Welcome back to another Vancouver Canucks 2025–26 season series preview. In this article series, The Hockey News - Canucks site previews Vancouver’s team series matchups for the season in chronological order. Last time, we looked at what the Canucks will face in the Carolina Hurricanes. Today, let’s preview their season matchups against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
2024–25 Season Stats
Team Stats:
Record: 47–27–8
Points: 102
Standings placement: 2nd in Atlantic Division
PP%: 25.9% (5th)
PK%: 81.6% (6th)
Goals:
Brayden Point (42)
Jake Guentzel (41)
Nikita Kucherov (37)
Brandon Hagel (35)
Anthony Cirelli (27)
Assists:
Nikita Kucherov (84)
Brandon Hagel (55)
Victor Hedman (51)
Brayden Point (40) Jake Guentzel (39)
Points:
Nikita Kucherov (121)
Brandon Hagel (90)
Brayden Point (82)
Jake Guentzel (80)
Victor Hedman (66)
Goaltenders:
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Record: 38–20–5
GAA: 2.18
SV%: .921
SO: 6
Points: 2A
Jonas Johansson
Record: 9–6–3
GAA: 3.13
SV%: .895
SO: 1
Points: N/A
Brandon Halverson
Record: 0–1–0
GAA: 5.18
SV%: .792
SO: N/A
Points: N/A
2025 Free Agency Rundown
The bulk of Tampa Bay’s 2025 free agency moves have been to replace depth departures. They had 12 players become unrestricted free agents on July 1, with only Gage Goncalves re-signing with the team. In terms of who they brought in, the Lightning signed players such as former 2019 first-round pick Jakob Pelletier (three years), Boris Katchouk, and Pontus Holmberg. One of the more noticeable moves they made was moving on from prospect Isaac Howard, trading him to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Sam O’Reilly.
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2025–26 Season Series Preview
Despite suffering another first-round exit at the hands of their inter-state rivals, the Florida Panthers, many Tampa Bay players had successful individual seasons. Kucherov had another Hart Memorial Trophy-worthy season with 37 goals and 84 assists in 78 games. Hagel had yet another breakout year, scoring 35 goals and 55 assists in 82 games to come second on the Lightning in points. Point had his fourth career season, and third consecutive season with more than 40 goals, finishing the year with 42 goals and 40 assists in 77 games. Because of this, it made sense for the team to focus on adding depth to their roster in free agency. With many of these players still in the primes of their careers, it’s likely that the Lightning will have yet another great season — something they’ll need to do to keep up with their in-state rivals.
Vancouver will face Tampa Bay in the first game of a back-to-back against both Florida teams on November 16. This road trip, which will also feature a match against the Hurricanes the game before, will be a difficult one for the Canucks. November is an important time of year for many teams, as this is when most playoff teams will begin to create space between themselves and the non-playoff teams within the standings. This matchup will make this task tough for Vancouver, though it’s not completely impossible.
2025–26 Games Against Vancouver
Game 1: November 16, 2:00 pm PT @ Amalie Arena
Game 2: March 19, 7:00 pm PT @ Rogers Arena
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