Are you seeing any chemistry developing? Like a line or D pairing
CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
JPat’s Monday Mailbag: Canucks chemistry lessons, a hot dog feast and press box bingo
Oct 26, 2026, 14:02 EDT
Quinn Hughes has come and gone, but the Vancouver Canucks winless skid remains. And the promised pain of a National Hockey League rebuild has now fully materialized. As the Canucks continue searching for something that resembles a full 60-minute effort, many of you have questions about the club’s short- and long-term future. Some of you have questions about hot dogs. That’s the beauty of the Monday mailbag. Almost anything goes around here. So let’s get down to the business of answering the questions submitted this week.
Any chance/sense/indication/whispers that any of the veterans who wanted to stay to be a part of the rebuild are starting to have second thoughts and may be open to being traded (Hronek, Boeser, DeBrusk)?
— Feuerbach11 (@feuerbach11.bsky.social) 2026-10-24T19:30:45.843Z
It sort of feels like there should be a countdown clock somewhere in the city, waiting for this very thing. At some point, probably sooner than later, you have to figure a veteran player will make it known he wants out. But 13 games into the season, we don’t appear to be at the breaking point – yet. Through all of the team’s struggles, players have very clearly expressed their frustration, but no one has gone on the record that they want to be moved. And quite frankly, any player looking to leave needs to know the best way to make it happen is by playing at a level that would attract some interest around the league. Scouts row at Rogers Arena was packed on Sunday night. Some of the scouts live in Vancouver and are regulars at Canucks games. Others probably wanted to be there for the spectacle of Quinn Hughes’ return. But you have to think the NHL vultures are circling over a team with two wins in 13 games and on a winless skid that has now reached double digits. Ryan Johnson may be looking to shake up his roster, but he can’t afford to give players away just because of the plight the hockey club is in. So if players can’t stomach the situation, their best ticket out of town would be to ramp up their own play and make themselves a coveted commodity. Right now, it’s impossible to say anyone on the team is playing anything close to his best hockey.
Not really. I thought the Bains-Sasson-Karlsson line did some good things against the Minnesota Wild, and maybe it was enough to keep that trio together. But Manny Malhotra is clearly searching for that chemistry you mention, and continues to switch his line combinations on a seemingly nightly basis. And you can’t really blame him. He doesn’t really have a ‘top line’ by NHL standards, and the holes in the lineup are exposed the further down the depth chart you go. I’d still like to see Malhotra give Öhgren-Rossi-Boeser some run and go with DeBrusk-Pettersson-Lekkerimäki. That would open the door for a third line of Cotter-Chytil-O’Connor. And you could keep the fourth line as currently constructed. That leaves Brendan Gallagher on the outside looking in, but based on the first month of the season, he looks like a depth piece at this stage of his career. And let’s be honest, he wouldn’t remain without a spot for long. With the struggles of individual players and the team as a whole, somebody else would surely be in line to get healthy scratches for ineffective play.
Which perspective is better: taking it one game at a time, or being a dozen games into a 252 (or more) game season?
— Erin BOO-tler (@eleighbutler.bsky.social) 2026-10-24T16:17:59.984Z
You can only take things one game at a time. If you try to step back and look at this rebuild in totality, you quickly realize how long this process is truly going to take. And then you get really sad. But it’s already apparent – and was driven home on Sunday with the return of the former captain – that the Canucks don’t have anything remotely resembling any kind of game-breaker in their lineup. And they probably won’t for a while yet. So you watch, you wait, and you certainly hope for development of many of the younger players. And you also realize the more interesting stories in the organization are not in the NHL right now. So you change your viewing habits, you pay more attention to Abbotsford, you watch more NCAA games than you ever have, and you follow the happenings in the Ontario Hockey League. And, of course, you invest in as much draft preview material as you can. That is life in a rebuild. Don’t look at the big picture right now. Accept the fate of the hockey club as painful as that can be. Tell yourself there will be brighter days ahead. And then keep your fingers (and toes) crossed that the rebuild goes according to plan. But you can’t put a timeline on these things. So live in the moment, find the positives as they present themselves and hope this is the year the draft lottery god finally smiles on the Canucks.
