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The Stanchies: Canucks’ tank holds strong in 5-1 defeat to Kraken
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Photo credit: © Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images
The Stanchion
Mar 1, 2026, 03:03 ESTUpdated: Mar 1, 2026, 03:21 EST
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The Vancouver Canucks‘ Season of the Tank continued on Saturday night, this time in the form of a 5-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken. Like most of the games this season, the main source of highlights continues to be the play of Drew O’Connor, now with the added bonus of the line of Teddy Blueger, Conor Garland and Liam Öhgren. You might not like it, but this is what peak tanking looks like.
And like many games before it, the Canucks had a bit of a pushback to let you know they aren’t quite legally dead yet, before flatlining in the third period. Not even Greg House could solve this roster’s illness, although I have a sneaking suspicion that Michaela Quinn might have some insight. Two things the 90’s taught me: never count out the Medicine Woman, and when you have a chance to buy a Charlotte Hornets Starter jacket, you take it.
You want a silver lining that will make you sit outside and reconsider your life choices? Joey Daccord didn’t score a goal against the Canucks. That’s a legitimate takeaway from this night. That is something you will actually say to a friend or family member tomorrow, and you will actually mean it.
“Could have been worse, at least their goalie didn’t score, eh?” you chuckle nervously as you wait in line at Starbucks with the co-worker you barely know, praying that your order will be ready as soon as possible to save you from this moment.
With the playoffs no longer an issue, the next major milestone of the season for the Canucks is of course the trade deadline. It’s that time of year where house metaphors run rampant and we get to hear various reports about the team “willing to tear things down to the studs” to “they want to do a quick turnaround” to “they’re thinking of maybe renovating the bathroom to make it a bit more modern” to “maybe Lil John has some bold new ideas for our man cave in the basement.”
It has, however, traditionally been an area that this team has struggled in ever since Mike Gillis left, as they have shown a remarkable ability to be quite terrible at the whole “selling” part of it. Whether it’s running out of time or giggling about the terrible offers you have been getting, Vancouver never really seems to grasp the concept of buying low and selling high.
Now, to their credit, it appears that all options are on the table. We went from “hey we need some veterans around to protect the kids” to watching the team play like such dog shit that a miracle of miracles occurred and management seemingly realized “are we the baddies?” in regards to the senior players. With Tyler Myers currently out of the lineup as he debates trade options, as rumours swirl around Elias Pettersson being targeted by several teams, to the yearly “Where is Brock Boeser being traded to this time?” tradition, it looks like it might be the first time in over a decade plus that this team might make moves in volume at the deadline to bring in draft capital.
That being said, the Canucks actually have to do the thing. It’s one thing to have reports swirling around the league, and it’s another to actually get it done. And this management has absolutely lost any and all right to the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doing what needs to be done at the deadline. We haven’t even gotten into the fears that ownership is like a little gremlin hiding around the corner, ready to pounce and fast forward the roster building in the next few seasons, in the hopes of that sweet, sweet playoff revenue.
But we won’t project. We will take things one step at a time. And while “ownership gonna ownership” should always be seared into your brain with this team, we will have the grace to watch this trade deadline play out as the tank season continues.
Because ultimately, the play on the ice doesn’t matter right now. This roster is going to look drastically different in a season or two. Losing is the name of the game, and even on nights like Saturday, where it is downright unwatchable at times from a Canucks perspective, at least the train is heading in the right direction.
Now we just have to wait and hope it keeps going that way at the deadline.
Best going ons
I have gone back and forth with Elias Pettersson from “they can rebuild him” to “we need to burn every single thing that ever came in contact with JT Miller and EP40” and I think I’ve finally landed on that “we can still be friends” break up speech I think this team sorely needs to have with him.
He just sort of stopped getting power play time as the game wore on, and while there could be many reasons for that, it’s hard to watch this team and view him as being part of the solution going forward. The team isn’t leaning on him at all at the moment, which again, maybe that’s part of the tanking strategy, but it feels like a fresh start is probably best for both parties involved. Even if he goes on to have a career renaissance with another organization, I think this fan base would just salute him from afar. Have at it EP40, go live your best life.
The one issue I have with that direction, however, is I have a hard time viewing this management team as the guys who can sell the “he just needs a new team, he can be that 100 point player again” vision. Patrik Allvin once claimed players set their own value with their play on the ice, so it’s not like he can create miracles in a trade, and I think he actually meant it? Which seems wild in a league in which you need to sell other teams on your assets to try and win trades. This isn’t eBay; you don’t get five stars for being so open and honest about the stains and rips on the players you’re selling.
