Drew O’Connor’s season has been defined by the kind of start nobody wants to wear for long. Through 17 games, the Vancouver Canucks forward has only five points, and his minus-11 is tied to a rough stretch that has put him sixth-worst in the league in that category.
The numbers are one thing. The way it’s looked on the ice has been another.
O’Connor hasn’t just been quiet offensively - he’s had trouble creating chances in the attacking zone, and the results have gone the wrong way around him. He’s been on the ice for 21 goals against and only five for, a tough split for a player who was coming off a career year with 17 goals last season.
O’Connor didn’t sugarcoat where things stand when he spoke with The Hockey News.
"Probably inconsistent," said O'Connor. "I feel like I haven't done enough of the things that make me a good player consistently enough.
There's been a lot of games where the game's over and I feel like I didn't really have a lot of looks, a lot of chances, didn't win enough battles. So when I'm doing those things and defending well, then everything else comes."
He said the fix starts with handling mistakes better and not letting one bad shift spill into the next.
"I think to get back to being a consistent player, it's letting go of a mistake and not letting mistakes compile. You know, make one mistake and can't let that derail the next shift, that period, because then it snowballs into a game. So, I think for me, just trying to look past if something bad happens when I'm on the ice, get past it, get back to forechecking, get back to winning battles, doing all those little things, and then you kind of feel good about your overall game."
There’s also the reality of where O’Connor sits in the bigger picture. He’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, and his name has already shown up on early-season trade lists. He knows the chatter is there, but he’s trying to keep it at arm’s length.
"I think you try to block it out as much as you can. I think I can try to do a better job of blocking it out more than I have maybe.
But it's a reality that it's always a possibility. I mean, I have to focus on where I am and being a good teammate, getting better as a player every day, and trying to help this team win games."
Even with the slow start, there’s still time for him to change the story. O’Connor remains one of the league’s fastest players, and he’s averaging a career-high 15:52 of ice time per night. If he can get back to the details that drive his game - the forecheck, the battles, the defending - the offense should have a chance to follow.
In Other News...
Canucks Keep Spiraling But One Young Forward Is Giving Fans Hope
The Canucks season has already hit an ugly early checkpoint, with a 3-14-1 start that has left the club chasing answers after setting a franchise record for losses through its first 18 games. A recent 6-2 defeat to the Winnipeg Jets only reinforced the familiar problems, from penalty-kill issues to defensive breakdowns, and there has been little about the teams overall form to suggest an immediate fix is around the corner.
Liam Ohgren has been one of the few bright spots tucked inside that mess. After spending time as a healthy scratch earlier in the season, the young forward has started to find his footing and has given the Canucks something to point to beyond the standings, with his recent run offering a small but meaningful sign that not every part of the roster is stuck in the same spiral. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Paying For Drew OConnor Problem As Malhotra Loses Patience
Drew OConnors start to the season has become a problem the Canucks cant keep ignoring. Through 18 games, the winger has piled up more minor penalties than anyone else on the roster, and the timing has only made the damage worse for a team already trying to steady its penalty kill. His season has also fallen well short of what Vancouver has come to expect from him, turning a useful depth piece into a nightly source of frustration.
Manny Malhotras patience appeared to wear thin after OConnor took an early hooking penalty in a recent game, a mistake that fed directly into goals against. For a club that needs cleaner shifts and fewer self-inflicted wounds, those kinds of lapses have a way of standing out fast. The Canucks are still waiting for OConnor to settle in, but the longer this pattern continues, the harder it gets to separate his individual struggles from the teams bigger special-teams issues. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Face A Roster Decision That Could Shape Their Deadline
The Canucks are weighing a familiar deadline dilemma with Drew OConnor, a veteran winger on an expiring contract who could help them reshape the roster if they decide to move him. Vancouvers interest in getting younger, NHL-ready talent is part of the equation, but OConnors value also comes from being the kind of depth piece playoff teams tend to chase when they want another scoring option for the stretch run.
His slow start has only added to the uncertainty, even as the organization considers whether keeping him around might still make sense for the experience and possible longer-term value he brings. For now, the sense is that Vancouver does not need to rush, and a decision could wait until closer to the trade deadline, when the market and the Canucks own priorities may look a lot different. [Read more 🡒]