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3 Canucks Stars of the Week: Öhgren-Blueger-Garland line shines before Olympic break
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Photo credit: © Rob Gray-Imagn Images
Arielle Lalande
Feb 9, 2026, 13:45 ESTUpdated: Feb 9, 2026, 13:50 EST
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Welcome back to Stars of the Week at CanucksArmy! 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!
The Vancouver Canucks are going international this February, with five rostered players – Filip Hronek, David Kampf, Elias Pettersson, Teddy Blueger and Kevin Lankinen – off to the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics to represent their national teams. Things were not looking so sunny on the home front, though, as apparently the team developed pre-emptive jetlag from their bye week holidays. They only played two games this past week, and both were forgettable – although, admittedly, the small sample size allows for the top performers to be quite plain to see. Vancouver faced a 5-2 upset by the Vegas Golden Knights, which was preceded by a 6-2 loss handed over by the Utah Mammoth, during the Canucks mom’s trip, no less. Canucks moms aren’t mad, they’re just disappointed. Now, Canucks fans, on the other hand? They’re a little bit of Column A, a little bit of Column B.
Onwards and not-so-upwards, for now. Let’s take a look at what worked for the Canucks this past week – or, rather, what singular forward line worked. 

Rock Bottom Stats Corner

Games played this week(s): 2
Games won this week(s): 0
Goals scored this week(s): 4
Goals against this week(s): 11
Total points gained this week(s): 0
Games since last win: 3
Games won in 2026: 2
Goals scored in 2026: 36
Goals against in 2026: 74
Players traded in 2026: 1…so far.

Teddy Blueger

Who else to end up on this list other than last week’s first star, Teddy Blueger? Still firmly in his familiar third-line centre spot, Blueger had yet another standout week with Öhgren and Garland on either wing. Given the overall chaos surrounding the Canucks this season, it’s no surprise that the forward lines have been put through the blender more than an Orange Julius at the mall. Still, it’s been a fun experiment in what line combinations generate heat  – and which lines should never, ever be put together again under any circumstances (I’m looking at you, DeBrusk-Pettersson-Kane). Luckily, the current Blueger line falls into the former category. 
Blueger had two points apiece in both games this week for a total of 1G 3A, which puts him at seven points in eight games since his return. Blueger settling into a point-a-game pace is surely unsustainable (…right?), but a welcome burst of offence for a Canucks team that has been allergic to the back of the net for most of the season. Even as the team flounders, Blueger has proved himself unafraid to speak up and call out his own teammates for their lack of respect for each other’s effort and a lack of drive to win. Blueger came right out and said, in no uncertain terms, that he takes issue with the fractured and rudderless locker room that has been danced around without being properly addressed. He’s frustrated, and he has a right to be after being sidelined for the majority of this doomed season until recently. This team is his circus and, as it turns out, they are his monkeys too. These monkeys are clearly not providing enough peer-to-peer circus support. 
Despite Utah routing the Canucks wholly and completely, Blueger’s goal against them came from him exercising the simple but priceless ethos called “Just shoot the puck, actually.” I normally would not endorse a “Shoot at the net like crazed mad men and hope something sticks” approach (or “Real Good Brind’Amour Carolina Style,” if you will), but the Canucks don’t have anything to lose from simply trying at this point. This was a smooth centring pass from Garland as Blueger made himself at home in the slot and the Mammoth just…let him? Now, how Utah conducts its defensive coverage is none of my business, but Blueger getting this kind of a clean goal from a tape-to-tape pass most definitely is. 

Conor Garland

Conor Garland has looked like himself for the most part this season – as in, an absolute menace to the opposite team – but it hasn’t translated to his usual production pace. Garland has played 46 out of 57 games, missing time in the fall and this winter, and he has struggled at times to bounce back to his chipper and chippy self. Garland has 25 points on the campaign thus far, which is nothing to sneeze at, but his offence has been streaky with droughts between. Before this week, Garland was held off the scoresheet for 11 straight games, and he still has yet to score a goal in 2026. When contextualized with the information that the entire team has only two wins in 2026 thus far, it’s understandable, but still not expected. Garland is the kind of serviceable all-grit and all-heart winger expected to show up even on the team’s off nights, and it’s unusual for him to have such a prolonged down period that matches the team’s current collective struggle era. Did Quinn Hughes, Garland’s close friend and godfather of his son Quintin (name allegedly unrelated), take Garland’s last straw with him in the trade to Minnesota? It’s possible.
In better news, Garland is starting to get his groove back with three points in two games this week – hopefully, a return to typical form, rather than a fluke. He put up some impressive underlying offensive numbers against Utah and Vegas, which hopefully indicates that his efforts will continue to convert to points after the Olympic break. 

Liam Öhgren

Öhgren is the newcomer on the Canucks scene, compared to Blueger and Garland, but he continues to be the one delightful storyline to come out of the Quinn Hughes trade – a transaction that feels as if it could have happened five years ago, rather than two short months. This young Swedish forward now has a three-game point streak with 1G 2A, and he celebrated his 22nd birthday at the end of January. Adam Foote presumably got him two linemates and increased ice time as a birthday gift. Maybe even a cake, too. 
While Öhgren was getting acclimated to his new team, he was getting an appropriately respectable amount of ice time, between 11 and 13 minutes per game. Now, after slotting in next to Blueger and Garland, it’s shot up to almost 18 minutes in the last two games. This is as much a reflection of playing alongside two strong veteran players as it is an endorsement of Öhgren’s abilities and adaptability. This is a case of Foote trusting and justifiably awarding a young player – something Canucks fans have been imploring him to do as the team continues to stock up on young players who still somehow have the light of genuine optimism in their eyes. Not for long, though!
Öhgren’s shot looks absolutely lethal here, against Utah, and it has in general. Keep in mind that this is a player who is the same age as the Canucks’ 2004 division title. He has so much more time to round out his game, and his upside is certainly looking promising.
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