The 2026-27 season will bring a steady stream of familiar faces back through Rogers Arena, with nine former Canucks scheduled to make their first return to Vancouver after moving on from the organization. The visits are spread across the calendar, starting in October and running all the way to mid-January.
Quinn Hughes will be the first one back on October 25, when the Minnesota Wild come to town. Hughes, who was drafted by Vancouver in 2018 and served two seasons as the Canucks’ captain, has not been back to Rogers Arena since the team traded him in December of 2025.
His final game in Vancouver was a 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The Wild will also be back in Vancouver on November 21 for a Saturday night game.
Teddy Blueger’s return comes just six days later, on October 31, when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit for a 4:00 pm Saturday matchup. Blueger signed a two-year deal with Toronto in free agency after spending three seasons with the Canucks, and he had become one of the more important voices in Vancouver’s room late in the 2025-26 season. This will be his only trip back to Vancouver during the season, though the Canucks will see the Maple Leafs again on March 13 in Toronto.
Danila Klimovich could also be on the way back to Vancouver on November 9, depending on whether he makes the Flyers’ NHL roster. Klimovich never appeared in an NHL game for the Canucks, but he was their second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and tied the Abbotsford Canucks’ franchise record in career goals scored by the end of the 2025-26 season. After not receiving a qualifying offer from Vancouver, he signed a one-year deal with Philadelphia.
November keeps rolling with another reunion on the 13th, when Marcus Pettersson and the New York Rangers come to Rogers Arena. Pettersson spent just one season with Vancouver before being traded to the Rangers in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2030 NHL Entry Draft.
In 2025-26, he averaged 21:27 per game and was one of only three Canucks to play all 82 games. J.T.
Miller will be in that same Rangers group for the visit.
December is packed with former Canucks. Tyler Myers returns first on December 5 with the Dallas Stars, who will make their lone trip to Vancouver. Myers spent nearly seven seasons with the Canucks before being dealt to Dallas in March, and he left as the fourth longest-tenured player in team history at the time of the trade, with 488 games in Vancouver.
Nils Höglander follows on December 10 with the Nashville Predators. Vancouver moved him to Nashville ahead of the 2026 free agency period after he spent the first six seasons of his NHL career with the Canucks. Höglander, drafted by Vancouver in the second round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, will also return to Rogers Arena on March 17.
Kiefer Sherwood is next, with the San Jose Sharks visiting on December 19. Sherwood was traded during the 2025-26 season and missed what would have been his first game back in Vancouver because of injury.
His first chance to skate at Rogers Arena as a visitor will now come in the 2026-27 season. He became a quick fan favorite over his two seasons with the Canucks thanks to his hard-nosed, physical style.
Curtis Douglas gets his first regular-season return on December 30 when the Seattle Kraken come to town. Douglas appeared in 14 games for Vancouver in his first NHL season and earned praise from fans for his energy and willingness to fight for teammates. The Kraken will also be in Vancouver on September 26 at the end of the preseason, but their first regular-season stop won’t arrive until the end of December.
The last of the group is Conor Garland, who returns on January 16 with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Canucks traded Garland to Columbus ahead of the 2026 Trade Deadline after first acquiring him in 2021. He spent nearly five seasons with Vancouver across his NHL career, and this will be his only trip back to Rogers Arena in 2026-27.
In Other News...
Canucks No 16 Prospect Could Be More Than Just Pipeline Filler
The Canucks have spent enough time building around their top-end talent that the real test of the pipeline is finding players who can eventually fill useful NHL roles without needing everything to break right. One of the more interesting names in that mix is a 19-year-old right winger taken in the fifth round of the 2026 NHL Draft, a player who already has the kind of skating engine and shot that can make scouts pause even before the development curve really starts to bend.
After a productive season in the USHL, he is headed to the University of North Dakota, where the next step will be turning those tools into a more complete offensive package. The appeal for Vancouver is pretty straightforward: if the progress keeps coming, he looks like the sort of prospect who could grow into a middle-six contributor rather than just another body in the system, but the path there still runs through college hockey and plenty of refinement. [Read more 🡒]
Four Canucks Are Changing Numbers Ahead Of A Fresh Start
A fresh slate is coming for four Canucks next season, with Vancouver announcing a round of jersey-number changes for 2026-27. Defenceman Zeev Buium will move from 24 to 8, centre Marco Rossi from 93 to 23, winger Jonathan Lekkerimki from 23 to 88 and forward Filip Chytil from 72 to 77, a small but notable reset that reflects how the roster has shifted around them.
For players, numbers can carry a little more meaning than they do on the back of a replica sweater, and these swaps come after trades and previous assignments in the room left some options unavailable. Buium, Rossi, Lekkerimki and Chytil all land on new digits as Vancouver settles into a new look, and it is another reminder that even the smallest details can signal a team trying to make everyone feel at home. [Read more 🡒]
Quinn Hughes Returns To Vancouver With Canucks Fans Deeply Divided
Quinn Hughes first trip back to Vancouver as a visitor is already circled on the Canucks 2026-27 schedule, with the Minnesota Wild set to come through town on Oct. 25. For a player who wore the captains letter, set franchise marks for assists and points by a defenceman, and became the first Vancouver blueliner to win the Norris Trophy, the date carries obvious weight even before the puck drops.
Hughes departure on Dec. 12, 2025, still hangs over the organization because it was never just about one trade. His time in Vancouver ended amid frustration with the direction of the team and a messy backdrop that included locker-room tension and talk of cliques, which makes his return feel less like a routine reunion and more like a test of how far the Canucks and their fans have moved on. [Read more 🡒]