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What’s next as Vancouver limps home. Should the NHL change to three points for a win?
Published Dec 03, 2025 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 7 minute read
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Joel Farabee of the Calgary Flames tries to fight off the check of Elias Pettersson during the first period Photo by Rich Lam /Getty ImagesArticle content
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You’d think the time for moral victories are over, but here we are. The Canucks lost a game in which they battled hard against the NHL’s best team but lost a 3-1 decision. Ben Kuzma covered the game with his summary and player grades where coach Adam Foote seemed to claim a moral victory.
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“We played great and I hate that we lost to a great team,” said Canucks head coach Adam Foote. “First goal, rebound right to (Nathan) MacKinnon. We know he’s there and we’re a little bit off him. And we lost coverage on another one (goal) and had a 2-on-1 they are going to put those in. We had to bury a few chances early because they capitalize on a few mistakes.
“We had more Grade A looks than they did, but it just shows if you’re a little off, they’re a veteran team and are going to take advantage.”
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The loss drops the Canucks to 2-6-2 in their last 10 games, they’re five points back of Seattle who sit in the last Wild Card spot, and the Kraken have three games in hand. Oof.
So the farther they fall behind, the louder the rumours are going to get about Quinn Hughes.
The Canucks’ only recourse, if there’s a Hughes departure, is aiming high for a multiplayer trade return to get younger and eventually better. Hughes once again did what he could Tuesday in Denver in a 3-1 loss to the league-leading Colorado Avalanche. He was wheeling and dealing, had four shots, 12 attempts, and logged 29:27.
On TSN’s Insider Trading they focused on the availability and market for Kiefer Sherwood. They also noted the start of the season has been remarkably quiet for trades in the NHL and all their ‘insiders’ said most of what they’re hearing on the market starts with Vancouver.
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Pierre Lebrun: Lots of interest in him. No surprise there, he’s a player with a $1.5 million cap hit and a style of play that screams playoffs and consistent production. Minnesota Wild have checked in a few times, Montreal and Dallas are in a long list of teams that have kicked tires. I’m told Vancouver’s not rushing into this they want to get a full picture of what the market looks like. Are some of these teams who are looking into this willing to re-sign Sherwood long term that increases the value for Vancouver?
Gambling tips are great for people who like to wager, but they’re also a good indicator of what experts who analyze the sport think. In ESPN’s sports betting article they note the Canucks are one of four teams whose odds have plummeted as the season goes on.
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Confidence from bettors is the quickest way for odds to start swinging, but it’s hard to build any when almost everyone is bunched together. Parity keeps the markets cautious.
Only four teams have seen a swing greater than 25% in their implied playoff chances from the pre-season to now: the Maple Leafs (down 43%), Vancouver Canucks (down 30%), Panthers (down 27%) and Anaheim Ducks (up 43%).
Expanding the cutoff to 20% only adds four more: the Nashville Predators (down 24%), New York Rangers (down 21%), St. Louis Blues (down 20%) and Flyers (up 24%).
So maybe the markets aren’t asleep at the wheel, maybe they’re just staring at the same traffic jam as the rest of us. With everyone mashed into the same point cluster, even the big movers feel more like overcorrections than declarations. Until a few teams actually create daylight, no one’s ready to plant a flag.
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And the odds have treated Quinn Hughes the same way in betting on major honours like the Norris Trophy.
Norris Trophy Risers
Cale Makar, D, Colorado Avalanche: +48.8% (preseason/current, +190/-500)
Matthew Schaefer, D, New York Islanders: +1.7% (preseason/current, 300-1/50-1)
Jakob Chychrun, D, Washington Capitals: +1.7% (preseason/current, 300-1/50-1)
Norris Trophy Fallers
Quinn Hughes, D, Vancouver Canucks: -9.9% (preseason/current, +235/+400)
Evan Bouchard, D, Edmonton Oilers: -3.8% (preseason/current, 20-1/100-1)
Rasmus Dahlin, D, Buffalo Sabres: -3.8% (pre-season/current, 20-1/100-1)
Roman Josi, D, Nashville Predators: -3.6% (pre-season/current, 25-1/500-1)
Miro Heiskanen, D, Dallas Stars: -3.5% (pre-season/current, 16-1/40-1)
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While it doesn’t directly impact the Canucks, Shayna Goldman at The Athletic has written a great article analyzing what it would look like if the NHL went to three points for a win. Traditionalists will argue against it, but it rewards teams who want to go for it, makes the third period more entertaining and would even give teams like the Canucks a greater reward should they go on a run to try to close ground on a playoff spot.
