The Canucks opened the 2026-27 season by scoring six goals and beating the Edmonton Oilers, and that kind of start raises an odd but fair question: how many games can Vancouver actually win and still stay on track for the kind of season many expect from a rebuild?
The short answer is more than most people probably think.
The Canucks were the NHL’s last-place team and lowest-scoring team in 2025-26, and they finished there by a wide margin. They managed only 58 points, 14 behind the next-worst team, and their 25-49-8 record was the franchise’s third-worst by winning percentage.
Still, even that season included 25 wins. That’s not nothing.
It’s a pace that works out to roughly one win every three games, and it’s a useful baseline for what this year might look like if Vancouver stays near the bottom.
That matters because the logic of a rebuild points toward high draft picks, and high draft picks usually come from teams buried in the standings. The Canucks don’t need to be perfect at losing to land where they want to land. They just need to stay in the bottom three, or close enough, to keep their lottery odds in the right range.
And the bar for that may be lower than it sounds.
Chicago finished second-to-last in 2025-26 with 72 points and a 29-39-14 record. That’s 14 more points than Vancouver and still a season that left them in the basement neighborhood.
Calgary and the Rangers were next, each finishing with 78 points and identical 34-39-9 records. Those clubs were only five games under .500, yet they still ended up in the bottom four.
The Rangers got the fifth overall pick and Alberts Smits, while the Flames got the sixth overall pick and Carson Carels.
That’s the cushion Vancouver appears to have built for itself. In a league where most teams spent the offseason trying to improve, the Canucks and Flames stand out as the clearest candidates to drift toward the bottom. That means Vancouver does not have to repeat last season’s misery to remain in range for a top-five selection.
A reasonable target, based on those standings, is about 30 wins. That would still put the Canucks at roughly a 36 percent win rate, or about one win every 2.8 games. It’s better than a win every three games, and it still fits comfortably within the kind of season that can leave a team in the bottom three.
That’s the real twist here: a win like the one over Edmonton does not have to be treated like a threat to the rebuild. It can just be a win.
Fans do not need to root for losses every night, and they certainly do not have to spend the season second-guessing every point Vancouver collects. There is room for a few good nights, even plenty of them, without blowing up the larger plan.
That’s especially true when the victories come with moments like Paul Cotter’s overtime winner in his Vancouver debut. Those are the nights that make a season feel alive, even if the standings keep pointing in the same direction. They matter to the team, too, because the Canucks are still working on buy-in to Manny Malhotra’s system while trying to turn a rough season into something that can eventually pay off.
So yes, Vancouver can afford to win. Quite a bit, actually.
Not enough to climb out of the basement, probably, but enough to keep the season from feeling like one long exercise in endurance. And if some of those wins come against the Oilers, all the better.
In Other News...
Canucks Home Opener Puts Their Oilers Game Plan To The Test
The Canucks return to Rogers Arena for their first home game of the season with the same opponent and, likely, the same look that worked the last time out. Vancouver is expected to stick with the lineup from its recent win, with Kevin Lankinen back in goal as the club tries to carry that road success into an early-season divisional test against Edmonton. It is the kind of matchup that can say a lot about where a team stands in October, especially when the other side is bringing a few changes of its own.
Edmonton will be without Zach Hyman and will turn to Devon Levi in net, giving this rematch a slightly different feel even before the puck drops. The game will air on Sportsnet Pacific, with Pierre Lambert and Michael Markovic scheduled to referee, but for Vancouver the bigger question is whether the same formula that worked once can hold up again in front of a home crowd now expecting a stronger start. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Fans Have A Fair Kevin Lankinen Scoring Debate
The season opener against Edmonton produced more than the usual early-year nerves for Vancouver, because one of the first goals on the Canucks board turned into a rules debate. Kevin Lankinen got a piece of the play when he deflected a shot that wound up on Paul Cotters goal, and Vancouver went looking for the goaltender to be credited for the setup. It was the kind of detail that only matters if you care about the fine print, but those are exactly the sorts of moments that can spark a useful conversation about how the NHL keeps score.
For skaters, assists can be awarded in a fairly straightforward chain of events, but goaltenders live under a different standard. In this case, the league did not agree with Vancouvers request, holding to the line that a goalie has to intend to pass the puck to receive an assist. It leaves the Canucks with an interesting edge-case to file away, and it also raises the broader question of whether the NHLs scoring rules ought to make a little more room for the way goaltenders actually help create offense. [Read more 🡒]
Former Canucks Defender Gets Another Chance After Rough Ending
Derek Forbort is getting another look in professional hockey after a difficult run with Vancouver, where the veteran defenceman spent parts of the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons working through injuries while still helping steady the penalty kill. The former Canucks blueliner has since moved on from that stretch and is trying to keep his career rolling after stops with several NHL teams since the Los Angeles Kings drafted him in 2010.
Now 34, Forbort is on a new path in the American Hockey League, where he will try to prove he still has something left to offer. For a player whose value has long come from defensive reliability and special-teams work, the next challenge is clear enough: show he can stay available and effective, then see whether the door back to the NHL opens again. [Read more 🡒]