New Canuck Curtis Douglas speaks on new opportunities in Vancouver.
Curtis Douglas had just left Winnipeg for Toronto when he got the news that he’d, in fact, be heading right back to Manitoba to join his new team in the Vancouver Canucks.
The day before the trade deadline, Douglas and his former team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, had faced the Jets in a 4–1 loss. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres were the next teams on their dockett.
The day of the deadline, with Douglas on waivers, Vancouver made a claim and suddenly had a brand-new player on their roster.
Back to Winnipeg it was for the 26-year-old forward.
While Douglas didn’t play during the Canucks’ Saturday matchup against the Jets, he still made the trip back to join his new team before coming back to Vancouver with them. The travel situation may have been a little ironic, but Douglas insisted that it was still fun. Hailing from Oakville, Ontario, the quick switch in teams just meant he got more time to spend with family in Toronto.
“I got to spend the day with my family a little bit in Toronto, so that was cool, and hadn’t seen them in a while, so I got to catch up, and then get the call that I was coming [to Vancouver],” he explained in a media availability on Monday. “From then on, it was kind of a blur, just kind of trying to get myself mentally ready and ready to play and help the group as much as I can.”
Relatives in Toronto aren’t the only family that Douglas will have the opportunity to see now that he’s in Vancouver. The forward spoke on how, while he didn’t initially know anyone on the Canucks, he’s got family and friends both currently in Vancouver — and how that has made his new journey feel all-the-more fitting.
“I’m from Ontario, so I have a bunch of family here. So the first thing I kind of thought was getting to see them, and getting to see my uncles and some close friends that I have in Vancouver as well. It was really exciting. I think it could be a perfect fit for me. And I think the opportunity just popped into my head, and it was pretty cool. I just felt really grateful and felt really special.”
Douglas joins the Canucks at a point in time when the youth movement is preparing to take the reins. With veteran players like Tyler Myers and Conor Garland flipped at the deadline, it’ll be up to the team’s young core to control the fate of the franchise moving forward. Players like Zeev Buium, Tom Willander, and even Max Sasson and Linus Karlsson will be key culture definers. In some ways, with Douglas only in his first NHL season himself, coming to Vancouver provides the forward with a prime opportunity to showcase himself in a variety of different ways.
“I think I’m really excited to be able to go out there and show that I can actually play and that I can do more than just go out there and be mean, and add some other aspects to my game,” he added. “I’m just gonna get out there and play simple and let the game come to me and just work as hard as I can and be a good teammate.”
Oct 17, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning center Curtis Douglas (42) looks on during the second period against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bradshaw Sevald-Imagn ImagesWhile Douglas cemented himself as a hard player to play against early-on in the season, in Vancouver, both he and the Canucks’ coaching staff are open to exploring how different sides of his game could develop.
“I think we’re kind of playing it day by day, but, I mean, it’s pretty quick here, so I’m kind of just trying to get comfortable and ready to play. And I think it’s pretty simple for me. It’s getting on the forecheck and making sure that if guys on the other team want to go back and get the puck, they’re going to pay a price. And just bringing that, that toughness and some passion. And hopefully the fans will like that too.”
“He is a bigger body. He can move pretty good for his size. Sometimes it takes guys [who are] that tall, takes them longer for the core to develop. But for a big guy, he moves around the ice pretty good,” Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote said of what Douglas adds to the team’s lineup. “He’s an honest guy, [...] he runs a hard fore check, finishes checks, plays the right way. We want to get bigger too. We want to get faster, want to get bigger. And he’s one guy, and I know a lot of teams went after him, and he’s got, obviously, some development, right? He’s young, but he’s a nice piece for us to see what he can do here.”
Douglas will be open to finding a new place in the lineup and seeing what he can accomplish alongside this young Canucks team. But at the end of the day, when it comes to what excites him most about the new opportunity, the forward is sticking to his roots.
“I know it’s a younger skilled group, and I think it’ll be fun to kind of get in there, mix it up a little bit, and be there for the younger guys and not let other teams push us around at all.”
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