The Vancouver Canucks are officially out of playoff contention.

After Wednesday night’s back-and-forth affair in Minnesota saw the Wild defeat the San Jose Sharks 8-7, Minnesota moved up in the standings and out of the Canucks’ reach. Vancouver now sits eight points back of the St. Louis Blues, who hold the second wild card spot and the tiebreaker, with only four games remaining, a gap too big to defeat this late in the year.

Tuesday night saw a historic comeback in Dallas and there seemed to be some spark left in this Vancouver squad. With their overtime win, they kept their playoff hopes alive one more night, picking up two crucial points despite trailing by three goals with one minute remaining. But even then, it still would’ve been a steep uphill climb to find their way back into the postseason mix.

It’s no doubt a disappointing follow-up to last season, when they shocked the league by coming out hot from the jump, winning their division for the first time since 2013, and taking the eventual Stanley Cup finalist Edmonton Oilers to a seven-game series in the second round. Lead by newly appointed captain Quinn Hughes, it seemed the team was finally finding a new direction after stalling for many seasons. And after such a successful run in 2023-24, there was major hopes heading into this season that they would be able to build on it and field a competitive team.

But in a year filled with an abundance of injuries and distracting locker room drama, it looks like there was just too much to surmount for the Vancouver Canucks in pursuit of their first back-to-back playoff appearances in over a decade.

Following this tough finish to the season, there will surely be big questions of management and players heading into the off-season and beyond. They have seven draft picks spread across all rounds evenly for the upcoming selection, and may be looking to acquire more, depending on the cost. And of course, rumours have surrounded head coach Rick Tocchet’s job security, and this will only add spark to the flame. While it seems the Canucks look keen to keep him on, a missed postseason berth may leave some fans wanting to see some heads roll.