A former Vancouver Canuck is voicing his displeasure with the team’s recent performances.

Following the Canucks’ 6-3 loss at the hands of the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night, former Canuck defenceman and Hockey Night in Canada analyst Kevin Bieksa stated that Vancouver has become an easy team to face, criticizing their lack of grit as they try and win their way into back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“It’s not a hard team to play against right now,” Bieksa said. “You look at their coaching staff with [head coach Rick Tocchet] and [assistant coach Adam Foote], who had a ton of bite…it’s hard right now, when you have a team with some good players… but not a lot of bite. Got a lot of stick checkers out there.”

Bieksa has become one of the more polarizing figures in hockey media. He’s shown that he’s not afraid to give his opinion on the game, both the good and the bad.

The loss to the Kraken made it back-to-back road defeats for Vancouver, as the team also fell to the surging Anaheim Ducks this past Thursday. The defeat in Seattle was the end of a five-game road trip for the Canucks, all but one coming against Pacific Division rivals. The team went 1-4-0 on the swing, only beating the Los Angeles Kings last Wednesday.

The 2024-25 campaign has been far from sunshine and rainbows for the Canucks. They were without Thatcher Demko for the first couple of months of the season, leading to subpar performances as he has tried to adjust after a unique surgery. There was also the off-ice soap opera between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, and now the team is still barely clinging onto a playoff spot with just a few days before the NHL Trade Deadline.

The Canucks (27-22-11) return home on Wednesday night with a shot at redemption against the Ducks. Vancouver is fourth in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Calgary Flames for the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.