Now that the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline has passed, it’s time for all teams to put their focus on the postseason — whether that means playoffs or draft picks. After last season’s March 8 trade deadline, the Vancouver Canucks sat atop the entire Western Conference with 89 points in 65 games played. This season, they are currently fighting their way past the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, and Utah Hockey Club for the second wild card spot in the conference. Let’s take a look at how the two teams differ up to this point.
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By the trade deadline last season, the Canucks had an impressive 41 wins on the season, coming second in the NHL only to the Florida Panthers (43). Their 17 regulation losses were tied for second-least in the NHL, with the Boston Bruins only having 13. As a team, the Canucks put together a goals-for of 229, good for third in the league behind the Colorado Avalanche (239) and the Dallas Stars (235), as per Natural Stat Trick. Their goals-for percentage of 56.54% was also third in the NHL, this time behind the Panthers and the Winnipeg Jets. In xGF, the 2023–24 Canucks put up 205.41, which put them at 11th in the league. Vancouver also had a league-high PDO of 1.032.
Defensively speaking, Vancouver let in a ninth-lowest goals against of 176. Their expected goals against was closer to the middle of the league, as they had the 14th-lowest xGA with 190.27. They surrendered 1908 shots-against, which was the 15th-highest amount in the NHL. However, their team SV% of .908% put them at sixth in the league — something that soon changed given the fact that Thatcher Demko was sidelined with an injury only a couple of days after.
Coming off a 3–1 victory over the Minnesota Wild, the 2024–25 Canucks have 29 wins this season and are holding on to the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. This record ties them for 14th in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, as both of them have 69 points in 62 games. Surprisingly, Vancouver’s 22 regulation losses on the season ties them with the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes for the ninth-lowest in the league. As it stands, Vancouver leads the league in overtime losses with 11, though the Calgary Flames, Utah Hockey Club, and Pittsburgh Penguins are not far behind with 10.
Scoring woes have been an issue for the Canucks as a whole this season. Their 170 goals-for puts them at 26th in the NHL, higher than only the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks, and the Flames. Their GF% (47.75%) is a little better, but is still in the bottom-half of the league at 21st. Their most incriminating stat, however, is their 164.47 xGF — lower only than the Chicago Blackhawks’. It’s a jarring comparison to last year’s top-of-the-league offensive statistics. It appears the Canucks’ luck has run out, as their PDO has sunk back to a middling rate of 0.997.
In terms of goals against, Vancouver sits at 18th lowest with 186 — 10 more than the amount they let in the season before at this point in the season. On the other hand, their xGA of 175.89 is the sixth-lowest in the NHL right now, and 14.38 less than what last season’s team posted. They are top-five in the lowest number of shots-against with 1679, beaten only by the Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, Hurricanes, and Kings. When looking at their team SV% (.889%), which is 22nd in the NHL, their lower standings placement despite higher defensive stats makes more sense.
On an individual level, the 2023–24 Canucks were producing 5-on-5 offense at a much higher rate than this year’s roster. Filip Hronek led the team in goals-for with 77, and was followed by Quinn Hughes (76), Elias Pettersson (56), J.T. Miller (52), and Brock Boeser (51). The team-high in GF% was put up by Pius Suter (67.35%), then Dakota Joshua (64.44%), Conor Garland (63.08%), Boeser (62.96%), and Miller (62.65%). Nine players had a GF% of 60% and above, while only two players who played 300 minutes or more had sub-50% goals-for percentages. Defenders took over the Canucks’ top three in xGF — Hughes (56.58), Hronek (56.1), and Ian Cole (42.51).
To absolutely no one’s surprise, the current team leader in 5-on-5 goals-for is Hughes (53), who is followed by Tyler Myers (39), Hronek (33), Jake DeBrusk (32), and Pius Suter (32). Of players who have played at least 60 minutes on 5-on-5 for the team, the shocking leader in GF% is Max Sasson, with 61.54% in 24 games played. Linus Karlsson (60%), Hughes (57.61%), Nils Höglander (55.32%), and Kiefer Sherwood (53.45%) round out the top five. Much like last season, three defensemen crack the top-five in xGF on 5-on-5: Hughes (45.2), Myers (37.47), and Hronek (32.24).
“We need to build off these couple wins. The fans have been great. We need to have a good day tomorrow and understand who we got on Sunday.”
🗣 Brock Boeser speaks on what the past couple days were like for him, focusing on the playoff push, and more.#Canucks | @theprovince pic.twitter.com/NTFRgDy3zJ
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 8, 2025
The trade deadline went the same way for these two versions of the same team, despite one being significantly more qualified than the other. Vancouver traded for Elias Lindholm on January 31, 2024. On January 31, 2025, they traded J.T. Miller and acquired Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, Marcus Pettersson, and Drew O’Connor. Neither team made any trades on the deadline day, though the 2024–25 team sent Carson Soucy to the New York Rangers for a third-round pick. Clearly, the Canucks are in a worse spot this season than they were last season. Whether they can make the playoffs or not is dependent on this final stretch of 20 games.
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