3 reasons the Vancouver Canucks didn't win the Stanley Cup
The Vancouver Canucks didn't win the Stanley Cup in 2024. There are a lot of reasons why.
The Vancouver Canucks are not going to be winning the Stanley Cup this season. They won the Pacific Division to the surprise of many and they even won a round but their journey has come to an end.
Vancouver should be very proud of themselves. They beat the Nashville Predators in the first round and made things very difficult on the Edmonton Oilers in the second round.
The Canucks pushed Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Oilers to the brink as they had a 3-2 series lead going into game six.
Unfortunately for them, they weren't able to win their fourth game of the series and went down in seven games. They had a chance to close things out in games six and seven but failed in both.
Now that they are out and won't be winning the Stanley Cup, these are the three biggest reasons why:
The Canucks didn't get enough from Elias Pettersson in the playoffs
Elias Pettersson is one of the best offensive players in the NHL. In 2023-24, he had 34 goals and 55 assists for 89 points in 82 games.
In the playoffs, however, he didn't show up big. In their first-round series against the Nashville Predators, he scored no goals and had three assists in six games. Despite this, they still won the series.
In round two, they were never going to beat the Oilers unless he did something. He finally scored a goal in game two but that would be his only one of the entire playoffs. He also had two assists for three points in seven games this round.
That makes it a whopping six points in 13 playoff games this year. When you are a player that gifted and that highly paid, those are unacceptable numbers.
If they ever want to win the Cup with this great core that they are building in Vancouver, they need more from Elias Pettersson.
Depth at forward was a big advantage for the Oilers over the Canucks
With Elias Pettersson struggling, they still have some amazing forwards with guys like J.T. Miller, Elias Lindholm, and Brock Boeser amongst others.
That doesn't compete with that of the Edmonton Oilers though. We already know about Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl who are two of the best players ever. They elevate their games in the playoffs too which makes them extra special.
Beyond them, they have other great stars with guys like Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Zach Hyman, Evander Kane, and Adam Henrique who have all been more productive than the other guys in Vancouver.
Edmonton has another gear that they can get to when they are at their best. Their forward depth is as strong as anyone in the league and it comes with two incredible stars leading the way.
This advantage helps them at even strength and with their all-time great power play. It is very hard to beat a team that lethal up front.
Special teams was a big disadvantage for the Vancouver Canucks
As mentioned before, that depth at forward is very good for the power play of the Edmonton Oilers. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the goal that became the eventual series winner with the man advantage in game seven.
Their power play is clicking at about 37.5 percent which leads every team in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Cancuks only clicked at about 13.9 percent which is far off the mark of the Oilers.
On the penalty-killing side of things, the Oilers were strong there too. They gave up a power play goal to the Canucks which is something they didn't do vs the Kings but they still lead the entire playoffs with a 91.4 percent kill rate.
Vancouver wasn't terrible in this spot as they were sixth in the league with an 81.0 success rate on the kill but it wasn't good enough to beat the Oilers.
If you don't win the special teams battle, it is very difficult to control a game or series enough to win it. The Oilers did that and the Canucks didn't. As a result, the Oilers move on while the Canucks are headed home.
This was a great series that came down to the end but the Oilers prevailed. The Cancuks won't be bringing the Stanley Cup to Vancouver for the first time ever just yet.
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