Prior to the arrival of Quinn Hughes, the Vancouver Canucks were never known for developing elite offensive defencemen. In their entire 55-year history, only 12 blueliners have broken the 50-point barrier, and only four managed to do it multiple times.

Unsurprisingly, Hughes leads that group, having already racked up 50 or more points five times. That leaves just three other defencemen who all broke 50 points twice during their time with the club: Paul Reinhart, Jyrki Lumme, and Dennis Kearns, who clocks in at #24 in our all-time rankings.

This may seem a tad controversial, especially to younger fans. When Quinn Hughes broke Kearns’ franchise record for assists in a single season back in 2022, it elicited a chorus of “Who?”s from several corners of the internet. This is perhaps unsurprising for a player whose best years came in the 1970s, long before anyone outside of Vancouver was paying much attention to the local hockey club.

But CanucksArmy has always been run by nerds, for nerds, and Kearns’ statistical profile and relative lack of accolades would have made him a site favourite had blogs existed during the franchise’s formative years. Kearns racked up 46- and 55-assist campaigns in back-to-back seasons from 1975 to 1977, and did so on some truly abysmal teams. While most of the best defenders in Canucks history had the benefit of completing passes to some of the best forwards in Canucks history, Kearns racked up assists passing to a roster of Sporcle quiz answers made up of players like Rick Blight, Chris Oddleifson, and Don Lever.

Sadly, he’s probably best remembered for accidentally deflecting the puck past Gary Smith and ending the team’s first-ever playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in 1975. While his numbers stacked up impressively against his peers, Kearns’ peak came in the years between that first postseason appearance and the Canucks’ Cinderella run to the final in 1982, and he’s often overlooked as a result.

At least he had a sense of humour about it all. Towards the end of his career, when he was barely seeing the ice anymore, he was jokingly asked if he’d like a summary of the first period.

“No thanks,” he replied, “I’m not into hockey.”

Our previously ranked top 50 Canucks of all time:

#50 – Curt Fraser
#49 – Dave Babych
#48 – Martin Gelinas
#47 – Chris Oddleifson
#46 – Jannik Hansen
#45 – Ivan Boldirev
#44 – Gary Smith
#43 – Jacob Markstrom
#42 – Orland Kurtenbach
#41 – Harold Snepsts
#40 – Darcy Rota
#39 – Thatcher Demko
#38 – Geoff Courtnall
#37 – Dennis Ververgaert
#36 – Petri Skriko
#35 – Dan Hamhuis
#34 – Doug Lidster
#33 – Patrik Sundstrom
#32 – Brendan Morrison
#31 – Richard Brodeur
#30 – Sami Salo
#29 – André Boudrais
#28 – Kevin Bieksa
#27 – Don Lever
#26 – Bo Horvat
#25 – Brock Boeser

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