The Vancouver Canucks have barely gotten their 2026-27 season off the ground, and Marco Rossi has already given them a reason to pay attention.
In two games against the Edmonton Oilers, the Canucks have been part of a track meet. Vancouver won 6-5 in overtime on Sept. 29 in Edmonton, then dropped a 9-7 decision in Vancouver on Oct.
- Between those two games, Rossi stood out as one of the Canucks’ most important early voices in the chaos.
He has opened the season with two goals and four points, and his best work came in that wild Oct. 1 loss. Rossi finished with a three-point night, scoring twice and adding the primary assist on Elias Pettersson’s power-play goal.
He logged 15:16 of ice time, put four shots on goal in 21 shifts, and did his damage in a burst that helped pull Vancouver back into the game. His two goals came in the first five minutes of the third period, turning what had been an 8-3 Oilers lead into an 8-6 game.
That kind of production matters for a team trying to find its way through a rebuild. Rossi is already tied with Paul Cotter, Filip Hronek, and Pettersson for the team lead in points with four. For a second-line center to be producing at that pace right out of the gate is exactly the sort of sign the Canucks need.
Last season gave a hint of what he can do when healthy. Rossi finished the 2024-25 campaign with 35 points in 50 games, including 22 points in 33 games with the Canucks.
He added 20 points over his final 25 games. Had he stayed healthy, the numbers suggest he might have landed somewhere between 55 and 60 points.
That’s why the start feels meaningful. The Canucks are counting on Rossi to keep building his all-around game, and they believe he has the tools to become an elite NHLer. His hands, vision, and power-play instincts are all part of the package, and those traits were a big reason Vancouver targeted him in the Quinn Hughes trade last season.
The bigger picture is just as clear. With 82 games still to play, Rossi’s start offers a little optimism for a team that is widely viewed as a bottom-five club.
Rebuilds don’t hand out excitement easily, but games like these can at least give a fanbase something to grab onto. Even in a season that could be defined by turbulence, scoring 13 goals in two games is enough to lift the mood.
There’s also the long view. Fans want the Canucks to build around Rossi, and the organization may need to treat him as a future No. 1 center.
He’s in the second season of a three-year deal, and once that contract ends after the 2027-28 season, he’ll be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. There’s time to sort out an extension, but if Vancouver sees him as one of the central pieces from the trade with the Minnesota Wild, the long-term commitment eventually has to happen.
The Canucks are coming off last season’s finish at the bottom of the NHL, and the memory of a deep playoff run not even three seasons ago still hangs over this rebuild. It’s going to take the whole group to get through it. If the first two games are any clue, this season may be a rollercoaster for both the team and its fans.
For now, though, Rossi has already answered one big question with his play: can he be the guy to build around in the present and the future? After a three-point night against the Oilers and a two-goal, four-point start, he’s given the Canucks a strong early case. The only thing left is to see whether he can keep it going over 84 games.
In Other News...
Canucks Got Pushed Around In A Home Opener Fans Wont Forget
The Canucks home opener turned into one of those early-season nights that can shake a building, with Edmonton leaving Rogers Arena with a 9-7 win in a game that had goals coming from every direction. Connor McDavid piled up a goal and four assists, Evan Bouchard kept making history with a record-setting start for a defenseman, and the kind of weird, wide-open script that follows a season opener became the main attraction almost from the opening stretch.
For Vancouver, the aftermath goes beyond a bad result. The game featured multiple first NHL goals and even required goaltending changes, a sign of how quickly things got away from the Canucks once the scoring turned into a track meet. In a matchup that already had enough drama to stick in memory, the bigger question now is how Vancouver sorts through the defensive chaos after letting Edmonton turn opening night into a showcase. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks May Have A Jake DeBrusk Decision Flames Fans Should Watch
Jake DeBrusks spot in the lineup suddenly looks a little less settled than it did not long ago. During Canucks practice, he was not skating on a regular line, a sign that Vancouver is still searching for the right mix as it tries to find more consistency around a player brought in to help push the offense forward.
DeBrusk said he has to clean up parts of his game, while head coach Manny Malhotra framed the line juggling as an effort to test new chemistry rather than a firm judgment on one player. Even so, the Canucks know they need to tighten up defensively, and with a couple of key games looming, DeBrusks role is one of the more interesting decisions still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Showed Exactly Why Flames Fans Still Cant Relax
Edmonton rolled into Vancouver short-handed at forward, yet still found plenty of ways to stress the Canucks in a wild 9-7 game that felt more like a track meet than a divisional test. Even without several key pieces, the Oilers kept coming with offense, turned special teams into a weapon and made it clear that the usual safety net around a high-scoring lineup is not one rivals can count on.
The most unsettling part for Vancouver was how many different ways the Oilers could hurt them once the pace opened up. The game featured two shorthanded goals and two power-play goals, and Evan Bouchard kept adding to an already eye-catching start while head coach Mike Babcock pointed to both the upside and the fixes still needed. For the Canucks, it was a reminder that even a compromised Edmonton roster can still turn a night into a problem. [Read more 🡒]