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!
Some weeks are difficult to pick just three outstanding performers on the Vancouver Canucks – take last week, for example, when there was a shortlist of honourable mentions that could have very well been even longer. 
This is not one of those weeks. If you’ve been around this team long enough, some games are simply a question of, “Well, who tried their best to make sure we weren’t totally humiliated out there?” This isn’t particularly exclusive to the Canucks, either. If you’ve ever been a fan of, well, any sports team ever, sometimes it’s more about “Who did I actually notice was playing in that mess?” than anything else. 
Even though the Canucks squeezed out a 1-1-1 record this week, it is no secret they have not been firing on all cylinders. Who has stood out in this lacklustre run?
Pius Suter
Pius Suter has been quietly and politely grinding on the fourth line this year. This week, he was anything but quiet. 
It’s not just his two-goal game and game-winner in the nick of time yesterday against the San Jose Sharks that puts him on top, although two out of three Canucks goals being attributed to him is the primary reason they walked out of that game with two points – or any at all. Gone are the days of beating the Sharks 10-1, but early letting a notoriously offensively incapable team dominate the game should be embarrassing enough. 
Mid-game, Suter found himself in a top-six winger spot playing alongside Conor Garland and Elias Pettersson, called into second-line duty like emergency services. Picking up a gorgeous drop pass from Nils Höglander to score was a great show-up moment for Suter, who had 2 points on the season at the top of this week and now has 5. Moreover, his game-winner to make it 3-2 with just 26 seconds remaining in regulation was his true act of service. The Canucks winning in overtime is not exactly what they’re known for. 
On that subject, Suter also scored to push the game to overtime on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, which the Canucks lost 4-3 regardless. Still, Suter took an opportune pass from a Daniel Sprong mad rush while Carolina goalie Pyotr Kochetkov was so far out of his net that he was practically in another continent. Suter showed no hesitation with his shot to make sure he could deliver on what was, objectively, an insane move from Sprong. 
A point is a point. Besides, it was overtime against the Hurricanes, whose whole team personality is basically nonstop shooting hoping that something sticks to the back of the net – which has gotten them to the postseason for the past six years, so maybe Rod Brind’Amour is onto something there. Clear eyes, full hearts, blindly shooting pucks in the general direction of the net, hoping it registers as a SOG, can’t lose. 
Brock Boeser
If you’re surprised that I haven’t had Brock Boeser in my top three yet, so am I. Boeser has been incredibly solid thus far, tied with J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes in points at nine, with two power play goals to boot – the most on the team thanks to their power play units still resembling a group of confused yet determined carrier pigeons. In a contract year for him, this is critical. Perhaps he’s making less noise online than at the start of last year, but even then, he was sitting at 10 points through the first nine October games at this time last season. While the team has looked weaker compared to their fall start in 2023, Boeser is still a well-oiled essential gear in their offensive output machine. 
This week, against the Hurricanes, he scored in the opening frame and picked up a primary assist on Quinn Hughes’ goal, which breathed life into a game that was dead in the water. Against the Sharks, Boeser’s line with J.T. Miller and Jake DeBrusk led the team in expected goal percentage at 92.30 xGF%. I am pretending there was no game in between those two for my own sanity.
Kevin Lankinen
Kevin Lankinen’s numbers dropped somewhat after an overtime loss and a barely-there win, but if he wasn’t such a powerhouse, the Canucks wouldn’t be sitting with a 1-1-1 record this week. Kevin Lankinen is a one-man justice fund because he keeps bailing out the skaters in front of him.
He did not get the start in the disastrous 6-0 shutout against the New Jersey Devils – that was Arturs Silovs, though the results are far from being solely his responsibility, I digress – but he perhaps could have prevented that extreme of a shutout. While his numbers dropped slightly from his starts earlier in the month, he still put up 55 saves on 61 shots in two games. Lankinen is the best possible insurance we can hope for in Thatcher Demko’s continued absence, but he cannot consistently fill the gaps when his teammates are struggling to dominate in the offensive zone. Goaltending will always make or break a team, but unless the systems in front of him are working, an excellent goalie will only be a beautiful fresh coat of paint on a broken-down house.
Honourable Mentions
Jake DeBrusk
DeBrusk netted his first goal as a Canuck against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night, which was a first goal almost as anticipated as Elias Pettersson’s. DeBrusk has not been the instant difference-maker many wished for, but I have hope that his offence may begin to turn in his favour now that the seal is broken.
Conor Garland 
Conor Garland continues to be the most consistent player on this team right now in every facet. He’s creating chances, picking up assists, and remaining defensively responsible as the team’s second and third blueline pairings remain shaky at times. It’s a wonder how he was ever a scratch or patient zero for a myriad of trade rumours while with this team. 
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