Before the Vancouver Canucks open their first long road trip of the 2026-27 season, there’s a clear reminder of what the team looked like away from Rogers Arena a year ago: not great, and getting worse as the season wore on.
Vancouver is set to begin Game 1 of that trip on Thursday, and it will be the second-longest stretch of the season for the club. The Canucks will also go through a seven-game road trip in mid-January.
The numbers from 2025-26 tell the story. Vancouver went 16-22-3 on the road, which placed it 28th in the league, ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks, Seattle Kraken, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Calgary Flames.
The Canucks also finished tied with the Florida Panthers for 29th in road points with 35, with only Toronto and Calgary sitting behind them. Their road save percentage was 29th in the NHL at .8774%, with only the Panthers (.8624%), Ottawa Senators (.8632%), and San Jose Sharks (.8755%) posting lower marks.
Vancouver didn’t have the worst road goal differential in the league at -46, but it did allow the most goals away from home, giving up 156. Calgary’s -59 was the league’s worst road goal differential. On the other side of the puck, the Canucks scored 110 road goals, which ranked 27th.
One area that did give Vancouver a boost was the power play. After the 2026 Olympic Break, it caught fire on the road and finished at 24%. That was good enough to rank among the league’s better units away from home, with only seven teams finishing higher: the Boston Bruins (24.5%), Vegas Golden Knights (26.6%), New York Rangers (27.9%), Dallas Stars (28.1%), Minnesota Wild (28.2%), Montréal Canadiens (28.2%), and Edmonton Oilers (34.7%).
There were a few bright spots on an otherwise rough road ledger. Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk shared the team lead with 13 road goals apiece.
Boeser also tied Elias Pettersson for the team lead in road points, with both players finishing at 25. Filip Hronek paced the Canucks in road assists with 22 and logged 1015:55 of ice time away from home.
Now the focus shifts to the new trip, which begins October 8 against the Carolina Hurricanes at 4:00 pm PT. From there, Vancouver will face the New Jersey Devils on October 10, the New York Rangers on the 11th, New York Islanders on the 13th, Florida Panthers on the 15th, and Tampa Bay Lightning on the 17th.
In Other News...
Canucks Already Have An Aatu Rty Problem To Sort Out
Aatu Rty has barely gotten a foothold to start the 2026-27 season, sitting out the first two games as a healthy scratch and averaging just 9:43 of ice time when he has dressed. Before the Canucks headed out on their road trip, he was the extra forward at Tuesdays practice, which is not exactly the kind of usage that suggests a growing role. For a young player still trying to carve out a place in the lineup, it is already a delicate spot.
The bigger issue is what comes next, because the Canucks do not have many easy options if they decide he is not fitting cleanly into their system. Rtys path to a more secure role may involve a shift to wing, but even that comes with its own challenges, and the club cannot simply tuck him away in the AHL without risking losing him on waivers. For a team that would rather keep developing depth than giving it away, that makes his situation one to watch closely. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Loss Exposed The Early Problem Fans Were Worried About
Ottawas season opener had the kind of uneven start that can follow a team for a while, especially when the first period gets away from it early. The Senators fell 5-3 to the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena, and while there were positives on the scoresheet, the broader concern was familiar: Ottawa spent too much of the game on the back foot and had to chase after a rough opening stretch.
Tim Sttzle, William Eklund and Drake Batherson each chipped in with a goal and an assist, so the offense did show life. Samuel Ersson also settled in for his first start with Ottawa and made 31 saves, but the Senators were still dealing with early pressure and penalty trouble, the sort of issues that can quickly turn a tight game into one that feels like a scramble. [Read more 🡒]
Luke Schenn Knows What This Canucks Road Trip Could Really Build
On the eve of a long road trip, Luke Schenn was talking less about matchups and more about the small routines that can hold a team together when it leaves home. The veteran Canucks defenseman has spent years around different NHL rooms, and he said the culture around bonding has changed over time, but the purpose has stayed the same: team dinners, time away from the rink and a chance for players to connect and unwind.
For Vancouver, that matters now because the next stretch will keep the group away from home long enough for those habits to matter. Schenn framed the road as a place where a team can build something beyond the standings, and the Canucks are about to find out how much of that chemistry carries through a demanding trip through Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Florida and Tampa Bay. [Read more 🡒]