Are the Vancouver Canucks the best NHL franchise that never has won a Stanley Cup? It’s an interesting question for fans and Canada sports betting enthusiasts. Since the team started in 1970, the Canucks have won their division 11 times and reached the Cup Final three times, with the most recent trip being 2010-11 when they fell to the Boston Bruins in seven games after having a 3-2 series lead.
The Canucks’ recent history, which for our purposes will include the past 25 seasons, could be examined a couple different ways. One, Vancouver has gone 986-733-257 (the latter number is a combination of ties and overtime losses). With 2229 points accrued in 1,976 games, that works out to a points percentage of .564. That percentage would barely qualify for the playoffs in most seasons and make for a Stanley Cup odds longshot.
And that leads to the other way at looking at the team. Since the start of the 1999-2000 season, Vancouver has reached the Stanley Cup playoffs 13 times and won the Presidents’ Trophy, awarded for the league’s best regular season team, twice. However, the Canucks have only been to the postseason three times since 2013-14, and the team was eliminated from contention for the 2025 postseason last week.
The reason for bringing this up is that BetCanada.com has compiled the franchise’s Quarter-Century Team. We’ve created four lines of forwards, the top six defensemen and the top two goalies – using Hockey-Reference.com’s point shares statistic – to tide fans in far Western Canada over until Vancouver Canucks betting odds become relevant again in the fall.
Based on the players listed below, you could argue that the franchise should have fared way better than it has over the past 25 seasons.
Player | Years With Team | Quarter-Century Point Shares |
Hendrik Sedin | 2000-2018 | 108.6 |
Elias Pettersson | 2018-Present | 49.8 |
J.T. Miller | 2019-2025 | 45.4 |
Bo Horvat | 2014-2023 | 43.3 |
Henrik Sedin will go down as an all-time great in the sport. The Hall of Famer holds the team record for points with 1,070. Of his 830 assists, more than a third (280) were for goals by his twin Daniel.
But the other names on this list are indicative of why Vancouver has struggled in recent years. Horvat was traded to the New York Islanders during the 2022-23 season and later told reporters, “I couldn’t be happier to be on Long Island. It just felt good to be wanted somewhere and appreciated.”
Horvat was traded because the team signed J.T. Miller to a seven-year contract just before the 2022-23 season instead of him. Fast forward two years later, and the Canucks traded Miller to the New York Rangers. That deal happened, according to reports, because Miller and Elias Pettersson’s relationship was so toxic that it affected the entire team, sinking their NHL betting odds and their playoff chances.
Player | Years With Team | Quarter-Century Point Shares |
Daniel Sedin | 2000-2018 | 123.1 |
Markus Naslund | 2000-2008 | 66.4 |
Alexandre Burrows | 2005-2017 | 45.0 |
Mason Raymond | 2008-2013 | 18.3 |
Just like his twin, Daniel Sedin is an all-time great in the sport. Also a Hall of Fame inductee (both Sedin twins entered the Hall in 2022), Daniel is Vancouver’s all-time leading goal scorer at 393, with his brother assisting on more than 71% of those. It wasn’t just a one-way relationship as Daniel assisted on 148 of his brother’s 240 goals (61.7%).
Player | Years With Team | Quarter-Century Point Shares |
Brock Boeser | 2016-Present | 46.0 |
Todd Bertuzzi | 2000-2006 | 41.4 |
Jannik Hansen | 2007-2017 | 25.4 |
Conor Garland | 2021-Present | 18.2 |
Brock Boeser was a 40-goal scorer last season and was the top forward on the team this season with 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists). But Boeser, 28, has told the media that it’s “unlikely” he’ll resign with the team that drafted him in the first round a decade ago and called this season a “roller coaster” and “distractions” played a role in the Canucks missing the playoffs.
Player | Years With Team | Quarter-Century Point Shares |
Alexander Edler | 2006-2021 | 73.1 |
Quinn Hughes | 2018-Present | 57.1 |
Sami Salo | 2002-2012 | 50.5 |
Mattias Ohlund | 2000-2009 | 48.0 |
Kevin Bieska | 2005-2015 | 47.5 |
Dan Hamhuis | 2010-2016 | 34.1 |
Alexander Edler gets the top spot because of his longevity. He was a solid blueliner throughout his career in Vancouver and contributed to several successful seasons in the Pacific Northwest.
Quinn Hughes has emerged as a superstar in recent years. He’s the quarterback of the offense, leading the team with 76 points (16 goals, 60 assists) in just 68 games in 2024-25. Last season, he had 92 points (17G, 75A) and won his first Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman.
Player | Years With Team | Quarter-Century Point Shares |
Roberto Luongo | 2006-2014 | 89.3 |
Thatcher Demko | 2017-Present | 45.1 |
Roberto Luongo only played eight of his 19 NHL seasons in Vancouver, but they were during the peak of his career. The Hall of Famer earned 252 of his 489 career wins with the Canucks, and with him, they were a win away from hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2011.
But remember, this is Vancouver.
Just a year later, Cory Schneider replaced Luongo in goal during the playoffs, and when the team signed Schneider to a three-year contract in June 2012, Luongo and others assumed he’d be dealt. Instead, Luongo’s contract made it hard to deal him, and a year later, the team ended up trading Schneider, whose contract was more affordable for teams, in a deal that landed them Bo Horvat.
That’s Vancouver’s circle of life right there.
Oh, and a year later, the Canucks traded Luongo to the Florida Panthers, where he was an all-star in 2015 and 2016.
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USA Today photo by Simon Fearn
Author
Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters. He shares his expertise on BetCanada, among other sites.
