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Canucks: A look at Conor Garland’s current scoring slump
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Jan 28, 2026, 19:30 ESTUpdated: Jan 28, 2026, 19:39 EST
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The last time the Vancouver Canucks faced the Anaheim Ducks on November 26th in Southern California, Conor Garland took a pass from Brock Boeser midway through the second period, deftly stickhandled around defenceman Drew Helleson, and then deked netminder Petr Mrazek to the ice before slipping a backhand into the unguarded net. It gave the Canucks a 3-1 lead in a game they went on to win 5-4. The goal was a thing of beauty – a dazzling display of skill and artistry – and months later, it stands as one of the Canucks’ prettiest goals of the season.
Somehow, inexplicably, though it’s also the last time Conor Garland has scored on a National Hockey League goaltender. 
Yes, in 22 games and more than two months since that highlight-reel marker, Garland has scored only once. It was an empty net goal that sealed a 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers on December 14th at Madison Square Garden. 
At the moment, Garland finds himself mired in a 15-game goal drought. But more than that, the veteran winger has gone 11 games without a point of any kind. He last made a dent on an NHL scoresheet with a pair of assists in a December 27th game against the San Jose Sharks.
In a forgettable month of January for the team and for the 29-year-old Sciatute, MA native, the Canucks have been outscored 8-1 in all situations with Garland on the ice. At 5-on-5, that figure is 6-1 and his expected goals for percentage is just 39.9% – lowest among all forwards on the roster.
It’s hard to reconcile the startling lack of output with a player who has made a name for himself through hard work, hustle and a will to rise above. But even those qualities have been in short supply in recent weeks. 
This is the same player who drew rave reviews from fans and teammates alike for dropping the gloves and engaging in a spirited scrap with Seattle’s Jared McCann on December 29th. The Canucks scored seconds after the fight and went on to one of only two wins since Christmas. 
However, after being injured the following night in a home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, Garland missed two weeks of game action and simply hasn’t been himself since. He has played nine games since returning to the lineup on January 12th in Montreal and hasn’t found a way to make his presence known. Remarkably, in those nine games, Garland leads all Canucks forwards in 5-on-5 ice time and yet has managed only 11 shots on goal over that span. 
In that time, 12 other forwards have found their way onto the scoresheet, but not Garland. 
It really makes no sense.
Some have theorized that the trade of good friend and longtime teammate Quinn Hughes was a blow from which he has yet to recover. And it very well may be part of the problem. Certainly, the constant losing has to be eating at a competitor like Garland, too. And now there is clearly trade uncertainty for just about everyone on the 32nd-place team’s roster, and the management is signalling the rebuild is underway. Tack on a couple of injuries this season, and it has all amounted to very little in the way of production for a player that shared the team-lead in scoring among forwards last season with 50 points – the second highest total of his NHL career. It also earned him a six-year $36M contract extension that kicks in this summer.
Through the 42 games he’s played this season, Garland has seven goals and 22 points and sits ninth on the team in overall scoring. He’s lost his spot on the top unit power play, and in Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to San Jose, he saw just 11:31 of 5-on-5 ice time, lower than the likes of Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Drew O’Connor, Linus Karlsson, Teddy Blueger and Filip Chytil. He barely played more than Evander Kane, who sat out seven minutes in the penalty box.
Call it a slump, a funk or a run of poor performances, Conor Garland is a better player than he has shown of late. But he needs to find a way to reignite his competitive fire. He’s at his best when he’s buzzing in the offensive zone, shaking off checks and working his way to the front of the net.
Garland thought he had scored on a first period slap shot against Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon, but the goal was waved off after it was deemed Teddy Blueger had brushed Penguins netminder Stuart Skinner at the top of the blue paint. Garland needed that goal. Garland needs something good to go his way. But like the team he plays for, nothing is coming easy these days. 
So maybe the sight of an Anaheim jersey on the other side Thursday night at Rogers Arena is what Conor Garland needs to remind him of the goal he scored against the Ducks a couple of months back.
That was a confident player at the top of his game. He seems so far from that player right now.
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