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Foote’s postgame remarks rightly cast doubt that Canucks have proper group of veterans to lead team into next era
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Photo credit: © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Jan 20, 2026, 17:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 20, 2026, 15:10 EST
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As much as some Vancouver Canucks fans – and perhaps team management, too – would like to be able to simply press a button and shoot the team’s entire roster into outer space right now, the fact of the matter is it’s not that simple to completely strip down a National Hockey League lineup.
Head coach Adam Foote rightfully put his veterans on blast with his most pointed postgame remarks of the season in the wake of Monday’s 4-3 defeat at the hands of the New York Islanders. The latest loss – the team’s 11th in a row – set a franchise record for consecutive defeats and had the coach questioning his group’s focus, leadership, and the overall culture of the hockey club.
It came just hours after General Manager Patrik Allvin gave a vote of confidence to the veteran leaders who continue to underperform for this team on a nightly basis. So who’s in the right here? The general manager in his belief that he has quality players and people in that locker room who deserve to set the culture for the organization moving forward? Or the head coach that clearly feels he has a group of players that is now letting frustration get the better of them as the losses mount with no apparent end in sight?
Allvin has to wear plenty of this season’s failures for committing both time and money to players who haven’t come anywhere close to performing at the levels expected of them. The scoring struggles of Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, and Conor Garland are well-documented, and the numbers speak for themselves. Boeser has one goal in 24 games, DeBrusk is sitting on one 5-on-5 goal all season, while Garland has not scored since an empty netter at Madison Square Garden on December 14th and, incredibly, has not beaten a goalie since November 26th in Anaheim. Regardless of what they say in the room or how many dinners they attend on the road, these guys are all paid – and paid handsomely – to perform. What kind of impression are those struggles making on the younger players the Canucks are trying to integrate? How much weight do their words truly carry when their stat lines scream woeful underachieving this season?
Elias Pettersson, as the club’s highest-paid player, isn’t exactly blazing a trail to be followed by anyone. While the effort level and engagement on most nights have met the baseline one would expect from a player of his stature, it’s hard to suggest Pettersson has gone above and beyond as any kind of difference maker. And this is a bottom-line business, and there simply hasn’t been much of or enough of a bottom line from a guy cashing massive paycheques every two weeks. 
But it doesn’t stop with the forwards. Both Marcus Pettersson and Tyler Myers have struggled to defend on so many nights this season. Pettersson’s having a forgettable 2025-26 campaign, and turning 36 in 10 days, Myers looks on many nights now like a player who is fighting both the puck and the aging curve. Again, they can say whatever they want to any of the young players, but much of that advice rings hollow when judged against the actions on the ice.
And then there is Thatcher Demko. And as much as he despises the notion, injuries are simply too much a part of his career story now. And it’s hard to be a veteran leader when the team is playing on the ice, and the team’s number one puck stopper is yet again on the training table. Obviously, Demko doesn’t want to be injured, but he can’t do his part to help the hockey club through the struggles if he’s not available as often as he should be.
The only veteran to really earn a pass with his play this season is Filip Hronek, who has been steady from the outset, continues to log big minutes and has found a way to produce offence when so many around him have not. Hronek has appeared in every game this season, leads the current roster in time on ice (24:28 per game) and is second on the club in scoring with 28 points. 
With the club flailing to find its footing and the Canucks announcing their rebuild plans, the idea of keeping veterans around to insulate the younger players is fine, in theory. But which veterans absolutely need to remain, and which ones deserve to be the mentors to the next group to wear the uniform? After all, it’s not like this collection of seasoned players has done a lot of winning here or brought much glory to the organization or the city.
It’s time for management to get ruthless in its pursuit of excellence. For years, the fanbase has had its doubts about the makeup of this roster. And now the head coach seems to have made his views known by questioning the character of his veterans. Keeping some veterans around, sure. But all of these veterans? It seems pretty clear by now that the answer to that question is apparent. They haven’t been the right mix to lead the Canucks to success. And by that logic, they shouldn’t be the ones given the opportunity to lead this team out of the wilderness and back to relevance.
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