That being said, the only thing the NHL loves more than a tall, former first rounder, right handed d-man rehabilitation project it’s a former first rounder, high point producing center rehabilitation project, so there should be a good market for him. It’s just, are these the guys to squeeze the most amount of juice out of it?
Or maybe they keep him forever and none of this matters, who knows.
WHO KNOWS.
Best spoiler alert: they didn’t
The Canucks games are quite boring right now, due mostly to the fact that the majority of their offence is based on shooting the puck on net and waiting to see if Evander Kane took or drew a penalty on said shift.
Early on Planet Ice was in his bag, though, as he went on an end to end rush that led to a thrilling point shot from Tom Willander, which led to a juicy rebound, which led to nothing much really:
Meanwhile Jordan Eberle was letting the Canucks know that he was coming for them tonight, as he rang a shot off the post mere seconds after that incredible Willander point shot into traffic:
Yes, that is Eberle dancing around Willander so effectively that it caused the rookie d-man to drop his stick and twirl in place, it’s best to just ignore the moments like these for now. Remember the point shot and hold onto that memory instead.
Next up was Berkley Catton, which sounds more like a cast member from the OC than a hockey player (I am positive he dated Summer in season three when she went to Brown University), forcing Kevin Lankinen into making a massive save after PO Joseph got caught pinching from the blueline:
If you were hoping this would be a wake up call of sorts for Vancouver to tighten things up, don’t worry, Vince Dunn made sure to dispel you of that notion rather quickly, after he made it 1-0 a mere eight minutes in the game:
If you’re Vancouver, you clip Elias Pettersson making that fantastic defensive play to break up the initial rush and add it to your trade package video.
But if you’re Vancouver, you also scrub Evander Kane sort of farting in the puck’s general direction along the boards, failing to get it out, leading to Dunn’s goal.
Kevin Lankinen looked to complain to the officials about contact being made with his glove, but my boy, you were out of the crease so that’s on you. You can’t drive on the Lions Gate Bridge in a yellow arrow lane and scream at the incoming drivers, we’re supposed to be a society.
Best Paula Abdul said it best
Rush, rush, went the Kraken, as they would make it 2-0 after a bit of a fortuitous bounce off of Eeli Tolvanen in front of Kevin Lankinen, leading to Chandler Stephenson scoring on a rather confused bronze medalist:
Once again Tom Willander found himself on the wrong side of a video clip, as he was unable to contain Jaden Schwartz along the boards, which led to Planet Ice running over to try and make a play on the puck, which led to Garland losing out on a high risk pick six attempt, which led to the clear shooting lane for Adam Larsson that led to the goal.
Again, many teams have breakdowns in coverage, it’s not as if the Canucks are all alone in that regard. It’s just the volume at which they commit them, and the fact they have very little offensive push back to balance things out, that’s what makes you find yourself running draft simulators in November.
Best first period at warp speed
OK let’s hammer through the end of this period, as I can’t imagine you read the intro to this article and find yourself dying to find out how the Canucks played in another 5-1 loss.
Or maybe you do? You’re a fan of this team, so clearly you enjoy pain and misery. Maybe this is your kink, who am I to shame.
Let’s play a game then, let’s have some fun with it. Can you spot the difference between a Canucks scoring chance and a Kraken scoring chance?
First up, here is Vancouver trying to score a goal:
A point shot from defensively minded Elias Pettersson, followed up by Linus Karlsson swatting at the rebound. Now I checked with the lawyers, and yes, this counts as a scoring chance.
Next up, we have Chandler Stephenson jumping up to grab a terrible Zeev Buium turnover for a breakaway, and then Tolvanen trying to bank in the rebound after Lankinen made the initial save:
That’s just kind of how it goes now. Vancouver is dead in the water so they just sort of trot out the “thoughts and prayers” point shots into traffic while they wait to see which team runs into a PDO disaster and actually lose to it.
Best don’t call it a come back
Every good wrestling match has a bit of a shine for the jobber; you need to let people think there’s a chance, otherwise, there is no emotional investment.
And as is often the case, Drew O’Connor and Liam Öhgren continue to be bright spots for this team, just in terms of generating scoring chances and not looking like they’re dead inside.
Liam Öhgren made a slick defensive play in his own end as the first period came to a close, leading to an offensive rush that just narrowly missed getting a shot on net:
At this point you might be wondering “why celebrate someone almost getting a shot on net” and I think we both understand the situation we’re in here. We’re both adults, we know the score.
Drew O’Connor then rang one off the post after Brock Boeser made his one appearance of the night, drawing in the defenders before springing the DOC in for surgery:
There was a time when Boeser was on a line with an actual nickname, if you can believe it. It was called the “Lotto Line”, and those were the times my friend, we thought they’d never end.
