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!

Vancouver’s final two preseason games against the Edmonton Oilers this past week felt a little like a Groundhog Day situation. We are only a few months removed from the playoff series between these two teams, but it appears as if someone forgot to tell the players that. These games did not feel like friendly preseason competition, a trailer for the upcoming year, but instead the continuation of some unfinished business.

With the embers of this Pacific Division rivalry still glowing, let’s take a look at some of Vancouver’s players who have eschewed the phrase “Forgive and forget” in favour of a more “HATE FOREVER” mentality.

Remember that uncalled high stick by Connor McDavid on Quinn Hughes in Game 2 last year, some nasty captain-on-captain combat? Well, it certainly looks like Quinn Hughes did.

He is coming off a Norris Trophy-winning season; he’s one of the cover stars (cover brothers?) of NHL 25; and is a bonafide star. Quinn Hughes doesn’t have to play for a job, or like he has something to prove in the preseason. But that doesn’t stop him from playing like he does.

Friday’s 4-1 win against Edmonton was the only game Hughes played this week and more than enough to land him on this list. He hovered around the blue line and absolutely hammered home the first goal of the night off a pass from Arshdeep Bains, cutting through traffic like an intolerable Tesla driver.

By the numbers, Hughes was dominant this whole night – he led the team in expected goals for and in high-danger scoring chances, all the while staying sharp and mindful of the kind of Game 7 Cup Final-hardened players he was defending against. Believe me, I’m impartial to the ever-evolving role of the offensive defenceman, but we have to remember the priority. It’s in the name, people.

Quinn Hughes’ worst weeks on the ice still look better than many defencemen’s best, and it might prove difficult to not include him as a star almost every week. That said, Hughes showing up in Vancouver’s final preseason game the way he did is indicative of something much greater than a single game. This is not just Quinn Hughes doing Quinn Hughes things, but rather the captain setting the tone for the year and making it very clear he’s not slowing down any time soon. He is not going to be complacent after a career year or settle for “good enough,” and neither will his team.

If you watched winger Arshdeep Bains the last two years in Abbotsford, or in his handful of games with Vancouver last season, you probably liked what you saw. You might have even thought to yourself, “Maybe next year he could have a shot at a roster spot up in the big leagues.”

If you watched Arshdeep Bains this week, that “Maybe” has likely turned into a resounding “Yes.”

Monday’s game had a largely NHL-ready Oilers roster against, and I say this with love, our “B” team. Most of us prepared for a repeat of last year’s 10-0 preseason anomaly game against the Calgary Flames. Like Fight Club, the first rule of the 10-0 Flames game is that you do not talk about the 10-0 Flames game. While the Canucks fell to Edmonton 3-2, they did push a McDavid and Draisaitl-led Oilers roster to a shootout, with Bains leading the charge on the first line.

Bains, with Daniel Sprong on the right centred by Pius Suter, had some remarkable offensive opportunities through the first frame alone. They were able to capitalize on these chances in the second period, where Bains would take the shot high and get it past Stuart Skinner’s glove to open the scoring.

On Friday, Bains’ fearless forecheck was again out to play, and he was willing to get right into the mix and do some serious board battling for the puck – probably battling his way into Rick Tocchet’s heart in the process. His hard work this entire game didn’t go unrewarded, as he would prove critical in Quinn Hughes’ aforementioned opening goal, and go on to score yet another PPG himself:

If you’re not counting, that’s two goals this week for Bains, both one-timers deep in the offensive zone, both on the power play. He’s got a three-point week in the bag. You simply love to see it.

Bains has made it clear that he’s put some serious work in this summer, with his eyes on the prize. His offense has stepped up a notch, that’s for sure. He’s simply been faster, greasier, and more willing to take calculated risks when it matters. He’s not just moving quicker but thinking quicker – everything that can turn a good or great AHL guy into a decently reliable NHL regular.

The Surrey native has lived and breathed Canucks hockey for most of his life, and now might finally be the time for him to really live it.

He’s back! One of last week’s stars has carried over to this week, and it’s not hard to figure out why.

Daniel Sprong has been a workhorse thus far, always seeming to be exactly where he needs to be when he needs to be (except for that too many men call on Friday…that time he was very much not where he needed to be, but since it’s the preseason I still have the grace of forgiveness).

He has two official assists on the scoresheet in the last two games, but has shown promise in setting up some serious scoring chances wherever he can. He was the key third man on Arshdeep Bains’ first goal of the preseason, sending it down low to Kiefer Sherwood to perfectly set up Bains for the kill. He showed some interesting chemistry with Bains in this game, and together, they did not hold back from getting up close and personal with the Oilers in the offensive zone, something that’s promising to see from two players new to the lineup.

Twice this week, Sprong has been in the 1RW position, both times with different combinations, to somewhat differing levels of success. The former of the two games saw him seriously step up in a game that Vancouver’s lineup had no business winning, but somehow almost did, regardless. As for the latter game, it’s no simple task to slot in with Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson, but Sprong could get the job done when called upon.

If Sprong continues to show promise on the second power-play unit and make strides in his defensive game off of it, he will shape up to be a formidable asset this year, on an incredibly friendly contract, at that. Daniel Sprong, in the words of Senator Palpatine himself, we will watch your Canucks career with great interest.