11 takeaways from the Canucks’ 2026-27 schedule

We learned on Wednesday that the Vancouver Canucks would open their 2026-27 National Hockey League regular season with a home and home set against the Edmonton Oilers. On Thursday, we learned the rest of the story as the league released full 84-game schedules for all 32 teams. 

Any analysis of a full schedule has to start with the understanding that all teams will play 42 games at home and 42 games on the road. And all schedules will have unique circumstances and a few quirks. With that in mind, here are some takeaways from the Canucks schedule for next season.

Tough start

Manny Malhotra will be tested early and often as a first-year NHL head coach. Not only do the Canucks open with a pair of games against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but the team’s first 13 games also include a pair against Carolina, as well as matchups against Vegas, Florida, Tampa Bay and Minnesota. Maybe getting some of those games out of the way early before top teams hit their stride isn’t such a bad thing.

The longest home stand

The Canucks will spend the first couple of weeks of February in Vancouver. However, the longest homestand of the season is actually divided by All-Star weekend. The Canucks will play seven straight games at Rogers Arena. That stretch starts on February 1st against Montreal and continues on February 3rd against New Jersey. The team is then off until the 13th when the homestand continues against Winnipeg, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Colorado and Boston.

The longest road trip

The club’s longest road journey of the season will consist of seven games in a 12 night span from January 18th through the 30th. The trip will take the Canucks from Colorado to Nashville to Chicago to Pittsburgh to Minnesota and will wrap up in Dallas and St. Louis. Only the games against the Blackhawks and Penguins are on consecutive nights. 

Back to backs

The Canucks will play 11 sets of back-to-back games next season, including one in the first week of the season when they host Calgary and Vegas on consecutive nights at Rogers Arena. The season also ends with a back to back set in Winnipeg on April 9th and in Calgary to close out the schedule the following night.

All Star break

The hockey team will be able to hang up its skates for a prolonged break in early February. The Canucks play a home game against New Jersey on February 3rd and then don’t play again until another home contest on the 13th against Winnipeg. In between those games, the NHL is conducting its All Star weekend on Long Island.

Early starts

The Canucks have a couple of odd start times on the schedule. Monday January 18th in Colorado and Wednesday January 20th in Nashville are both 1pm starts local time. That’s 12pm PT against the Avalanche and 11am (on a Wednesday) against the Preds. The Canucks have a 12:30pm PT start in New Jersey on October 10th followed by a 3pm PT puck drop at Madison Square Garden. They also have a 12pm PT puck drop in Philadelphia on Black Friday November 27th and a 2pm PT start in Boston on November 29th. The club has a 12:30pm PT start in St. Louis on January 30th. The Canucks will have a quick turnaround from a Saturday night game in Toronto on March 13th to a 2pm PT start the following day in Ottawa to close out a five-game road trip. The Canucks will also host a 1pm start at Rogers Arena late in the season when Anaheim comes to town on March 27th.

Late night hockey

With BC’s switch to go to daylight savings time year round, Canucks fans will have to stay up later than usual for games. The team will have eight 8pm starts at Rogers Arena. For years, weeknight home games at Pacific Coliseum started at 8pm. 

Back to Boxing Day 

The Canucks get four full days off for a holiday break, but will return to action with a Boxing Day game at the Saddledome in Calgary. That game is set for 9pm local time in Calgary.

Strange travel

The Canucks have an early six game road trip that starts in Carolina against the Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes. Usually, that would be followed by games in Tampa Bay and Florida. And it will this time, too. Sort of. From Raleigh, however, the Canucks head north to the New York area and play the Devils, Rangers and Islanders before heading south to the Sunshine State for games against the Panthers and Lightning. Only the games against the Devils and Rangers are back to back on that trip. The Canucks also do not play consecutive games in Anaheim and Los Angeles for the second straight season. They have an Anaheim/San Jose road trip in late October and then go to Los Angeles to San Jose and back to Southern California to face Anaheim on a three-game junket in mid-December. 

Stanley Cup gauntlet

The Canucks will square off in consecutive games against the two teams that tussled for the Stanley Cup in June. They will host Vegas on October 4th in the fourth game of the season and then take on Carolina, the Cup champs, on October 8th.

Gallagher facing the Habs

You know Brendan Gallagher has already circled two dates on his calendar. But he’ll have to wait a while to see his former team. The Canucks host Montreal on February 1st, and Gallagher will make his return to Bell Centre in Montreal just over a month later on March 6th.