After flipping Marcus Pettersson on free agency day, the Vancouver Canucks didn’t have many experienced defencemen options on the roster heading into 2026-27. That changed after they signed Jamie Oleksiak to a two-year, $5 million AAV deal to bolster the back end.

It’s a tidy contract, given where the cap picture is at this point, and makes a lot of sense for the Canucks. Heck, it was a surefire sight better than the $4.2 million AAV deal that Vinny Desharnais got from the Washington Capitals.

As for the player himself, Oleksiak brings plenty of experience along with a towering 6’7″, 250-lb build, one that he isn’t shy about leveraging. Never exactly an offensive dynamo, Oleksiak’s defensive work and hard-nosed, physical style is why he’s played 758 career NHL games.

That begs the question: what exactly should the goals and expectations be for Jamie Oleksiak as part of the rebuilding Vancouver Canucks in 2026-27?

This all feels pretty self-explanatory. Given that it’s a two-year contract, Ryan Johnson’s vision for Oleksiak is a stopgap measure so the young defencemen aren’t thrown to the wolves, forced into fight-or-flight, and potentially ruining their development.

Oleksiak’s point totals have usually hovered around that 10-20 point mark, and given that the 33-year-old isn’t getting any younger, that’s probably where the offensive production should be capped at. But again, the Canucks didn’t bring him in to put up points from the blue line. Rather, it’s for that defensive work and leadership, something that has remained pretty darn consistent wherever he’s landed around the league.

If he can keep the level of play up from last season with the Seattle Kraken, settling things down on the back end and making the smart, hard-nosed defensive plays, the Canucks will be all the better for it. They won’t be a good team, but they’ll be pretty darn difficult to play against. Not to mention, given the wealth of experience and role that Oleksiak plays, his insight and mentorship for the younger members of this rebuilding group could prove tremendously valuable down the line.

Given that meeting expectations is simply seeing Oleksiak maintain his level of play from 2025-26 into 2026-27, any improvement would be gravy on top. Exceeding expectations would see the defenceman take a step forward, which seems pretty unlikely given his age – but not entirely improbable.

Again, the Canucks don’t have plenty of defensive depth, which more than likely means Oleksiak will see heavy deployment. That’s probably top-four utilization with heavy minutes, and who knows – perhaps with more volume will come more production on the offensive side of the ice.

If that were to happen, we could potentially see the defenceman ramp his value up quite high. Given that it’s a two-year contract, it’s clear that the visualization was to flip him either this deadline or next year’s – but if his value peaks in the 2026-27 season, then it’s really not far-fetched to think that Oleksiak could fetch a handy return, especially with the cap space the Canucks have to retain salary.

This, coupled with the natural leadership role he should find himself in, could prove to be a boon that would exceed most expectations that the fanbase and potentially organization had for Oleksiak when he first signed this summer.

One thing that always seems to curse the Canucks is the injury woes that surround the team. This becomes more readily apparent with Oleksiak, who is 33, turning 34 in December of this year. While the defenceman has been pretty resilient throughout his entire career, age being a factor in both his on-ice play and overall availability is a concern that can’t really be ignored.

Ideally, Oleksiak is still good to hold up for the two-year contract that the Canucks signed him to. But for 2026-27, if he takes a step back in terms of performance and becomes a bottom-pairing or replacement-level player on this Vancouver team, that’s going to be a red flag. Teams likely wouldn’t be looking to add him for much of anything, even if the Canucks were to be retaining half of his salary.

Then comes the whole availability part. Playing a heavy, physical style of hockey is fantastic and something that the Canucks definitely need plenty of from Oleksiak. But that style of game also does wear on the body quite significantly. It hasn’t affected him yet, but if little nagging things start piling up and affecting his ability to play day in, day out, and his overall level, then this year would be a disappointment.

However, such is the beauty of signing Oleksiak to a two-year deal. If that’s the extent of it, then his contract is off the books in 2027-28. No harm, no foul, no long-term damage to the Canucks’ cap picture or roster. That’s a pretty darn good thing for this organization, and that forward-thinking view should serve them well as they steer this rebuild.