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3 Canucks Stars of the Week: Teddy Blueger has returned to the Canucks’ lineup with a vengeance
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Photo credit: © Christopher Morris-Imagn Images
Arielle Lalande
Feb 2, 2026, 09:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 2, 2026, 01:47 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!
This week is a special edition of 3 Canucks Stars of the Week, where we’ll be diving into three Canucks stars of the past two weeks. After taking last week off (although you can read my thorough assessment of the Canucks-Penguins game for the Stanchies here), there is a lot to unpack from Vancouver’s ongoing homestand. The larger sample size of seven games allows for a more precise examination of where the team’s rebuild currently stands and where it might be going, which is…fine? It might be fine. What a relief. 
Since the last edition of 3 Stars, the Canucks have managed to win an entire two games, their first entries in the win column of 2026. Huzzah! Pop the champagne. The other shoe dropped on the long-rumoured Kiefer Sherwood trade, as well, with the winger being sent to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a 2026 and 2027 second-round draft pick and AHL defenceman Cole Clayton. Goodnight, sweet prince. The pending unrestricted free agent was here for a good time, not a long time.
In general, this team is still losing – good, it would be weird if they weren’t – but with much tighter goal margins and far more noticeable effort involved than previously. Save for one particularly nasty 5-2 loss against an emerging Sharks team that frankly might be their worst game of the entire season, this Canucks team has looked better recently, within the reasonable parameters of rebuild criteria. Losses are to be expected when a team is in the early stages of a new life cycle, but losses tinged with apathy and complacency are telltale signs of a truly directionless team. Optimistic loss is the only way forward that makes sense, even if watching this team feels like walking on hot coals every day for the next 3 to 5 years. 

Rock Bottom Stats Corner

Games played this week(s): 7
Games won this week(s): 2
Goals scored this week(s): 18
Goals against this week(s): 23
Total points gained this week(s): 5
Games since last win: 1
Games won in 2026: 2
Goals scored in 2026: 32
Goals against in 2026: 63
Players traded in 2026: 1…so far.

Teddy Blueger

Finally, some positive news on the Canucks front: Teddy Blueger has reappeared from whatever room deep in the recesses of Rogers Arena they keep injured players. No word yet on Derek Forbort. It is likely that we collectively hallucinated his existence. 
Blueger returned to the Canucks’ lineup against the Washington Capitals on January 21st, slotted into his familiar third-line centre spot, had himself a fantastic game, and essentially has not taken his foot off the gas since. Funnily enough, the last game of the season Blueger played before suffering a lower-body injury back in October? The Washington Capitals.
The Stanley Cup winner (remember the Vegas Golden Knights? I try not to) has three goals through six games since his return, two of which are shorthanded goals. His shorthanded goal in Vancouver’s 2-0 shutout of the Anaheim Ducks was on an empty net, yes, but…wait a minute as I do some quick math here…power play with your goalie pulled? The Ducks had six skaters on the ice. Yikes.
It’s no secret that Blueger is a penalty killing wizard, and he’s been easily clearing all other forwards in shorthanded ice time since he returned to the team. That said, it is not entirely unlikely that Blueger could penalty-kill-play himself too close to the sun and get traded ahead of the deadline. Blueger is an incredibly serviceable middle-to-bottom six centre, a pending UFA, and on a very attractive $1.8 million contract. As much as the Canucks have desperately needed consistency down the middle this year (or, let’s be honest, in general), Blueger could be gone come mid-March. In the meantime, Blueger will represent his home country, Latvia, at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Tom Willander

Behold a controversial, never-before-heard opinion: Tom Willander has great potential.
While I doubt anyone thought the Canucks would need to turn to their 2023 first-round pick this much, this soon, Willander has stepped up to the occasion this year and especially in recent weeks.
The rookie defenceman has two goals and two assists through five games – he sat against Pittsburgh due to illness, which contextualizes his recent play even more, succeeding despite coming down with whatever plague has been haunting the Canucks locker room this month. 
That said, Willander’s play is about more than just determining his potential points ceiling. He is building his confidence, and it is showing. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time, and he’s been exceptional at receiving critical passes thanks to his ability to quickly read plays and pivot when needed. When facing a severely broken and beaten-down team, like this year’s roster, chemistry like Willander’s with his teammates serves as a beacon of hope. 
Willander has shown a willingness to lead by example off the ice, too. Honesty is perhaps the only respectable currency both in the league and in life these days, and Willander did not hold back in his frankness this week following the rough loss against San Jose. This kind of thing is refreshing. Sometimes, taking accountability can also look like demanding it from others in the room, be it teammates or coaches.

Nikita Tolopilo

Nikita Tolopilo might be the definition of making the best of a bad situation.
With the news that Thatcher Demko will be shut down for the rest of the season to undergo hip surgery, Tolopilo has emerged as the de facto runner-up to serve in the goaltending tandem alongside Kevin Lankinen.
Tolopilo has been respectable, so far, losing in Saturday night’s shootout against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but playing the majority of Vancouver’s shutout against Anaheim. Tolopilo earned himself two regulation wins before the Christmas break, against Minnesota and Anaheim (wow, he has really made himself an enemy of the Ducks, huh?), but is still seeking his first official solo win since becoming the No. 2 netminder of the Canucks. 
Some nights, Tolopilo has honestly even looked sharper than Lankinen. Even in his two recent starts that resulted in losses, he has only let in a combined 4 goals on 68 total shots for a .941 SV%. Not too shabby. If the team can just figure out how to balance the workload strategically between the two, moving forward, goaltending may be the last of their worries down the stretch, of which there are…so many. The average state of watching the Canucks currently is one of worry, which is why every single save helps.

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