What the Canucks’ Struggles Really Look Like

Tonight in Montreal, the Vancouver Canucks face the Montreal Canadiens. These are two teams heading in opposite directions. If you’re a Canucks fan, don’t expect a turning-point game. The season is pretty much what it is. Face the facts: this is not a playoff team. Yet, tonight’s game is important for what it is. It’s a mirror, and the Canucks might not love what’s staring back.

They arrive carrying the weight of a 5–0 loss in Toronto, a road trip gone sideways, and one win in nine games. No leads since the calendar flipped. They’ve been outscored badly. That’s more than bad luck. It’s a team stuck between what it hoped to be and what it actually is.

So what are the Canucks’ struggles as they face the rest of the regular season?

Struggle One: The Canucks Must Accept That They Are Down But Not Broken

Being down is about results. Being broken is about belief, structure, and whether the pieces still fit together. This Canucks team is down. They are beyond banged up, young in key spots, living through the ugly part of a season where lessons come before rewards.

But they aren’t broken. Broken teams don’t keep structure in blowouts. They don’t have players like Kiefer Sherwood, who actually calls things out. They don’t flash NHL skill even when the game becomes out of hand. What’s missing isn’t talent. Instead, the team lacks consistency, confidence, and a safety net when mistakes occur. That’s a developmental problem, not a fatal one.

Struggle Two: The Canucks Must Face Reality Without Getting Sucked into Frustration

Sherwood said it plainly. The team’s play is unacceptable. And he’s right. The Canucks aren’t being emotionally dominated; they’re losing too many small moments. The mistakes are a missed assignment here, a lost gap there, or hesitating that makes you a half a second too late on the puck.

On Saturday night, Toronto didn’t overwhelm them with skill. Instead, they punished mistakes clinically. That tells you exactly how narrow the margin is right now.