Vancouver Canucks Gameday Preview #75: A Wild Reunion In Minnesota

For the first time since trading him in December, the Vancouver Canucks (22–44–8) will face their former captain, Quinn Hughes, and his new team in the Minnesota Wild (41–21–12). Hughes and the Wild are coming off a 6–3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday night, while the Canucks played the Colorado Avalanche the night before, accomplishing one of their most impressive efforts by winning 8–6. 

The Canucks struck early on Wednesday night, with Max Sasson finding the back of the net just 29 seconds into the game. While Vancouver did take a 3–2 lead into the second period last night, they did double their goal-total by the end of the frame. Continuing to not let their second periods get ahead of them will be key to a victory for Vancouver tonight. 

Where Vancouver may find themselves shoed-in tonight is the fact that they are facing a team that last played nearly a week ago. The Canucks, on the other hand, played last night in Colorado. Though they did ultimately pull off the win, Vancouver did look a bit tired during the third period of last night’s game. This could be a big factor in their performance later today. 

Another element of tonight’s game is the fact that if the Canucks lose, they’ll clinch 32nd overall in the NHL for the 2025–26 season. This will give them the best odds at selecting first-overall in the 2026 NHL Draft. This is especially ironic given that this result could potentially come against the player that they traded to signal the beginning of their rebuild. 

Zeev Buium

While most of the fanfare will be around Hughes facing his former team, three current members of the Canucks will also be reuniting with their old clubs, Buium being one of them. The former Wild defenceman is coming off a strong offensive game against the Avalanche on Wednesday, in which he exhibited strong control over his plays and managed to net an assist in his team’s winning effort. 

Quinn Hughes

As many Canucks fans are well-aware of, it’s not often — if ever — that Hughes ends up being a non-factor in any matchup he’s involved in. The defenceman has quickly seized hold of Minnesota’s top defenceman since joining the Wild, putting together four goals and 45 assists in 42 games. As of late, he has registered two multi-point games through his past four matches with Minnesota.  

Vancouver Canucks (22–44–8): 

Points: 

Elias Pettersson: 15–32–47

Brock Boeser: 21–22–43

Filip Hronek: 8–35–43

Jake DeBrusk: 17–19–36

Evander Kane: 13–18–31

Goaltenders: 

Kevin Lankinen: 9–26–5

Thatcher Demko: 8–10–1

Nikita Tolopilo: 5–7–2

Jiří Patera: 0–1–0

Minnesota Wild (41–21–12): 

Points: 

Kirill Kaprizov: 39–42–81

Matt Boldy: 38–38–76

Quinn Hughes: 6–66–72

Brock Faber: 15–35–50

Joel Eriksson Ek: 18–27–45

Goaltenders: 

Filip Gustavsson: 26–13–6

Jesper Wallstedt: 15–8–6 

Game Information: 

Start time: 5:00 pm PT 

Venue: Grand Casino Arena 

Television: Sportsnet

Radio: Sportsnet 650 

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