The Vancouver Canucks’ preseason is over, and we couldn’t be more excited.
The Canucks topped the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 in their final preseason game, in which they also finally dressed what looked to be their opening night roster. It was a good outing for the group, putting together a solid night against a full Oilers roster as well. There were standout performances from players looking to cement their place in the lineup and some early chemistry developing between units. It’s early, but there are encouraging signs going into the year.
Here’s the win, by the numbers.
As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.

Game Flow

The Oilers got the momentum coming out of the gates, with two early powerplays that spurred them onto a good period. They racked up a 7-3 lead in high-danger chances to help them put up 1.15 xGF in comparison to the Canucks’ 0.65, but Edmonton wasn’t able to translate that into any offensive production. With Vancouver scoring twice in the first against the flow of the game, they went on to suppress anything that the Oilers would try and muster up over the rest of the contest. Edmonton would only generate a nice combined 0.69 xGF through the second and third periods, while Vancouver put up 0.96 xGF over that same stretch.

Heat Map

Thanks to the four powerplays and brief two-man advantage, the Oilers got themselves a hefty hot spot right in the slot area. They couldn’t make good of any of that, with the only goal coming from the high slot area. In total, the scoring chances stood at 27-23 Edmonton, while the high-danger chances favoured them 13-8. But, after giving up 7 HDCA in the first period, the Canucks were able to hold the Oilers to just 6 over the second and third. Not bad, considering how Edmonton tried to push back in the third and tie the game up.

Individual Advanced Stats

Corsi Champ: It was Teddy Blueger’s first appearance since going down with injury in the offseason, and he performed well for himself. The Latvian led the Canucks with a 68.75 CF%, dominating the minutes that he played against the likes of Zach Hyman, Adam Henrique and Mattias Janmark. While Blueger was on the ice, Vancouver saw a team-low of 0.13 xGA, with no high-danger chances against or for. It was quiet, low-event hockey against NHL competition, and given that this is Blueger’s first appearance in the preseason, that’s darn good.
Corsi Chump: This one might come as a bit of a surprise, but Jake DeBrusk brought up the rear in the Corsi department with a 29.41 CF% share on the night. That’s a full -27.04 CF% relative to team average, giving up a 3-6 scoring chance differential and a 1-3 high-danger chance deficit. These numbers do start to make sense when looking at the quality of competition that DeBrusk (and his linemates) faced, taking on Connor McDavid at 5v5 more than any other line last night. Given that they didn’t concede a single goal against during that span, it’s pretty good results while potting in two goals himself.
xGF: Nils Höglander finds himself leading the Canucks with an 80.05 xGF% share. The young Swede took full advantage of facing the lack of depth in the Oilers lineup, holding a 6-1 edge in scoring chances and a further 3-1 high-danger chance lead. Höglander posted the third-lowest xGA of 0.21 last night, to go with the second-highest xGF of 0.85. The only person to top him was the captain, as Quinn Hughes led Vancouver with a raw 0.99 xGF thanks to a team-leading 10 scoring chances for and 6 high-danger chances for.
GSAx: Arturs Silovs looks so much better now than this time last year. The Latvian was cool, calm and collected between the pipes for Vancouver, facing down a 2.94 xGF and only conceding one goal. His 1.94 GSAx reflects the quality of saves that he was making, a perfect 8/8 from high-danger chances with the only goal getting past him being a middle-danger chance. It’s nice to see this kind of performance from Silovs as he enters the 2024-25 season as Vancouver’s starter, knowing that he can at least hold down the fort until Thatcher Demko recovers.

Statistical Musings

Bains bearing down: As the competition winds down for the final forward spot on the roster, Arshdeep Bains put together a really good case for himself in the final preseason game. The Surrey native looked engaged all night, playing physical and fast and getting involved in every puck battle that he could. The second effort was noticed on Quinn Hughes’ opening goal, and his powerplay tally for the 3-0 goal came directly as a result of his work along the boards. The results that Bains-Blueger-Aman turned in was the best possession performance of any Canuck forward unit last night, leading the team with a 72.73 CF%.
A possible third line?: Speaking of forward units, Nils Höglander – Aatu Räty – Kiefer Sherwood looked like a money maker last night against the Oilers. The speed and tenacity of this group were on display as they racked up a team-high 0.5 xGF and 76.29 xGF% together at 5v5 play. It’s a unit that plays a lot to Tocchet’s preferred style, with two wingers that are more than willing to get into the corners and a center that can play a two-way style game. It might’ve been Räty’s weakest showing of the preseason last night, but that didn’t mean he had a bad game, especially between Höglander and Sherwood.
Shaking off the rust: JT Miller’s first appearance of the year wasn’t a shining one, finishing dead last on the team with a 29.03 xGF%. He was on the ice for a team-worst 0.9 xGA and 5 HDCA, only able to see 2 HDCF going the other way. It was clear that he wasn’t up to game speed yet, which makes sense given the slight tweak that he suffered seemingly during training camp. Again, no reason to be really worried, as Miller has been consistently one of the Canucks’ best offensive options during his tenure here.

As a team

CF% – 45.79% HDCF% – 38.10% xGF% – 45.27%
Vancouver closed out the preseason on a high note, managing to ride out an early Edmonton rush to an early lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The line combos look good with each other, with some players needing to shake off some rust. But other than that, the forward depth was clear and on display while Hughes looked in midseason form on the back end. It’ll remain to be seen how this group fares as the season truly begins, but there’s plenty of exciting and interesting things to be looking for as the final cuts are being made.
Vancouver opens up their regular season at home on Wednesday, October 9th, as they host the Calgary Flames.
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