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What NHL Edge data reveals about where the Canucks fell short in the 2025-26 season
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Apr 20, 2026, 16:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 20, 2026, 16:13 EDT
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Any way you slice it, the 2025-26 Vancouver Canucks were a massive disappointment. With 25 wins and 58 points, the Canucks spiralled to a last-place finish in the overall National Hockey League standings. Things were tough to watch on the ice and the numbers back that up. Parsing the NHL Edge data, it’s clear to see obvious areas the Canucks need to address as they work their way through the club’s stated rebuild.

Canucks’ NHL Edge speed data

Perhaps the most glaring weakness of the hockey club is its lack of team speed. Max Sasson clocked the fastest speed burst by any Canuck this season at 38.13 kilometres per hour on April 1st in Colorado. It seems there was something to the thin air in the Mile High City as Sasson’s two fastest skating speeds of the season were at altitude in Ball Arena. His 38.13 km/h burst eclipsed Jake DeBrusk’s 37.87 km/h, which stood for much of the season. Rounding out the team’s top five were P-O Joseph and Drew O’Connor.
Those numbers by themselves require some context. And simply put, although he was the fastest Canuck this season, Sasson’s top speed didn’t really stack up to other team leaders around the NHL. In fact, the Canucks had the 18th-fastest individual speed leader among the league’s 32 teams. 
But the speed issue goes much deeper than just one player. In fact, at 18th, Sasson pushed league average with his highest gear. When measured as a team, the Canucks fell considerably short of the fastest clubs in the league. Edmonton led the NHL with 268 bursts of 35+ kilometres per hour. The Canucks were 18th with 68. Meanwhile, Colorado topped the list of team bursts between 32 and 35 km/h with 2468 – nearly a thousand more than the Canucks’ 1475 which placed them 27th in the league.

Canucks’ NHL Edge shot data

When it came to shots, no one on the team registered a harder blast this season than defenceman Elias Pettersson who fired a puck 157.99 km/h against Anaheim in late January. That bested Brock Boeser’s 155.14 km/h shot against Dallas in November. As a sign that the rest of the roster didn’t bring the heat very often, Kiefer Sherwood finished two of the five hardest shots by a Canuck – and he didn’t play for the team after January 10th.
The Edge data shows the Canucks finished 24th in the league in high danger shots on goal and 27th in mid-range shots. The remarkable part about that is that Jake DeBrusk led all NHL skaters with 121 high danger shots on his own this season. 

Canucks’ NHL Edge goalscoring data

In terms of goals scored, they ranked 22nd in high danger goals scored from the net front and inner slot, were 29th in mid-range goals and 31st from long range.
Overall, the Canucks finished 27th in offensive zone time and had the 29th best team shooting percentage. They were also 28th in the NHL when it came to shot attempt differential per game (-3.9).

Individual notes

Centre Elias Pettersson’s hardest shot of the season happened on October 23rd in Nashville (147.75 km/h). His top skating speed (36.49 km/h) was clocked in Winnipeg on March 7th.
Defenceman Zeev Buium likely needs to work on his shot as he develops. His hardest shot of 135.02 km/h fell below league average for top speed by individual players. The 20-year-old fared much better when it came to time spent in the offensive zone. Buium ranked in the 88th percentile spending 44.5% of his ice time in the offensive end of the ice.
Liam Ohgren’s fastest skating burst of the season was recorded while he was still with Minnesota. He got up to 36.44 km/h in a November game against Chicago. His fastest burst as a member of the Canucks came in one of his first games after being acquired. He got up to 35.84 km/h in a December 16th game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden
Marco Rossi’s two hardest shots of the season came in the same game on April 4th against Utah. His 136.44 km/h blast in the third period was eight kilometres an hour harder than the 128.67 km/h shot he registered on his first shift of the game.
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