Which Team Made More Starting Lineup Changes Through 20 Games: The 2025–26 Or 2026–27 Canucks?

The Vancouver Canucks’ line combinations have been a big talking point through the team’s first 20 games of the 2026–27 season. Given that the season is only a little more than a month old, it’s felt as though the Canucks have changed up their line combinations significantly more than what may have been the case in the past, especially considering the fact that Vancouver hasn’t been entirely swamped with injuries. 

The 2025–26 Canucks team, on the other hand, dealt with their fair share of injuries at the beginning of the season, also resulting in frequent changes to their line combinations. Which team made more through their first 20 games of the year? 

From their October 9 home-opener against the Calgary Flames to their 20th game of the season against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2025–26 Canucks’ starting lineups faced 57 changes. Granted, a significant number of these changes were made due to injuries or roster moves, including after the 4–3 win against the Washington Capitals that saw them lose all three of Filip Chytil, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and Teddy Blueger to injury. 

There was only one two-game stretch that saw this Canucks team not change their starting lineup whatsoever — ahead of their 5–4 overtime loss against the Colorado Avalanche on November 8, to their 5–3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on November 11. Vancouver’s forward lines and defensive pairings for these two games consisted of the following combinations: 

Kane – Pettersson – Garland 

Boeser – Reichel – Sherwood 

O’Connor – Räty – DeBrusk 

Bains – Sasson – Karlsson 

Hughes – Hronek 

M. Pettersson – Myers

E. Pettersson – Willander 

Of the 57 changes they made to their starting lineups through their first 20 games, 33 of these were to their forward lines. 10 of these changes were to Vancouver’s second line, which saw players ranging from Filip Chytil, to Max Sasson, to Evander Kane. Only two of their first 20 starting lineups saw Vancouver make changes to all four of their lines — with those coming after a 5–2 loss to the St. Louis Blues and a 5–1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  

Looking at the 2026–27 Canucks, the total amount of changes made to the team’s starting lineups through their first 20 games has been 66. That’s nine more than the injury-riddled 2025–26 roster that made substitutions in all but two games. The only two injuries this year’s Canucks have had to contend with are absences from Chytil and Tom Willander, as well as bouts of illness for Jake DeBrusk and Marco Rossi, though roster moves also resulted in Aatu Räty being dealt and Jacob Quillan coming in. 

While the 2026–27 Canucks have made more changes to their starting lineups than last year’s group, they have also had more games (3) that saw them make no changes to the units from the previous matchup. These three games were those that took place after Vancouver’s three wins this season — meaning they did not change their starting lineups on October 1 against the Edmonton Oilers, October 4 against the Vegas Golden Knights, and October 29 against the San Jose Sharks. 

46 of the 66 changes the 2026–27 Canucks made to their starting lineups were to their forward lines. Five different games (October 3 vs. the Flames, October 8 @ Carolina Hurricanes, October 25 vs. Minnesota Wild, October 27 @ Anaheim Ducks, November 7 @ Edmonton) saw Vancouver make changes to all four of their forward lines. The line that has undergone the highest number of changes has been Vancouver’s third-line, which has been shifted in 14 of the team’s 20 games thus far. 

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