Asking on behalf of MLGN Golf: which player needs a mulligan the most so far on the season?
I’d have to say, Jamie Oleksiak. A healthy scratch for the second time in his first 13 games with the team on Sunday night, it’s been a real struggle for the giant defender. And that’s a bit of a head-scratcher because the Canucks just need him to use his size to be physical and to be difficult to play against. They’re not looking for him to wheel all around the ice and make things happen at both ends of the rink. Simply mind the front of the net, clear opponents from the blue paint and bring a little snarl to the lineup. And really, we haven’t seen much of any of that from the veteran. His 5-on-5 metrics are shocking, with an individual CF of 33.2%, and the Canucks have been outshot 103-46 and outscored 14-5 in his minutes. He’s delivered 20 hits in his 11 games, but it’s hard to remember any that have truly made an opponent pay a price. The adjustment to a new team has not gone smoothly for Oleksiak, and that’s been a surprise. So he’s the guy that could probably benefit from a mully. And you thought I was going to say Kevin Lankinen, didn’t you? The mailbag can be full of surprises.
How many john garret grilled cheese hot dogs could the entire Canucks lockeroom eat in 1 sitting?
I’m going to say 116. There are 23 guys on an NHL roster. Each of them could polish off four, so that quickly gets us to 92. But I’m putting my faith in basically half the room that they’d want more. Having eaten a Cheech special in the press box earlier in the week, I can speak from experience on this matter. They’re far more filling than a conventional hot dog in a bun. So let’s give 10 of the players an additional two grilled cheese dogs apiece. That bumps our total to 112. Then there’d be a few who know it’s against their better judgment but would be willing to attack an extra one. Let’s say that there are four of those. That gets us to 116. Now, these are finely tuned athletes we’re talking about here, so some probably wouldn’t want to be part of this human experiment. But, too bad, this is the Monday Mailbag, and we were asked a specific question. So we’re force-feeding them! I’m saying 116. Someone tell the chef.
Press box bingo card - 13 - 6 - 74 -7 -94-88- 18 -92 -23-5-2-25-4 . Hopefully by New Year’s we can have it blacked out ! Time for the coach to start sending a message.
Not really a question, but we can still work with this. Beyond the free square in the middle of your card, Manny Malhotra has already called out 2-4–7-13 and 92. So you’ve got six squares covered on your card, and the team isn’t even through the first month of the season. Marco Rossi missed a couple of games due to illness, so that doesn’t count. But he’s been awfully quiet since the first week of the season, and with Paul Cotter getting the press box treatment on Sunday against Minnesota, it is fair to wonder who’s next? And also how far up the depth chart will the coach’s decisions go? Based on usage right now, I’d say DPetey might be the least likely one on that list to spend a night in the press box. Rossi is probably spared due to the club’s lack of centre depth. And we’ll see if it ever gets to that point for a veteran like Brock Boeser. He’s been close at other times in his career, but has not been a healthy scratch since his rookie season. Keep your blotter handy; there is plenty of season remaining. Your goal of a blackout by New Year’s seems a touch ambitious, but right now I don’t know that there is a single player on the roster who can think his spot in the lineup is an absolute lock.
PRESENTED BY VIVID SEATS
Breaking News
- JPat’s Monday Mailbag: Canucks chemistry lessons, a hot dog feast and press box bingo
- The Statsies: Canucks overwhelmed at 5v5 in Hughes’ return after a strong first period
- The Stanchies: Boo birds rain on Hughes in return to Vancouver; Canucks lose 4-2 to Wild
- Instant Reaction: Canucks start strong but fall 4-2 to Wild in Hughes’ return to Vancouver
- Canucks: What happened the last time a controversial former captain returned to Vancouver?
Vancouver CanucksTeam Cap Summary
Cap Summary
2026-27
2027-28
Projected Cap Hit
$87,295,050
$71,329,167
Projected Cap Space
$16,704,950
$42,170,833
Current Cap Space
$19,290,240
$42,170,833
Active Players
23/23
13/23
Draft Picks
Round
'27
'28
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
1
1