Liam Öhgren would then get the lone goal of the night for Vancouver after Buium who a slick redirect to get the puck onto the stick of Garland, who would eventually throw the puck in the general direction of Liam for the score:
Joey Daccord would also complain to the referee after this goal, but this one was even worse than Lankinen’s disagreement, as Joey was the one who leaned out with his glove to initiate contact. This would be like stealing a cup of coffee and then yelling at the person for not knowing you don’t like salted caramel.
We also noted it a few games back, but the DNA of the Dakota Joshua/Teddy Blueger/Conor Garland line is all over this new version with Liam in Dakota’s place. Same big body presence, same ability to showcase skill, but with higher upside from the young Swede.
I have no idea if this line will ever be in a position to be an elite third line for the Vancouver Canucks, but they do deserve credit for being the most consistent line on the team lately.
Best stay strong big guy
I’m not ready to write the goodbye letter to Tyler Myers, so I will instead honour his name with a couple of nice offensive highlights from the Canucks.
The aforementioned Blueger got a good look on net after O’Connor stole the puck from Vince Dunn and found the Latvian Olympian in stride:
And then Garland did a devious little pass between the legs to once again set up the Blue Man:
Again, not the most lethal of scoring chances, and the odds of Blueger going bar down like a young Cody Hodgson was few and far between, but it’s better than a gif of Drew O’Connor getting a penalty for closing a door a little too hard.
Best backhanded compliment
Aside from Fil Hronek, nobody looks good on the backend for Vancouver this year.
That being said, it feels like Elias Pettersson might have taken one of the biggest steps backwards on this team just in terms of where he was trending to where he is now.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting he was a future Norris trophy winner, but he went from “this kid could be a tough, reliable bottom pairing guy” to “Why are teams bullying him like Punch the monkey and how can we make it stop?”
His reads just make no sense to me, and his gap control has been ghastly at times, but again, maybe that’s just the vat of drizzling shits that occurs with Adam Foote’s defensive system. Only time will tell, I suppose.
Dp25 ended up on the wrong side of the ledger on the Kraken’s third goal of the night, as his point shot was blocked, leading to Jordan Eberle scoring, as he foretold earlier:
The broadcast would go on and on about Vancouver being the team Eberle has the most career goals against, but honestly, who doesn’t have that at this point? There was like that one stretch under the Sedins where other teams were like “oh so THIS is what it feels like to be terrorized by a player over and over again” but for the most part I just assume players like Troy Brouwer scores at a 47% higher clip against the Canucks versus any other team.
The Canucks continued to struggle with turnovers, as DP25 would then find himself unable to flip the puck deep into Seattle’s zone, leading to Shane Wright getting a shot off on another two on one:
Remember Dan Hamhuis? I miss him.
Best butterfly effect
The second period ended up with a bit of chaos that Tyler Myers would have been proud of, all of which was started by Fil Hronek being angry around his net:
Hronek and Kaapo Kakko would each get penalties on this play, and I want to be clear that I absolutely love it when Hronek gets sassy. There is a reason there is talk about him being made the Captain, and it’s because he is one of the very few guys who looks like he gives a shit, even during the worst losses. That’s the kind of guy you want to ride or die with.
Now, SHOULD he get the C in Vancouver? From an off-ice point of view, absolutely not. Fin should get the C before Hronek takes it on. The dealing with the media, and putting on a brave face, all that outward stuff a captain needs to do, that’s just not Fil. He could barely answer a single question from Jeff Paterson last season, so I find it hard to imagine him fielding questions about the team being terrible for a season, let alone five years.
The Canucks are at a point where players have quit on the team (not blaming, in many cases it makes sense why they want out), so they are in a desperate need to hitch their wagon to someone with Thomas Muller energy. Someone who seemingly loves this city and doesn’t accept losing, and wants to be a part of the solution. You need a shining light to lead you through this darkness.
To Hronek’s credit, it seems like his agent has made it clear he isn’t going anywhere. Anytime trade talks come up, Hronek’s name is never mentioned. That loyalty to the city is commendable and something fans will adore.
But all the stuff that comes with being the Captain? You need that as well in this market.
No shade to Quinn Hughes (well, a little), but this team needs all the good PR it can get, so it can ill afford to have someone pout their way through media scrums, staring at their shoes, and offering up three word answers. I am not saying media scrums are the be all end all, believe me, but I do think you need to start building your culture back up in as many ways as possible. And that starts with your captain setting the tone.
