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Marco Rossi, Vancouver Canucks (Brad Penner-Imagn Images)

Canucks News & Rumours: Rossi, Boeser, Demko, Tolopilo & Koskenvuo

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By The Old Prof | Last updated Feb 18, 2026 1:10 PM ET

The Olympic break showed up at exactly the right time for the Vancouver Canucks. When a team hits the bottom of the standings the way this one has, a couple of weeks away from the noise and frustration can feel like fresh air. The younger players get real practice time, the older players get a chance to reset, and the coaching staff finally gets uninterrupted hours to hammer home what they’ve been trying to build.

The mood around the group this week wasn’t upbeat, exactly, but it wasn’t defeated either. That’s something. A few injured players wandered back into the mix, a couple of prospects got another taste of NHL pace at practice, and the coaches sounded genuinely encouraged by the energy level.

No one’s pretending this season has been easy, but you can feel the group accepting the reset and making the most of it instead of dragging through it. For a club in the early stages of a long rebuild, that attitude matters.

Item One: Marco Rossi Is Finally at 100%

Marco Rossi may be the most relieved player in Vancouver right now. For the first time since the Quinn Hughes blockbuster trade that brought him to the Canucks from the Minnesota Wild, he’s actually healthy. He didn’t hide how rough his first few weeks were. The skating wasn’t there, the quickness wasn’t there, and mentally he felt like he was playing catch-up before he’d ever had a chance to settle in. Eight weeks off gave him the time and space to heal.

Rossi also admitted he pushed too hard because he wanted to show the Canucks he belonged. He wanted to prove that trading for him wasn’t a mistake, and he didn’t want to look like a young player asking out of the lineup. That makes sense: he’s a 24-year-old trying to make a good impression. He’s only played 25 games this season, and his numbers reflect the stop-and-start grind he’s been going through. Still, he’s approaching the final stretch with a clean slate and a lot of optimism.

It’s not lost on him that he’s returning to a different situation than the one he left in Minnesota. He knows Vancouver is rebuilding, and there isn’t pressure to worry about the standings or playoff races. In a strange way, that might help. If he can chip away at his game and show progress, the Canucks will happily build around him.

Item Two: Brock Boeser and the Walking Wounded Return

The biggest surprise on Tuesday wasn’t anything tactical. It was how many players were on the ice: Brock Boeser, Nils Höglander, Filip Chytil, Rossi, and Zeev Buium. For once, the team didn’t look like an emergency affiliate roster. Although Chytil and Buium were wearing red no-contact jerseys, having them move and engage again is a step forward.

Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks (Bob Frid-Imagn Images)

The fact that Boeser is back in full gear is a good sign. Höglander looked like himself again, and the mood from the bench had a little more spark than it had in weeks. When you’ve been hit with injuries as badly as this team has, simply seeing a near-full roster feels like progress.

Of course, none of this changes the truth of where the Canucks are in the standings. But a healthy group allows the coaching staff to coach instead of scrambling. And for a front office evaluating who fits and who doesn’t as this rebuild deepens, getting real NHL reps from their players is essential.

Item Three: Goalie Shuffles with Demko Out for the Season

Nothing looms larger than the news that Thatcher Demko’s season is over. When your best player goes down, everything shifts. With Kevin Lankinen still at the Olympics, the Canucks opened practice with Jiri Patera and Aku Koskenvuo as their NHL tandem.

Thatcher Demko, Vancouver Canucks (Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images)

Koskenvuo got the call simply because the NHL team wants him around, while Nikita Tolopilo continues to play games with the American Hockey League (AHL) Abbotsford Canucks. Patera’s done his best in a tough situation and will likely see the bulk of the work once the schedule resumes. Neither is expected to steal the show; the hope right now is stability.

For management, this is actually a valuable stretch. It gives them a chance to see what their goalie depth really is, and it forces them to think hard about how they’ll handle the crease in the offseason. It’s not exciting hockey talk, but these are the decisions that shape a rebuild.

What’s Next for the Canucks?

The next few weeks are all about small wins. No one expects some wild turnaround. What Vancouver needs is growth. Players need to take individual steps forward, the systems need to be cleaned up, and the younger players need to develop and learn to handle the NHL pace. If they get that, even in losses, it’s progress.

The Olympic break has given the Canucks a rare chance to take a breather midway through an unsuccessful season. Now the test is whether they can turn that reset into something meaningful. The job becomes to grow more organized, competitive, and committed to the direction the team has chosen. In a rebuild, that’s the measuring stick that matters most.