The San Jose Sharks return from the holiday break with a matchup that will hopefully get the team back on track, a revamped Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks are in the team’s post-Quinn Hughes era after a blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Wild that sent the superstar defenseman to the Central Division and injected the Canucks with some high-end youth.

General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the #Canucks have acquired forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Öhgren, defenceman Zeev Buium and a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for defenceman Quinn Hughes.

DETAILS |… pic.twitter.com/mSQG5QAjjl

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 13, 2025

On the backend, Zeev Buium will become the defenseman for the Canucks, which also added forward talent in Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren. The Canucks also get Minnesota’s 2026 1st round pick.

Since the trade, Vancouver has surged, going 4-1-0.

The Canucks have added youth, but injuries might be an issue. Elias Pettersson, the was supposed to be out until approximately Dec. 30 though he was seen on the ice at morning skate taking contact. Head Coach Adam Foote said Petey’s back tonight. Centers Teddy Blueger and Filip Chytil are expected to miss today’s game. Defenseman Derek Forbort is on long-term injured reserve.

The Canucks traded the team’s top scorer (Hughes) and it’s second top scorer (Pettersson the center) is questionable, which means the top points guys in the lineup tonight is Kiefer Sherwood and Conor Garland who both have 20 points. Sherwood also leads the team with 16 goals. He’s the only Vancouver player in double digits in goals.

In the net, Thatcher Demko is the presumed starter with an 8-6-0 record and a .911 save percentage. A portion of his season was interrupted by injury, but he’s back and has won three of his five starts with a .929 save percentage since returning. Backing him up is Kevin Lankinen with a 5-10-3 record and .880 save percentage.

This is the second of four meetings between the two teams. They met at the end of November, when the Sharks won 3-2. They play again on Jan. 27 and April 11.

San Jose Sharks lines tonight

Will Smith, Vincent Desharnais and Philipp Kurashev are all expected to miss tonight’s game as they continue to deal with their ailments. Yaroslav Askarov was the first player off the ice for the Sharks according to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng and so he’ll be the one in the net for the Sharks against Vancouver. Peng also reports some changes in the lines.

Forwards
William Eklund — Macklin Celebrini — Igor Chernyshov
Collin Graf — Alexander Wennberg — Tyler Toffoli
Adam Gaudette — Ty Dellandrea — Jeff Skinner
Barclay Goodrow — Zack Ostapchuk — Ryan Reaves

Defense
Mario Ferraro — Shakir Mukhamadullin
Dmitry Orlov — John Klingberg
Sam Dickinson — Vincent Iorio

Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic

Vancouver Canucks lines vs. San Jose Sharks tonight

For the Canucks, Brendan Batchelor reports the following lines out of morning skate. According to Batchelor, EP40 was skating with the top line and could play tonight.

Forwards
Evander Kane — Elias Pettersson — Kiefer Sherwood
Jake DeBrusk — Marco Rossi — Brock Boeser
Drew O’Conner — David Kampf — Conor Garland
Liam Ohgren — Max Sasson — Linus Karlsson

Defensemen
Marcus Pettersson — Filip Hronek
Zeev Buium — Tyler Myers
Elias Pettersson — Tom Willander

Goaltenders
Thatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen

How to watch San Jose Sharks at Vancouver Canucks Dec. 27, 2025

The puck drops at 7 p.m. PT at Roger’s Arena in Vancouver.

Sharks fans can watch tonight’s game on NBCSCA or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.

Canucks fans can watch the game on Hockey Night in Canada or listen to the radio call on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.

Be sure to come back here at game time to talk with other Sharks fans about what’s happening on the ice, around the league and at the World Junior Championship.