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The curious case of the shocking lack of goals from Canucks defencemen
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Nov 21, 2025, 15:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 21, 2025, 14:34 EST
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By definition, defencemen are expected to help keep pucks out of their own net. But in today’s National Hockey League, there is nothing preventing those that play the position from chipping in offensively.
Already, Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar has eight goals while New York Islanders’ super rookie Matthew Schaefer has seven. The Vancouver Canucks – as a team – have just four goals from their blueline through the team’s first 22 games. There are already seven blueliners with more than that total on their own, and 17 defenders around the league with as many goals as the Canucks have from their collective.
After Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars, the Canucks are tied with the Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, and San Jose Sharks for the fewest goals in the league from defencemen. For context, the Columbus Blue Jackets lead the way with 15, while the Washington Capitals have 14, and nine other teams are in double digits. The Canucks have four – and two of those came last weekend in games in Tampa Bay and Florida. 
But it runs much deeper than that.
For a team that spent a good portion of its first training camp under new head coach Adam Foote stressing the need for defencemen to activate and join the rush, the Canucks have seen virtually no rewards. Obviously, injuries throughout the lineup have limited the way the team attacks to some degree. But more than a quarter of the way through this year’s schedule, the Canucks have exactly one 5-on-5 goal from a defenceman.
Tyler Myers scored off a scramble in Washington on October 19th. Otherwise, Filip Hronek cashed in on a third period power play in Florida, Marcus Pettersson sealed the team’s victory in Tampa into an empty net, and, most curiously, captain Quinn Hughes’ lone goal so far this season came into an unguarded net in Dallas on October 16th. Because Casey DeSmith hadn’t fully reached the Stars bench for an extra attacker, the goal wasn’t ruled an empty netter by traditional hockey standards, but rather a 135-foot wrist shot that managed to find the mark.
Now, Hughes is overdue. That much seems obvious. He has one goal on 46 shots and is carrying a 2.2% shooting clip at this stage. Last year, when he scored 16 times, he shot 8.3% and the year before that, when he notched a career-high 17, he scored on 6.8% of his shots. For his career, the offensive dynamo is a 6.6% shooter. So he’s bound to see an uptick at some point. Despite missing five games with injury, the Canucks captain is tied for 13th among all NHL defencemen in shots on goal (46) and is joined by Edmonton Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm as the only guys in that group with just one goal so far. Through 17 games last season, Hughes had three goals and then scored four more over his next nine games and had eight goals by Christmas. The last two seasons, he’s recorded 199 and 192 shots on goal, so he’s very much on track to hit those totals again this year. For some reason, the puck isn’t going in for him. Or any of his fellow defenders. 
As a group, the Canucks blueline produced 38 goals last season and 37 the year before that. Right now, the team is on pace for just 15 goals. Since the NHL returned to full 82-game schedules after COVID, the 2023-24 Chicago Blackhawks are the only team to get fewer than 20 goals from their defencemen. That Hawks group produced 19 that season.
As a percentage of overall team goals scored by defencemen, this season’s Canucks rank 32nd and last in the NHL. Yet point production isn’t an issue. Hughes sits third among NHL blueliners with 21 points, while Filip Hronek is off to a strong start this season with a dozen. Points from defencemen aren’t the problem. But surprisingly – maybe somewhat shockingly – goal production has been non-existent.
The Canucks as a team are not blessed with the most talented lineup in the league. And yet, goal scoring overall has not held them back. It’s just that the distribution has been off by a considerable margin. The Canucks sit tied for third in the league with 66 goals from their forwards. As a percentage (94%), they are tops in the league. So this forward group is more than holding its own.
Maybe it’s nothing more than poor finishing luck that has put the Canucks in the predicament they find themselves in when it comes to goal scoring from their defence. Perhaps some of it speaks to how much time the team has spent defending instead of in the offensive zone. But for a team that has scratched and clawed to keep its head above water through the first six weeks of the season, a goal here or there from a defenceman might have been able to swing a result or two in the club’s favour. Other teams get goals from their blueline. For some strange reason, the Canucks are getting next to nothing from theirs.

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