The Top Five Players In The History Of The Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks have been in the NHL since 1970, and during that time they have had some very big stars play for their team. The Canucks are starting their 52 NHL season this upcoming month; so far they have an overall record of 1689-1776-391-171. They have been in the playoffs 28 times, most recently in 2020 during the COVID bubble.
This team has a lot of notable alumni like Kevin Bieksa, Alexandre Burrows, and Alexander Edler to name a few, and their active roster also looks like a force to be reckoned with. They have up-and-coming stars like Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson in their forward group and of course Quinn Hughes on their blueline.
So today we are looking at the top five Canucks in the history of the franchise
5. Roberto Luongo
I did want to include a goalie on this list, and what better goalie to include than Roberto Luongo? Luongo is first in the franchise in wins and second in games played with 252 wins in 448 games.
He has the second-best goals-against average and save percentage in the history or the organization and he is the leader in shutouts with 38 in the net. The Canucks are lucky to have had Luengo on their team and it will be a long time before anyone passes his 252 wins.
Luongo spent eight seasons with the Canucks and during that time the team went to the playoffs six times. Luongo played in 64 playoff games for the team and finished with a record of 32-31, his best campaign came in 2011 when he helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup Finals.
4. Alexander Edler
Alexander Edler played in 925 games for the Canucks from 2006 to 2021. He signed with the Kings in 2021 and played last season with the team. During his time with the Canucks, the defenseman played in some pretty big situations as one of their top defensemen, and he managed to put up 409 points with the team, the tenth-best total in franchise history.
Edler is fourth on the team in playoff games and has not been someone afraid of playing physical in his own end throughout his career. While Edler might fall of this list eventually thanks to young up-and-coming players like Quinn Hughes, he is still someone that spent a lot of time making the Canucks better, which is part of the reason why he and the Canucks went to the postseason eight times during his career with the team.
3. Trevor Linden
Trevor Linden is one of the best Vancouver Canucks of all time. He is third in the team’s history with 1140 games played and third in goals with 318. Linden played for the team on and off throughout his entire career initially from 1988 through 1997 and again from 2001 through 2008. During his time with the team he put up 733 points, and he was named captain of the Canucks at the age of 21.
Linden has also spent a lot of time in off-ice positions throughout the NHL. At one point he was the NHLPA president and in 2014 he became president of hockey operations for the Canucks, a position he held until 2018.
The Top Two Players: Henrik and Daniel Sedin
I do not think anyone is surprised at who the top two players on this list would be, Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Henrik and Daniel Sedin were drafted first and second overall in 1999. Their playing career spanned from 2000 through the 2017-18 season and now has them leading the franchise history in games played and points. Henrik played in 1330 games and Daniel is just a bit behind at 1306 games played. The two lead the team in points at 1070 for Henrik and 1041 for Daniel.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin were a dynamic duo that no team will ever be able to replicate in the league. They were drafted together, played their entire career together and retired together at the end of the 2017-18 season.
The two star players played in over 100 playoff games coming up a game short of the Stanley Cup in 2011 when they lost to the Boston Bruins at home in a game seven. While the Canucks have had a lot of notable alumni, these two are definitely going to be the faces of the franchise for a long time.
The Canucks start the 2022-23 NHL season against the Edmonton Oilers on October 12th.