone. This was summed up perfectly in the final seconds of the game against Washington, when Kane had the puck on his stick inches from clearing the zone but instead passed it backwards into his own end, almost causing the tying goal with seconds left. I wish I were making that up, but it’s just reality.
Kane looks like a shell of his former self and a player only continuing to regress. I hope he turns it around, and I’ll gladly eat my words if he does, but for now, D- is as generous as it gets.