When Kiefer Sherwood signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks in 2024, he was supposed to be one of the last depth pieces on a growing playoff contender.

But like two paths diverging, as the Canucks fell apart around him, the 30-year-old blossomed into far more than a depth winger. Now, after being traded to the San Jose Sharks, Sherwood leaves Vancouver as a short but memorable success story.

The Canucks’ introduction to Sherwood came in their 2024 first-round matchup with his former club, the Nashville Predators. His hard-nosed, high-energy style frustrated the Canucks across the ice so much that they decided to sign him that offseason. And coming off a career year in Nashville, where he scored 27 points, he was a perfect fit.

The Canucks were expecting to get a bottom-six winger who could play a 200-foot game, throw big hits and agitate opponents into making mistakes. But Sherwood became so much more than that: he became a certified fan favourite.

In his first season, Sherwood more than lived up to his billing as a big hitter: his 462 hits in 2024-25 shattered the NHL’s single-season record set by his former teammate Jeremy Lauzon the year before. But it was his scoring prowess and ability to drive the Canucks’ offence that caught everyone by surprise. Sherwood notched 40 points last season, good enough to put him seventh in team scoring, and in the same stratosphere as the likes of Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter.

But that fact said a lot about how the team around him was playing. Through no fault of his own, the better Sherwood played, the worse the Canucks seemingly did in the standings. Last season, the Canucks went from the highs of the 2024 playoffs to missing the postseason altogether. In 2025-26, Sherwood has been on pace for another career year, leading the Canucks in goals with 17 and totalling 23 points; Vancouver simultaneously imploded and now sits last in the standings.

The Canucks had gotten Sherwood in anticipation of him playing a key role in future playoff runs. That day never arrived. But his regular season play still made him a beloved player among the fanbase, and he embraced that role fully. Sherwood didn’t see a ceiling to his skill set, considering himself to be a late bloomer. He lived up to that mentality by never taking a shift off, routinely calling his own number on the ice and finding another gear in Vancouver that few thought was there.

There was also something spectacular about seeing Sherwood’s two sets of gloves come off before squaring up for a fight: his standard hockey ones, and the white undergloves he wore due to a skin condition. When the second pair came off, you knew he meant business. And the fans loved him for it.

At the press conference after being traded, Sherwood spoke highly of his time in Vancouver and how much he loved the city and the fanbase. Had the team’s fortunes gone a different direction, you can be certain Kiefer Sherwood would’ve been a part of the next chapter. But in securing the franchise a pair of second-round picks to help chart a course for the future, Sherwood gave the Canucks one final gift on top of all the ones he delivered over the past two years.

He might not have been a Canuck long enough to get a tribute video, but he’ll certainly get a standing ovation at Rogers Arena when he inevitably returns. And if those two draft picks pan out, Kiefer Sherwood might not have to buy a drink in this city for a very long time.

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