Reasons for Canucks Fans to Be Optimistic in 2026-27

It’s going to be a long season for the Vancouver Canucks. After finishing with the worst record in the NHL in 2025-26, the team hasn’t made any major win-now moves. This makes sense, as it’s fair to say that the core as it stands is not just a piece or two away from competing for Lord Stanley. This is especially true following the departure of Quinn Hughes, as he was the driving force for the team’s few successes while he was a Canuck.

Still, looking at the situation both in the long and short term, there are plenty of reasons that the fanbase can and should be optimistic moving forward.

Committing to the Rebuild

If there’s one thing to be happy about in 2026-27, it’s that the Canucks finally seem to have a direction. In the past, they have refused to fully commit to a rebuild, which pushed team legend Trevor Linden away from his role as president of hockey operations. Now, it’s the only option, and the front office led by Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Ryan Johnson seems to recognize this.

A rebuild will mean that this upcoming season and likely the next will see the team not winning many games, perhaps even fewer than last season. Unfortunately, this is often the way to win in the NHL, as contending teams such as the Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, and Colorado Avalanche got to the position they are in due to acquiring blue-chip pieces with lottery picks. 

If the Canucks get a high draft pick next season, which is very likely, there could be plenty of potential foundational pieces available. 

A New Head Coach

For the most part, a new coach often signals a positive push in the right direction. Manny Malhotra, in a lot of ways, feels cut from a similar cloth to some of the recent successful head coach hires. He combines having a career defined by game-savviness like Martin St. Louis and Rod Brind’Amour, while also having previous success in the American Hockey League (AHL) like Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery, and Colorado’s Jared Bednar and Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper before that. 

Another aspect that will be really important to see with Malhotra is the culture shift. Forward Max Sasson discussed what the winning locker room in Abbotsford felt like and how that contrasted with the big league club. He said that in Abbotsford “you want to go in there with a smile and a comfortability of being able to be yourself, and having people around you that want you to succeed, and you want them to succeed.” Sasson noted that near the end of last season in Vancouver, he started to feel that vibe with the team, which hopefully Malhotra can help continue to encourage positivity and togetherness.

Potential on the Blue Line

While this Canucks roster is a bit dire, the blue line has a chance to be far from the worst in the league. It’s a solid mix of young talent and experienced veterans that, if it clicks, could become tough to play against.

The top pair is likely to be Zeev Buium and Filip Hronek. Buium is likely to be the breakout star for the Canucks in 2026-27, if they have one. He has an excellent offensive toolkit and should be able to put up more points with an increased role on the power play and top pairing. Hronek is solid and dependable, as while he isn’t necessarily an analytics darling, he’s capable of playing the team’s toughest minutes and chipping in points occasionally.

Perhaps the most intriguing defencemen are the two Swedes, Tom Willander and Elias Pettersson. Neither necessarily projects as a long-term top-pairing guy, but Willander has solid offensive skills and Pettersson projects to be a reliable and physical player in his own zone.

Capping off the main defence corps are the newly signed combination of Luke Schenn and Jamie Oleksiak. Schenn has had two stints with the Canucks previously, and he provides grit and intangibles to a young team looking for leadership. Oleksiak also has plenty of experience and brings impressive size to the blue line similar to Tyler Myers previously.

Young Forward Breakouts Candidates

Everyone knows the bigger names associated with the Canucks attack: Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Jake DeBrusk, as well as some of their top forward prospects like Caleb Malhotra and Braeden Cootes. There are plenty of other pieces with potential on the team, though, that go overlooked, and they will be key to turning the ship around.

Jonathan Lekkerimaki has dealt with a lot of health issues, but he should be good to go for training camp, and if he can stay on the ice, he can be lethal. Liam Ohgren is a solid-body winger who came from Minnesota in the Hughes trade and could be one of the team’s better middle six scorers for years to come. Lost in the shuffle is Marco Rossi, who was also acquired in the Hughes trade. Rossi has shown flashes of being a high-ceiling scorer in the NHL, with a 24-goal, 60-point season under his belt. He’s also only 24, despite it having seemed like he’s been in the league for a lot longer.

It will also be interesting to see how Aatu Raty performs in his first NHL season under Malhotra. Raty was nearly a point-per-game player under Malhotra in his final season in Abbotsford, and had 52 points in 72 games the season prior. Raty was once viewed as a potential first-overall pick in the 2021 Draft before falling to the second round, and if anybody can bring some of that potential out, it’s Malhotra.

Moving Forward

Making the playoffs seems like an absolute pipe dream for this team, as few squads have ever seemed like more of a long shot to play deep into the spring than these Canucks. Still, the team has locked in on a direction, and we will slowly be seeing a bunch of young talent growing into NHL-caliber players. 

It’s not the best time to be a Canucks fan, but it may not be a bad time necessarily either.