Pacific Division teams are driving the rise in overtime this season, with the Kings leading the charge with 12 appearances in 25 games. The Wild have gone to overtime 11 times already this year, while the Oilers, Kraken, Blue Jackets and Flyers are at 10.
In today’s NHL, there is one clear consequence of extra hockey: More loser points to go around.
Hockey is a game of inches. The standings, as is, don’t carry that same energy because some level of detail would separate what a regulation win is worth compared to an overtime win.
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One answer is just trying to reduce the number of overtime games in the regular season, and there are ways to influence the results. Encouraging officials to strictly call every non-offsetting penalty in the final 10 minutes of regulation would have an impact, considering how efficient power plays are in today’s game. But that would only be a band-aid, not an actual solution.
An actual solution is changing the way games are scored: Three points for a regulation win, two for overtime, and one for an overtime loss.
A 3-2-1 point system wouldn’t have that radical of an impact on the standings — and that’s important here. The idea isn’t to overhaul a system that has worked for years; it’s to tweak it to better reflect which teams win games in a traditional, 60-minute setting before the (beautiful) chaos that isthree-on-three hockey and the shootout. And this year’s emphasis on overtime is the perfect time to bring this discussion back to the forefront.
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Can the Vancouver Canucks realistically tank for Gavin McKenna?
A team has to be pretty bad to finish last in a 32 team league no matter how hard they try. Harman Dayal of The Athletic takes a long look at the Canucks chances which despite them currently being in 30th spot might not be bad enough.
Dayal: In 2022-23, for example, the Canucks had the worst 16-game start since the Mark Messier era, and were similarly in 30th place in the NHL standings. We did a similar piece at the time, predicting that Vancouver was a pretender in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes, and sure enough, the club went through a midseason coaching change and ended up picking 11th that summer.
We pulled out some of the reasons and scenarios Dayal points out that the Canucks would have to overcome or allow to happen in order to grease the slide.
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• It goes without saying, of course, that coaches and players will never intentionally “tank.” NHL players are hypercompetitive athletes who hate to lose. There are always stakes at the individual level to motivate players, whether it’s future ice time, role or future contracts.
• How low the Canucks will finish in the standings isn’t solely determined by their performance and record. A lot will also hinge on how bad the teams around them are.
The Predators and Flames are poor teams … (and) more likely to finish 32nd or 31st than the Canucks. The Predators were one of the worst teams in the NHL last year; their centre situation is just as dire as Vancouver’s, and they don’t have a Quinn Hughes-level game-breaker. There’s also a decent chance they could sell off some of their veteran talent like Ryan O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and perhaps even Juuse Saros, closer to the trade deadline.
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The Flames, meanwhile, are even more starved of high-end offensive talent than the Canucks. They’re the lowest-scoring team in the NHL by a substantial margin, and Nazem Kadri is the only player on the team on pace for more than 45 points. Calgary also has the most difficult strength of schedule of any NHL team for the remainder of the season, according to Tankathon.
Working in our favour:
This year, the Canucks are surrendering goals against per game at the worst rate in the NHL. And they’ve fully deserved this fate, as their defensive metrics for limiting shots and high-danger chances are among the worst in the league.
Get rid of our veteran talent now. Hmm maybe management knows what they are doing with the announcement of the fire sale?
A key variable we should consider in the wake of Vancouver’s willingness to sell is how much weaker the roster could become, and how that could impact the team’s final results.
…Losing Sherwood (the team’s leading goal scorer), Garland (one of their only play-driving forwards) and Kane would be a devastating blow to an already-thin forward group.
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Check back for more Canucks news throughout the day …
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