How Injuries Have Forced The Canucks Into Limping To The 2024–25 Season Finish Line

It’s no secret that this season has been hard for the Vancouver Canucks as well as their fans. At this time last year, Vancouver had already clinched their playoff spot and were eyeing the Pacific Division title. 

Things are starkly different right now. The Canucks now have a sub-1% chance of making the postseason, are missing both of their top-six centres, and look set to clinch the 14th overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft. While there are a few reasons as to why this team could not repeat their successes from last season, a good part of it is also due to a heap of key injuries occurring at key times. With five games left in the season, let’s take a look at the team’s injury timeline throughout 2024–25. 

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Vancouver entered the season with question marks in net, as goaltender Thatcher Demko was still recovering from an injury sustained during the 2024 postseason. The team also started the season without Dakota Joshua, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in the offseason. Pius Suter missed the first match of the season due to an upper-body injury that kept him out day-to-day, though he made his season debut the game after. 

In his first game back after taking a personal leave in October, Derek Forbort sustained a knee injury against the San Jose Sharks that kept him out of the lineup until mid-December. Only two games after, Brock Boeser left the game after receiving a dirty hit from L.A. Kings forward Tanner Jeannot. Boeser missed seven games and returned on November 26 in a 2–0 win against the Boston Bruins. Filip Hronek was injured in the game after Boeser’s return, leaving due to an upper-body injury but undergoing a lower-body procedure in December. In the same month, the Canucks lost J.T. Miller due to a personal leave. November was not all about bad news, however, as Joshua made his return to the lineup on November 14 in a 5–2 loss to the New York Islanders. 

December started well for the Canucks, as Demko made his season debut on December 10 in a 4–3 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues. The game after, Forbort and Miller returned to the lineup, helping the team to a 4–0 win against the Florida Panthers. Only a day after, Forbort and Kevin Lankinen were held out of the lineup due to illness, though both players were back by December 19. For two games, the Canucks were only one player away from being fully healthy for the first time this season. Ultimately, this didn’t end up lasting long-term, as Elias Pettersson left the game after putting up two goals on December 23 against the Sharks. By the end of the holiday break, both he and Quinn Hughes were deemed unavailable. 

With the new year came new injuries. In the team’s first game of the calendar year, against the Seattle Kraken, Demko left the net and did not return until about a week after. The game after, Joshua suffered a leg injury that kept him out for the majority of the month. Hughes returned on January 6, though he kept his hand wrapped in a brace, indicating that he may not have completely recovered at the time. Things only got worse after, as Hughes was injured after Vancouver’s January 31 matchup against the Dallas Stars and sat out for almost an entire month. Pettersson rejoined the team on the same night as Demko, January 10, in a game that saw Vancouver lose 2–0 to the Carolina Hurricanes. After missing eight weeks, Hronek made his way back into the lineup on January 14 in a crushing 6–1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Vancouver also lost Kiefer Sherwood on January 23 against the Edmonton Oilers, but welcomed him back early into February. 

Vancouver’s first injury of February didn’t come until the 8th, when Demko left the game halfway through the first period after starting against the Toronto Maple Leafs. While the Canucks went on to win the game 2–1, Demko sat out for the remainder of the month and then some. Hughes and Demko were the two major players still on the IR by the time the 4 Nations Faceoff break ended. Though he sat out for the team’s back-to-back directly after the tournament, Hughes returned on February 26 against the Kings. 

March proved to be one of the most difficult months for the Canucks, as they had to deal with multiple injuries while still deep in the midst of a playoff push. After missing some playing time on March 1 against the Kraken, Hughes sat out for another four games. Tyler Myers missed the game on March 12 against the Calgary Flames due to being banged up, but returned by the weekend back-to-back. Elias Pettersson (D) ended up on the receiving side of a big hit during this game and did not return to finish the match. However, his absence was short-lived, as he got back into the lineup on March 18. On March 15, Filip Chytil took a dirty hit from former Canuck Jason Dickinson and has yet to play with the team since. Conor Garland missed one game, on March 18th, but joined the team on their six-game road trip. 

Just as the team was on the cusp of keeping their playoff hopes alive, sitting only one point out of the second wild card spot held by St. Louis, Vancouver took a massive hit to their offense. Both Pettersson and Nils Höglander left Vancouver’s 5–3 loss to the New York Rangers on March 22. They were later sent back to Vancouver despite the team having four more games to play on the road. Demko returned on March 24, starting in a 4–3 shootout win against the New Jersey Devils. 

With Pettersson and Höglander still out, though the latter had begun practicing with the team, Vancouver sustained yet another blow to their group. Myers missed the final 11 minutes of the team’s 5–0 loss to Seattle on April 2. He didn’t practice on Friday and did not dress for either of Vancouver’s weekend games against the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights. As well, a crash into the boards during practice on April 4 resulted in Nils Åman leaving the facility with his arm in a sling. The only bright spot in the team’s injury issues was the return of Höglander on April 6, when he scored the game’s opening goal. 

As it stands, Pettersson, Chytil, Åman, and Myers are still out of the lineup. Reports have circulated that Pettersson may not return for the rest of the season, while Myers is still listed as day-to-day. While it has not been explicitly stated, given his history with concussions and his current lingering symptoms, it would be best for the team to shut Chytil down for the season as well. Åman’s status is unknown, but given the fact that the Abbostford Canucks are gearing up for yet another postseason run, Vancouver may also want to give him time to prepare for that. 

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