Other than points, what else would you like to see from Zeev Buium so you can start the conversation of "Looks like he's taking the next step?"
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JPat’s Monday Mailbag: What more do we need to see from Zeev Buium?
Oct 12, 2026, 13:30 EDTUpdated: Oct 12, 2026, 13:23 EDT
Hopefully you all had a happy Thanksgiving. And as the Vancouver Canucks season unfolds, we should all count our blessings that we had the first week of the season to enjoy. That was fun.
The rest of the way? Well, it looks like that could be the struggle most anticipated it would be. Through it all, though, the Canucks will provide lots to talk about. And it’s already abundantly clear that you have many questions about this hockey club. That’s why we do the Monday Mailbag each week. So let’s set the table and dig right into this week’s feast of questions to our DFO Vancouver mailbox.
Do you think that EP40 performing well increases the chances he will be traded this year? I don't think we will have to retain now that salaries have exploded. We can actually get young assets or picks back. Does RJ see him as part of our long term rebuild plan?
— DJTaxman77 (@taxman77.bsky.social) 2026-10-10T18:35:08.453Z
I think Elias Pettersson playing well increases the options for the Canucks. Over the past two seasons, his lack of production, coupled with his inflated salary, clearly didn’t make him an attractive option for other teams around the NHL. To his credit, he’s had a strong start to this season: eight points, 26 hits, an old-school one-timer goal on the power play, and, as strange as it sounds given the environment he’s in, strong work on the penalty kill early on. Right now, I think the Canucks have to be fairly pleased with what they’ve seen from EP40. There are plenty of issues around this team, and he isn’t one of them. As for the long term, it’s probably too soon to make any great proclamations about whether he remains a building block or finds himself on the trade block. But this much is clear: this version of the player would be sought after in an escalating cap world. So if Pettersson continues to play hard and produce, it’s conceivable that Ryan Johnson may be fielding calls on him at some point. Of course, it’s imperative to remember that Pettersson has a full no-movement clause for the duration of his deal. So he still controls all the cards.
Well, certainly points would be nice. He has just one – a secondary assist on a garbage-time Jake DeBrusk goal in Carolina last Thursday – so there is plenty of room for improvement there. Beyond that, however, I want to see him use his skating to break pucks out and lead to the transition. I want to see him use his creativity in the offensive zone to set up teammates. I want to see him confidently command the puck while manning the point on the power play. I want to see him make the right defensive reads and put himself in the right spots to break up plays. Right now, there is very little on that list that can be checked off. Buium is not being helped by the early-season struggles of the usually steady Filip Hronek. And it will be interesting to see if Manny Malhotra sticks with that pair or if he decides to find a way to shelter Buium lower in the lineup in an attempt to boost his confidence.
The team didn't claim Zary on waivers but is now rumored to be interested in trading for him. Is that about maintaining waiver priority or retaining salary in trade?
By virtue of their last-place finish last season, the Canucks maintain waiver priority until November 1st. So they still have first dibs on any player that hits the waiver wire until the end of the month. As such, the decision to let Zary go unclaimed had no bearing on waiver status. The fact that the club is reported to still have some interest in the former Flames first-rounder likely hinges on Calgary’s willingness to sweeten any deal. The Canucks don’t want the full freight of his $3.775M contract this year and next. Nor should they. So would the Flames be willing to retain? It doesn’t sound like they want to. Would they part with a draft pick to make the deal happen? I guess we’ll have to wait and see just how motivated the Flames are to make that move.
Do you think that Leevi Meriläinen could be a goaltender in the long-term plans for the team, playing with someone like Medvedev in the future?
I’ve been encouraged by what I’ve seen from Leevi Merläinen in his limited game action with the Canucks. And, quite frankly, I think it’s already time to see More-a-läinen. I’m guessing he’ll get the start on Tuesday against the New York Islanders, and I’d have no issue with the Canucks giving the newcomer a little bit of a run here to see what he can do with the opportunity. In a wonky defensive environment, Meriläinen has stopped 78 of the 84 shots he’s faced. Remarkably, he’s given up just one even-strength goal in his 165 minutes of action. It’s far too early to project him as this team’s goalie of the future or try to figure out who he’d partner with in that role. But over a short sample, he’s been impressive and has demonstrated exactly why the Canucks claimed him off waivers.
What’s the record for modern day losses by a goalie in one season, and what are the chances Kevin Lainkenen at least flirts with that record?
Yikes. Any way you come at it, it’s been a rough go for Kevin Lankinen in the first two weeks of the season. His 29 total goals allowed is 13 more than any other goalie in the NHL at the moment. His 6.88 goals-against average and his .786 save percentage are, shall we say, not terribly flattering. Money Puck has him at -10.8 goals saved above expected. So yeah, it’s been ugly. As for his 1-5 record (which includes the quirky loss in his five minutes of game action in New Jersey on Saturday), he has a long way to go to match Gary Smith’s league record of 48 regulation losses with the California Golden Seals in 1970-71. That same Gary Smith holds the Canucks’ franchise mark of 33 in 1973-74. And there’s something about Smiths, because since the start of the millennium, Mike Smith has been tagged with the most single-season losses of the past 25 years, with 42 for Arizona in 2014-15. He went 14-42-5 in the desert that year. So Lankinen has a long way to go, and how much he plays will ultimately determine how close he comes to any sort of infamy. His workload will hinge on his own performance and on how well Leevi Meriläinen does when he’s in net, and on when Thatcher Demko is cleared from injury and ready to return. By the way, Lankinen lost 27 games in regulation last season (11-27-5). That number could very well be challenged this season.
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Vancouver CanucksTeam Cap Summary
Cap Summary
2026-27
2027-28
Projected Cap Hit
$88,074,947
$71,329,167
Projected Cap Space
$15,925,053
$42,170,833
Current Cap Space
$16,975,056
$42,170,833
Active Players
23/23
13/23
Draft Picks
Round
'27
'28
1
1
1
2
2
2
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1
1