New Vancouver Canucks 2026-27 Season Predictions – Hockey Writers – Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks were one of the busiest teams early in the season. First, they added Brendan Gallagher from the Montreal Canadiens and traded Nils Hoglander to the Nashville Predators on June 29. Then, on July 1, they traded Marcus Pettersson to the New York Rangers for the first pick of 2030 and signed Paul Cotter, Luka Schenn and Jamie Oleksiak. Since then, no one else has been signed or acquired, leaving Gallagher, Cotter, Schenn and Oleksiak as the only newcomers so far to be part of a regular NHL roster.

So, as we continue into the dog days of summer where speculation and rumors about Elias Pettersson’s future dominate the headlines, let’s predict how the new Canucks will do in 2026-27.

Note: I am not including Trey Fix-Wolansky, Akil Thomas and Matthew Stienburg as they may not play full seasons with the Canucks.

Brendan Gallagher

The Gallagher trade was probably one of the worst kept secrets in the NHL. Everyone knew it would finally happen the minute he talked about how great it would be to join the Canucks during both his exit negotiations and his appearance on Donnie and Dahli on June 25. It took until June 29, but general managers Kent Hughes and Ryan Johnson found a way to grant his request, giving him the opportunity to close his hockey career in a place where he had great success as a teenager.

Gallagher spent his formative years at the Pacific Coliseum, playing for the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League. He became one of their biggest stars and scorers, surpassing the 40-goal mark three times, including a career high of 44 goals and 91 points in 2010-11. He also captained the team in his final junior season and finished his WHL career with 136 goals and 280 points.

Now, 14 years later, Gallagher’s career has come full circle. After a draw with the Canadiens back in 2013 against the Florida Panthers, where he recorded his first NHL point, he would go for 488 points in 912 games, just a few blocks from where he played as a junior. I don’t think anyone could have predicted that when he was drafted in the fifth round in 2010. He is now 89 games away from 1,000, a number not many young players have reached. Unfortunately, unless he re-signs next season, he won’t be donning a Canucks jersey – but that’s a discussion for another day.

For this season, Gallagher will take on the role of mentor and example of how to play the game the right way, from preparation to work ethic on and off the ice. While he isn’t a 30-goal scorer and a top-six forward in his prime, he still has all the hallmarks of a marauding player who can move up and down the lineup. He can play on both special teams and complements the skill and physicality, making him a candidate to join the likes of Pettersson or Marco Rossi in the top six and Aatu Raty or Cotter in the bottom six.

Because of that dynamic, it’s a little difficult to predict Gallagher’s numbers for the season. He could click with Pettersson or Rossi and return to his 25-goal form or, the most likely scenario, fit in with Raty or Cotter and form a physical marker line alongside Max Sasson or Drew O’Connor.

Prediction: 10-15 goals playing primarily in the third line with Raty and O’Connor. He will get some time with Pettersson and Rossi at some point, though.

Paul Cotter

Cotter was signed to a one-year contract, but of all the players the Canucks added on July 1, he may be the one who sticks around the longest. He is only 26 years old and is on a rebuilding timeline. He is also someone who could surprise this season and play a bigger role than most people think. Most projections have him on the fourth line behind Raty, which is now the right call considering how Raty has looked since the end of last season. Having said that, his pace, skill and physicality could force Pettersson or Rossi to the wing and Cotter into the middle of the first or second row.

Cotter is likely to start in the bottom six, especially since his defensive game has been questioned over the years. While the plus/minus is an imperfect number, he is a minus-53 career, a number that has gotten worse since he entered the league in 2021-22. If you look beyond that, his Corsi percentage doesn’t look very good, either, with only one season (2024-25) over 50.

The good thing is that Cotter has shown the ability to score, win faceoffs, and throw the body. And, thanks to the World Championship, he has a built-in chemistry with Sasson. Under Manny Malhotra’s guidance, he should improve defensively and could even contribute to this rebuild beyond 2026-27.

Prediction: 10-15 goals playing in the bottom-six, possibly as a fourth line center. He will also be a fixture on the penalty kill and take the pressure off Raty in the dot box.

Luke Schenn

Schenn returning to the Canucks for the third time is one of the biggest stories of the offseason. He revived his career first in Vancouver, won two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning, then had two coaching seasons alongside Quinn Hughes, and finally, bounced around the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, and Buffalo Sabers before signing with the Canucks on July 1. The last time he was in a record 232 points in the blue when he was 232 points in the blue. 55 games, his best offensive season since 2011-12 with the Maple Leafs. He also had 273 hits and 96 blocked shots.

Schenn was signed for two reasons: veteran leadership and culture. Like Gallagher, he will be a role model for young players to look up to when it comes to preparation, fitness and discipline. He’s been through it all, from rebuilding teams to Stanley Cup champions, and knows how to handle the pressure of being a top-five player in the draft. His 1,122 games of experience speak for themselves, along with 1,671 blocked shots and 3,807 hits. He will protect the young stars, hit everything that moves, while also killing penalties and making life easy for goaltenders Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen.

Prediction: It’s pretty clear what Schenn will provide in terms of stats and intangibles. He has done all his work for you. He’ll easily record over 100 hits and blocked shots, be among the top penalty-killing defensemen, and a sounding board for Zeev Buium, Tom Willander, Victor Mancini, and any other prospect who finds his way to Vancouver – not to mention all the character and presence he’ll bring to the locker room and to the bench.

Jamie Oleksiak

Another hard-nosed defenseman the Canucks signed on July 1 was 6-foot-7 Oleksiak. Much of what I said about Schenn can be said about him as well. His scorecard is hits and blocked shots, maybe even more than Schenn’s right now – at least in the blocked shots category. He’s hit triple digits in blocked shots for four straight seasons with the Seattle Kraken and has failed to do so in the blocked shots department once in his past nine, a staggering 74 in 82 games in 2024-25. He can also add a little offense, averaging five goals per season in his career, with a career high of nine in 2022-23.

Next to Schenn, Oleksiak will also help kill the penalty, maybe even joining together in the first unit, building a brick wall in front of Demko or Lankinen every night. Just putting those two on the PK will improve a unit that was the worst in the league last season. In fact, they flirted with history at one point, but ended up finishing 10th-worst all-time at 71.5 percent. Although Oleksiak is also part of a strong PK in Seattle, his skill and style suggest his presence will improve a unit that allows more power play goals in the NHL.

Prediction: Oleksiak, like Schenn, will be among the leaders in hits and blocked shots this season. Oleksiak will play more games and not be a healthy scratch, so he’ll lead the way with 150-plus blocked shots and 100-plus hits. He will also lead in short-ice time and average time on the ice shorthanded.

New Additions Will Help Build a Strong New Core Foundation

Every addition the Canucks have made so far has three things in common: leadership, character, and grit. Together, they delivered 3,087 games of experience and 6,993 big hits. Cotter is the youngest and most inexperienced of the group, but he still delivers the boom with 855 career hits, just 27 behind Gallagher’s tally of just 296 games.

No, this quartet won’t shut down the Canucks from rebuilding to contenders. That’s not what they were born for, though. What they will do is provide a solid foundation for the budding core to build upon. And that is the first step of any rebuilding.