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 2026 Winter Olympics have officially drawn to a close, and going from watching international best-on-best hockey back to watching the 2025-26 Vancouver Canucks has the same effect as an ice bath has on the nervous system. Of the Olympians the Canucks sent to Milano-Cortina, Kevin Lankinen returned with a bronze medal – sure, Juuse Saros held the net for all of Finland’s games, but participation awards also count at the Olympic level!

The Canucks remained committed to the concept of the draft lottery this week, which is one positive aspect heading down the stretch. Their 3-2 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets still netted them one consolation point, and their 5-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken was a masterclass of an early rebuild cycle game. If they keep playing this poorly, I, for one, will be proud of them. They’re keeping their eyes on the prize: an April vacation to Bali and Gavin McKenna in their pockets.

Rock Bottom Stats Corner

Games played this week(s): 2
Games won this week(s): 0
Goals scored this week(s): 3
Goals against this week(s): 8
Total points gained this week(s): 1
Games since last win: 5
Games won in 2026: 2
Goals scored in 2026: 39
Goals against in 2026: 82
Players traded in 2026: 1…and a half, as Tyler Myers is in the no-man’s-land between a rostered player and a traded player, apparently.

Drew O’Connor

If you had told me last year that in March 2026, Drew O’Connor would be the Canucks’ leading goal scorer, I would have laughed you out of the building and halfway to Siberia. Well, it looks like we’re all in Omsk now.

Yes, with 14 goals on the season, the man they call DOC is the team’s leading goal-scorer, with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk hot on his heels with 13 apiece. With 23 games remaining in the regular season, those numbers are about as miserable as it gets. But O’Connor is one of the few players who still looks like he is putting effort into a lost season, who takes pride in his game on a team suffering from severe wounded pride syndrome. With the precise ways the Canucks have struggled the last two seasons, the players who did not let their attitudes waver will be the ones remembered for it, for certain. This bar is low, but at least clear it.

O’Connor had some good looks between both games, a handful of set-ups and shots off the crossbar himself, and a nonsensical misconduct penalty that seemed primarily based on him getting too angry at the penalty box door – but again, at least he still plays these games like they’re something worth getting upset about. Drew O’Connor is still showing up for the crest on his jersey, so it’s also fitting that he scored the Canucks’ opening goal in their return to Rogers Arena after the Olympic break.

Nikita Tolopilo

The Belarusian netminder was one of the only reasons the Canucks walked away with an overtime loss against Winnipeg this week. Matched against the Jets’ back-up Eric Comrie, as Connor Hellebuyck was presumably nursing a nauseatingly nationalistic Hangover of Freedom, the Canucks were meeting a broken-down Winnipeg team, but still could not quite nab the win.

With all due respect to Olympic bronze medallist Kevin Lankinen, Nikita Tolopilo has looked the stronger goaltender of the pair. He plays with a focus and confidence beyond his experience level, and that ability to stand tall even while hyperaware that the team in front of you is outmatched is a critical need at present. Given that the rest of the Canucks’ season is effectively experimental performance art at this point, it might be worth giving Tolopilo more starts to test his skills and stamina at the NHL level. That would offer some insight into the goaltending situation moving forward.

Besides…Tolopilo’s got the aura to match the role.

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Nikita Tolopilo's mask 👌 📸: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

7:30 PM · Feb 3, 2026

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Liam Öhgren

While Marco Rossi was activated off injured reserve and slotted into second-line centre this week, Liam Öhgren has still been the most interesting piece to come back from the Minnesota Wild in the Quinn Hughes trade. It does not seem to be an entire overreaction to state he has serious middle-six forward potential, given how he has performed within the context of a – frankly and objectively – bad Canucks team. As discussed in 3 Stars before the Olympic break, Öhgren continues to play well with Teddy Blueger and Conor Garland, and continues to be met with an increased role, even on the third line.

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🚨CANUCKS GOAL🚨 The Canucks get on the board with a shot from Liam Öhgren that finds the back of the net. 🎥: Sportsnet | #Canucks