Where Pierre-Olivier Joseph fits in on the Canucks' blueline, in the locker room, and in Vancouver's community.
When you look at the Vancouver Canucks’ D-core, there’s a key line between young up-and-comers and veterans. You’ve got your first or second-year players like Zeev Buium and Tom Willander, and then you’ve got your 500-plus game players in Filip Hronek and Marcus Pettersson.
Pierre-Olivier Joseph is the lone player who straddles the line. While he’s on the cusp of finishing his sixth-career NHL season, he’s also at a career total of under 250 games played. At the same time, he’s played on three different NHL teams. Looking at the company he keeps on Vancouver’s blueline, you may be hard-pressed to put him in one of the two rookie or veteran boxes.
But trust, with Joseph stapled right beside the row of young defenders’ stalls in the locker room, he’s gelled excellently as a mentor with a group he joined only at the start of this season.
“I try my best,” Joseph told The Hockey News with a chuckle after receiving a ringing endorsement from a passing Jake DeBrusk the morning after his return to Vancouver’s lineup. “They’re good guys. You want to learn from everyone, and they’re really fun to work with. We also gain a lot from working with them as well.”
The youth movement has been the biggest discussion topic through Canuck-land long before the team was eliminated from playoff contention earlier on in the week. Vancouver’s sights are now set towards the future — something that has become an open topic among players, fans, media, and virtually anyone who talks about the team. As someone who has gone through the stages that Buium, Willander, Elias Pettersson, and Victor Mancini are all experiencing now, Joseph knows that the early years help shape the best characters.
“I remember my first time in the league, and when I just got in with the other guys, joking around and stuff, but it’s fun to see them. They want to learn from everyone, they want to compete every day, and they have so much luggage to fill. It’s fun to see them, and brings me back a little bit at their age, and keeps us young, I guess, in some ways, but it’s fun. Everyone’s going in the right direction.”
Tuesday night’s 5–3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks was Joseph’s first game back in Vancouver’s lineup since March 2 against the Dallas Stars, as he’d missed the past few weeks due to an upper-body injury. Ever the team player, he shifted the focus first on the team’s dynamic when asked about his own experience returning to play.
“It’s nice to see the youth coming in and having fun and battling like that,” he mentioned. “We’ve been working a lot for the last couple of weeks, and to be able to jump in and try to help as much as I can was great.”
Off the ice, Joseph’s character is one that many can attest to. Back in January, the defenceman paid a visit to patients at BC Children’s Hospital, bringing along a pair of blank Nikes that he encouraged the kids to draw on, flexing their creative muscles while helping him give a pop of colour to the plain-white shoes. Since then, he’s worn the shoes on a couple of different game days, including the Canucks For Kids Fund Telethon night last week.
The inspiration behind the idea, Joseph admitted, was pretty simple. He had a pair of plain shoes that he’d wanted to add some designs to and, knowing the creativity blooming in many young kids’ minds, decided to bring them to the hospital to see what the kids would come up with.
“I know that painting and colouring is an activity to do [...] their imagination is so, so big, and whatever they wanted to put on it, I was more than welcome to do it, and it just ended up being a good project at the end of the day,” he explained. “It really just was a thought about not wanting my shoes white, and finding some connection with those kids, and seeing the smile on their faces was priceless, really.”
The idea may have been born out of a fleeting thought, but Joseph noted that he’d “definitely” like to do it again if circumstances worked out that way.
“It’s always fun to have something like that,” he said. “It’s definitely something that I’m thinking about.”
Joseph’s long-term future with the Canucks is, frankly, still up in the air. The defenceman will become a restricted-free agent after this season, with his current qualifying offer needing to come in at around $813,750 — nearly 110% of his salary this season. Vancouver will have lots of questions surrounding them come the 2026 free-agency period, much of which will determine Joseph’s fate with the Canucks. One thing is for certain; the teams he plays for in the coming seasons are sure to be getting a high-character player both on and off-the-ice.
Dec 30, 2025; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph (7) skates against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn ImagesMake sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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