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3 Canucks Stars of the Week: Jonathan Lekkerimäki a bright spot amid losing streak

Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

By Arielle Lalande

Oct 26, 2026, 18:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 26, 2026, 17:58 EDT

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Welcome back to Stars of the Week at Daily Faceoff Vancouver! Every week, we’ll be bringing you our Top Three best and brightest performers on the Vancouver Canucks that week. Disagree with our picks or have your own stars to nominate? Let us know in the comments below!

Despite the Canucks losing streak now extended to 10 games, this week was the roughest one yet. The team went 40 minutes without a shot on net (yes, four-zero) against the Detroit Red Wings and, predictably, suffered against the reigning Cup champs, the Carolina Hurricanes, falling 6-3. That said, one undeniable bright spot was the Canucks taking the night to honour the life of John Garrett. Even when they’re down, the Canucks are never out, and Cheech embodied that spirit both as a player and voice of the Canucks for so many years. He is missed beyond words. Win or loss, it was a perfect tribute night for a beloved gentleman whose legacy will forever be woven into the very fabric of the Vancouver Canucks.

Now, can there truly be three stars of the week on a team when their record is 2-10-1? It depends on who you ask. It’s important to salute the top performers who still try to put it all on the ice, even when the team as a whole keeps repeatedly hitting a brick wall like Wile E. Coyote.

It’s hard to believe it’s still only October hockey – both a comforting and terrifying thought all at once.

As they say, onwards and upwards.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki

Lekkerimäki has been fantastic in ways that will go understated amidst a bad week in an even worse losing skid. The young right-winger has met and even exceeded expectations, visibly improving with each game so far. Sure, he still has his powerhouse shot in his toolbox, but he has been looking progressively more comfortable as an NHLer in more ways than one, especially on the power play.

Power play goal for Vancouver!Scored by Jonathan Lekkerimäki with 00:02 left in the 1st. Assisted by Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser.VAN: 2 | CAR: 2#CARvsVAN #Canucks #CarolinaCulture

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-21T02:51:37.298842Z

Curiously, Lekkerimäki has been out of the top six and camped out on the third line lately, when by all means, if he continues to play at this calibre, he could find himself playing his way up the lineup more often. Despite overall offensive improvements the Canucks have made under Manny Malhotra, they’ve found themselves in some incredibly lopsided games this year on the scoreboard. Capitalizing on Lekkerimäki’s recent play could be a start on the mission to finally win a game again.

Lekkerimäki has been rightfully rewarded for his hard work, but given his age and experience, he still has breathing room to make mistakes, bounce back, and learn from them. This week, he has two goals and an assist to show for his effort.

Elias Pettersson

It’s impossible to ignore how solid Elias Pettersson has been through the season so far. As of right now, he’s comfortably in a point-per-game position, with 13 points in 13 games. He is also maintaining this pace while upping his physicality – he already has almost half the hits he had over the entire season last year – and having to actually put the “two-way” in “two-way-centre.” On a better, more defensively sound team, who knows how many points Pettersson could have by now.

The more flashes of vintage EP40 that happen this season – especially his shot, and especially on the power play – the more reliable a case Pettersson has that he’s still got it.

Power play goal for Vancouver!Scored by Elias Pettersson with 12:58 left in the 1st. Assisted by Filip Hronek and Jonathan Lekkerimäki.VAN: 1 | DET: 2#DETvsVAN #Canucks #LGRW

— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) 2026-10-23T02:43:59.810752Z

Also, the following moment, presented without further comment.

DOC and EP40 with tag team hit on Hughes. #Canucks

— Lachlan Irvine (@lachinthecrease.com) 2026-10-26T02:13:10.429Z

Max Sasson

Max Sasson has been on a tear this season and has, quite frankly, outperformed some of the centres on the team, making far higher salaries than he does (except for Drew O’Connor, who is not a centre, despite the experiment to make him as such). Sasson could probably stand to see some increased ice time if the team keeps failing to get one in the win column. Why not, right?

Sasson has been everything a bottom-six centre should be: not a 5-on-5 liability, an occasional point-scorer, with the added bonus of being incredibly fast on his feet.