With the regular season beginning Tuesday in Edmonton, Vancouver’s new coaching and front-office direction is aimed at building a team that is harder to play against, not just one that racks up points.
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The Vancouver Canucks enter their rebuilt NHL direction with an explicit shift in what “winning” means, as the team prepares to open the regular season Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers at Edmonton’s arena.
After a season that ended with Vancouver finishing last in the NHL standings, the organization has emphasized that progress will be measured beyond the final scoreboard, particularly around how consistently the players execute and compete during games.
Rookie head coach Manny Malhotra said at training camp in Penticton, B.C., that the organization expects mistakes at this stage, but wants to see fewer of them and a clearer pattern of competitiveness.
“It goes without saying mistakes are going to be made on the ice, but it’s the frequency of those mistakes and how often you see those mistakes,” Malhotra said. “And then it comes down to the intangibles — the intensity at which you play your system, the tenacity on pucks, the ability to win puck battles, win races. When all those things come together and you become a team that’s hard to play against, for me, that’s winning.”
Defenceman Zeev Buium echoed the theme that effort and consistency remain non-negotiable, even in a season where the standings may not immediately reflect improvement.
Buium said players across the league are driven by competitiveness and do not accept “taking the night off,” even while acknowledging that some nights teams are simply outmatched. “Doesn’t matter what your expectations are going into a year,” he said. “Everyone’s competitive here. Everybody wants to win every game. And I definitely do agree that there is a way to lose. If you’re losing because you weren’t working hard and you were just kind of taking the night off, it’s not acceptable. But some nights you just get beat.”
The Canucks’ emphasis comes after a difficult stretch of results, including a run of early injuries that affected the roster and contributed to a slide in performance last season.
Vancouver ultimately finished the campaign with a 25-49-8 record, a record that helped prompt major changes across the club’s leadership, including adjustments to both hockey operations and coaching.
Front-office upheaval followed that final record: general manager Patrik Allvin was fired a day after Vancouver capped the season with a 6-1 loss to the Oilers, and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford stepped down weeks later.
The team’s ownership then brought in Daniel and Henrik Sedin as co-presidents of hockey operations. Ryan Johnson, formerly the general manager of the Canucks’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks, was elevated to GM of the NHL club.
Coaching leadership also changed during the transition. The Canucks fired Adam Foote after one season behind the bench and replaced him with Malhotra, another former Canuck who previously guided Abbotsford to a championship title in 2025.
Johnson’s offseason approach included bringing in veteran experience intended to help steer a developing roster. Among the additions were former Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher and journeyman defenceman Luke Schenn, who are expected to blend into the rebuild and support younger players.
At camp, players described the environment as energetic and focused on moving forward from the previous season, rather than dwelling on the losses that defined it.
Marco Rossi said he believes the group is hungry and ready to apply that mindset immediately. “I think we’re a really hungry group this year,” Rossi said. “Last year was last year. Now it’s over. It’s a new year. We are all really excited, we have a good energy in our group. Everyone’s positive, so we’re all excited.”
Goaltender Kevin Lankinen linked the team’s preparation to both intensity and fairness, describing an internal standard that is high even as the new coach pushes accountability.
Lankinen said the organization has centred on “positive vibes” while also setting expectations for how players perform on a nightly basis. “A lot of positive vibes, positive energy around the group, around the whole organization,” he said. “I feel like the standard is pretty high. Manny is super intense, but at the same time, he’s really fair.”
While the Canucks are preparing for that style of play, the practical questions of availability and lineup form remain front and centre as the season gets underway.
Vancouver is expected to begin the year without star goalie Thatcher Demko, who was limited to 20 appearances last season and underwent season-ending hip surgery in late January. The 30-year-old American netminder went 8-10-1 with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage.
Demko was at training camp but did not participate with the main groups, and Johnson has said the team does not have a timeline for his return, leaving Vancouver to manage goaltending uncertainty early in the season.
The Canucks also carry optimism around another high-profile decision: Buium’s progression and his long-term extension.
Buium, 20, has not played a full NHL season yet but signed an eight-year, US$75-million contract extension with Vancouver this summer, reflecting the organization’s belief in his development.
Buium recorded six goals and 26 points between the Canucks and Wild last season and said the deal adds motivation to improve his day-to-day game as the rebuild moves forward.
“It’s obviously going to be a process — there’s going to be highs, there’s going to be lows, and just try to stay as consistent as possible,” Buium said. “For me personally, I just want to do the best I can, and help bring this place to where we want to go.”
For the Canucks, the offseason rebuild now hinges on whether that “hard to play against” identity translates into consistent in-game decisions—especially as the team balances development opportunities with the expectation that familiar stars return to form.
Even with fewer standings expectations than in recent years, the team will be watching whether scoring production holds, particularly from players who contributed last season such as Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk.
Pettersson had 15 goals and 51 points last season, Boeser finished with 22 goals and 48 points, and DeBrusk recorded 23 goals and 42 points, and their ability to contribute remains central to any attempt to surprise in the standings.
Pettersson said that with the coaching and standards being built, Vancouver’s group can build on its foundation and see what the season brings. “I think with the good coaching we have now and the standards we’re trying to build, I think we just build on that, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.
With the opener set for Tuesday in Edmonton, the Canucks’ rebuild will be tested quickly—not only by how they perform, but by how consistently they play with the intensity and tenacity Malhotra described as the core of winning in this new phase.
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