All of which brings us back to four on four hockey from the penalties, where Matty Beniers almost dangled his way right around Kevin Lankinen to make it 4-1:
Seattle would then hit a post off a faceoff, after the puck deflected off of Liam Öhgren’s stick:
Which then led to a last second penalty drawn by David Kampf that absolutely should have been a penalty shot because damn it, why not at this point:
Once again the magic of Liam Öhgren and Conor Garland goes to work, this time resulting in the high danger scoring chance for Kampf before being dragged to the ice. He didn’t get a clean shot off, but rather than let us enjoy a moment of excitement, we were instead rewarded with watching the Canucks start the third period off with a powerplay.
Yay.
Best got no juice
Do you enjoy miscues? I hope you do. I have several to offer you.
Hey, where are you going-
Nils Höglander was the first to make a major mistake, as he jumped up into the play and didn’t cover for a pinching Marcus Pettersson, leading to Beniers shooting on yet another two on one:
Next we had the 25th Elias Pettersson leading too far to the right side of the ice, giving up just enough room for Shane Wright to rush up the ice, before DP25 closed the gap only to back off and overload defending a potential pass for reasons:
Then Tom Willander found himself getting his pocket picked behind his own net, leading to a shot that wasn’t necessarily dangerous, but at this point in time, any chance on net feels like it’s high danger against the Canucks:
All of which is to say, yes, the Canucks don’t exactly have an air tight defensive system at the moment.
Best sure why not
I will say that least I saw Elias Pettersson play in this game? Here he is setting up Evander Kane for one of the few scoring chances in the third period:
I say this because I watched this entire 60 minutes of hockey and for the life of me I cannot remember a single Jake DeBrusk shift. The score sheet says he played 16:23 of hockey on this night, but I feel like I am being gaslit on this.
Best soft serve
Drew O’Connor would then take a penalty for, and I shit you not, slamming the door kind of hard, which hurt the officials fee fees:
Hasn’t Vancouver suffered enough? Do we really need an official power tripping because someone dared to make a loud noise near him? And as far as door slams go, that was incredibly weak. That door slam wouldn’t have stopped Steve Austin from getting out of a steel cage, that’s all I will say.
On the ensuing power play, Jorden Eberle would then get his second of the night, as the Canucks “Late night Taco Bell bathroom episode” approach to penalty killing continues:
I am not quite sure why the Canucks penalty killing diamond resulted in a) Teddy Blueger sprinting across the ice as if his life depended upon it to cover the point man, along with b) Marcus Pettersson cheating up high and releasing his man beside the net, but I learned long ago to stop questioning these th
ings. Bees, it’s always bees.
Now fun fact, the NHL would take this goal away from Eberle and give to Matty Beniers because apparently the puck whispered sweet nothings into his skate:
I have no idea where the puck made contact with Beniers skate, nor do I know why the NHL spent time and resources to micro analyze this goal to ensure Matty was assigned the goal, but here we are.
I just can’t imagine seeing that goal but then being all CTU about it and calling up Chloe O’Brian to enhance it until you had proof that, yes, that puck might have, perhaps, perchance, slightly brushed against the steel of Beniers skate blade.
It just seems interesting on what the NHL chooses to dive deep into, that’s all I am saying.
Brandon Mountour would then hit the post on a similar looking play on another man advantage, as once again the Canucks just started overloading and chasing the puck, leading to time and space for the Kraken defender to hit iron:
Adam Foote is doing exactly what he needs to do in order to secure the top pick, I just don’t know if he is meaning to do it or not. The thought of it keeps me up at night.
Best explanation
Post game, Adam Foote bluntly explained Pettersson’s benching.
“Well, he didn’t have his, whatever it was. He’s got to be better, and he knows that. He’s aware of that. We need more from him, and he’s got to find it. I’m sure [if] you talk to him, he knows he’s got to be better for us, and I’m sure we’ll see that next game.”
Foote was asked postgame if there were any specific areas in which he is looking for Pettersson to improve:
“Just in general,” Foote said. “Like, you know, he’s got to play with more, you know, more zip; like, put more pace to his game; more engaged. Good things will happen when he gets his motor going. He’s aware of it. So, I’m sure we’ll see it next game.”
Best go for broke
Hey, here’s that silver lining we talked about:
Yeah, take that Joey, you missed by inches! Sweet, sweet victory!
Anyways, here’s Eberle scoring what he thought was his hat trick goal on the traditional “we’re down a hundred goals, we should pull our goalie with five minutes left in the game” from Adam Foote:
Jokes on you Eberle, one of your goals was given to Beniers! You DIDN’T get a hat trick, now you own a bucket of hats based on lies!
Anyways.
See you Monday.
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