We’ll refrain from calling it the Landon DuPont sweepstakes just yet, because Vancouver Canucks fans are still getting over the heartbreak of falling two spots in the draft lottery and losing out on drafting Gavin McKenna first overall.

But there’s little disagreement that DuPont, the stud right-shot defenceman who grew up cheering for the Canucks (ring any bells?), is the top talent available in the 2027 draft. Some argue that he could be a Norris Trophy-level talent. Obviously, that would be a great add for the Canucks. But that, of course, will take some luck. What matters even more for the Canucks than drafting first overall is that they don’t end up drafting seventh, eighth, or later with their first pick at this year’s draft. And to do that, they’ll need to finish as close to the bottom of the NHL standings as possible.

So as week three of the 2026-27 NHL season rolls on, we thought it’d be fitting to examine how the Canucks compare to the other basement dwellers.

As of October 13th, these are the bottom seven teams in the NHL standings. The Canucks have the 5th-worst record in the league.

A lot of the Canucks’ games have been fun to watch, even if most have ended in regulation losses. A big reason for that, of course, is that the Canucks ranked as high as fifth in goals scored up until this week. After last night’s games, the Canucks have fallen to ninth in goals scored, but that’s much higher than some of the other teams. Let’s dive into some stats, starting with goals scored among basement dwellers.

Calgary Flames (30th in GF): 12
Los Angeles Kings (31st in GF): 11
Philadelphia Flyers (32nd in GF): 10
Chicago Blackhawks (21st in GF): 17
Vancouver Canucks (9th in GF): 26
Detroit Red Wings (28th in GF): 14
Columbus Blue Jackets (27th in GF): 13

Canucks rank here: First.

It’s gone the other way, too, as the Canucks have given up a league-leading 38 goals against (though that will get better if Leevi Meriläinen keeps playing the way he has been lately).

Calgary Flames (29th in GA): 29
Los Angeles Kings (20th in GA): 21
Philadelphia Flyers (31st in GA): 31
Chicago Blackhawks (30th in GA): 29
Vancouver Canucks (32nd in GA): 38
Detroit Red Wings (17th in GA): 20
Columbus Blue Jackets (21st in GA): 21

Canucks rank here: Dead last.

Calgary Flames (22nd in PP%): 15.4
Los Angeles Kings (21st in PP%): 15.8
Philadelphia Flyers (32nd in PP%): 8.3
Chicago Blackhawks (28th in PP%): 12.5
Vancouver Canucks (T-16th): 20.0
Detroit Red Wings (T-16th): 20.0
Columbus Blue Jackets (T-20th): 16.7

Canucks rank here: Tied for first.

Calgary Flames (10th in PK%): 85
Los Angeles Kings (31st in PK%): 57.9
Philadelphia Flyers (16th in PK%): 80.6
Chicago Blackhawks (24th in PK%): 75
Vancouver Canucks (32nd): 57.1
Detroit Red Wings (28th): 66.7
Columbus Blue Jackets (29th in PK%): 61.1

Canucks rank here (and in the league as a whole): Dead last.

PDO combines 5v5 save percentage and 5v5 shooting percentage to measure how lucky a team has been. 1.000 is average, and far below that indicates bad luck, while above that number usually indicates a team’s results aren’t likely to be sustainable. Here are all seven basement dwellers’ PDO numbers two and a half weeks in:

Calgary Flames (32nd in PDO): .910
Los Angeles Kings (30th in PDO): .935
Philadelphia Flyers (28th in PDO): .953
Chicago Blackhawks (25th in PDO): .962
Vancouver Canucks (15th in PDO): .999
Detroit Red Wings (18th in PDO): .988
Columbus Blue Jackets 12th in PDO): 1.010

So what does this tell us about who’s been unlucky? Well, we expected the Calgary Flames to be bad, but maybe not as bad as they’ve been so far this season. They managed to beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Tuesday night, and their league-worst PDO might indicate that they’re not 32nd-with-a-bullet bad — like the Canucks were last season — but it’s hard to imagine the Flames finishing any higher than 29th or 30th overall this season.

The PDO numbers above suggest that teams with higher expectations heading into the year, like the Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings, have been getting rather unlucky to start the season. These are two teams that both made the playoffs last season, and it’s hard to imagine that they’ll hang around the bottom five of the league standings for very long.

Further, the Chicago Blackhawks got Connor Bedard back from injury ahead of schedule last night, and managed to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins. That team entered the season with expectations of finally taking the step forward and making the playoffs, and the shot in the arm Bedard should provide them with should help with that. At the very least, it should ensure they’re not part of the basement conversation for much longer.

The situations in Columbus and Detroit are a bit different. The Red Wings still have Dylan Larkin on their roster and could trade him any day now. They also don’t have Simon Edvinsson signed, and might end up trading him away too. That situation is in a state of flux, making it difficult to project where they could be headed from here. Could they move up? Sure. Could they also finish in the 28-32 range? Also sure.

As for the Blue Jackets, they want to compete, and Rick Bowness called out his team in a big way on Tuesday night. They’ve got higher expectations in Columbus this season with Bowness behind the bench, so look for them to respond and potentially depart the league basement as soon as next month.

And finally, we get to the Canucks. Their six regulation losses lead the NHL, and with the 15th-best PDO in the league, things could get a whole lot worse for them in the standings. The Canucks got off to a fun start, and there have still been plenty of positives to take away for the rebuilding club amidst the losses, but it’s becoming clear that this team won’t be leaving the basement this season, and ultimately, that’s a great thing for them and their rebuild.

With the conversation of “who could move out of the basement?”, it’s also worth noting that the Columbus Blue Jackets and LA Kings have played just five games. They have half the number of losses in regulation (3) than the Canucks do already (6).

How do you think the bottom of the NHL standings will look when we revisit them in a month’s time? Let us know in the comments section below! My take is that the Seattle Kraken will eventually come crashing down to earth…