With injury issues, the Canucks are limping into 2025
The Vancouver Canucks are going to be without captain Quinn Hughes for at least a couple of weeks, meanwhile forward Elias Pettersson is also expected to be out for at least a week. As the calendar flips, the Canucks will have a ‘next man up’ approach limping into 2025.
Vancouver enters the new year with a 17-10-8 record, good for holding down a one-point lead on the Calgary Flames for the second wild-card position in the Western Conference. The Canucks are 3-3-4 in their last 10 games, and will need their supporting cast to come up big while two of their best players are unavailable due to injuries. It’s also worth mentioning, the Canucks were already without top-pair defenseman Filip Hronek, who remains on LTIR, and isn’t expected to be an option until early February.
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed the Canucks’ outlook heading into 2025.
Yaremchuk: Speaking of injuries, Frank, the Vancouver Canucks are dealing with a couple of big ones. Just as they get J.T Miller back in the lineup from his extended, granted not injury-related absence, we find out that Quinn Hughes is week-to-week, and Elias Pettersson is going to be out a week.
You pair that with the fact the Canucks only have three wins in their last 10 games, I know they’re hanging onto a playoff spot, .600 winning percentage, that’s all good, but they’ve lost more games than they’ve won this year. 17-18 straight up, they’ve just managed to milk a handful of losers points. Now, there is a glass half-full/glass half-empty way to read this 17-10-8 record, you can sit there and go – hey, even though they aren’t playing their best hockey, they milk points. Or, you could sit there and say – no, they’ve lost more games than they’ve won, and it’s concerning. Couple their injuries, with the run they’re on, what’s your concern level for the Canucks here, as they head into 2025.
Seravalli: It’s definitely ratcheted up a bit, and Pat, I don’t know if you have the Vancouver Canucks’ d-pairs or not, but if you do, throw those up on the screen, and if not, I’ll read them because it is….scary, without Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes.
Derek Forbort, Tyler Myers, Carson Soucy, Noah Juulsen, Erik Brannstrom, and Vincent Desharnais. Those are like four replacement-level players, and two NHLers. Week to week, 10 days, 14 days, 25 days, whatever it is, they cannot get Quinn Hughes back fast enough. Not just for how well he’s played this season, but how poor this defense is constructed.
I look at this group now, and go look at some other teams around the league, this is as bad as it gets. The Utah HC, they are missing a bunch of their top-four defensemen, I would take their lineup every day of the week, and twice on Sunday, versus what the Vancouver Canucks are putting out right now.
For more on the Canucks’ depth issues, and all the latest from around the league, watch the full episode below.