# 2015–16 Vancouver Canucks season

The 2015–16 Vancouver Canucks season was the 46th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. The season began its regular games on October 7, 2015, against the Calgary Flames with a 5−1 win. On March 25, 2016, the Canucks lost 4−0 to the St. Louis Blues and were eliminated from playoff contention. The Canucks missed the playoffs for the second time in three years.

## Off-season

Off-season changes began in late June at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Due to the Canucks having three goaltenders requiring waivers, goaltender Eddie Lack was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes (for a third-round pick at the draft and a seventh-round pick in 2016) to make room on the roster for Jacob Markstrom. This trade was disliked as fans saw the two draft picks as very little compensation for Lack. The Canucks would draft seven players at the draft. A few days later, long-time Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a second-round pick in 2016.
On July 1, Zack Kassian and a fifth-round pick in 2016 were traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Brandon Prust. Jim Benning continued by signing various free agents, including former Boston Bruins defenceman Matt Bartkowski and prospects Taylor Fedun and Richard Bachman, coming from the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers, respectively.
The following day, Hockey Operations Staff Laurence Gilman, Lorne Henning and Eric Crawford were released by the Canucks.
On July 28, the Canucks traded centre Nick Bonino, defenceman Adam Clendening, as well as the second-round pick acquired in the Bieksa trade, to the Pittsburgh Penguins for centre Brandon Sutter and a conditional third-round pick. One week later, the Canucks resigned Sutter to a five-year contract extension, lasting until the 2020–21 NHL season.

### Training camp

The Canucks held their training camp at CN Centre in Prince George, British Columbia, from September 18–20.
Training camp consisted of various activities, such as power-play drills, strength and conditioning exercises, and intra-squad scrimmages.
Head coach Willie Desjardins was unable to attend training camp. Desjardins was forced to have surgery on September 8 (a mere 10 days before training camp was due to begin), due to a flare-up of a chronic hip condition. While Desjardins wanted to be in attendance, the Canucks medical staff was unable to give him clearance to head to Prince George. In his place, assistant coach Glen Gulutzan (former Dallas Stars head coach) stepped up to run the training camp. Assistant coaches Perry Pearn and Doug Lidster were also in attendance.
Many Canucks prospects and minor-league players were invited to training camp. Some, such as Nicklas Jensen, Jake Virtanen and Alexandre Grenier were fighting for roster spots on the NHL club. The preseason came to an interesting end when the Canucks placed centre Linden Vey and defensemen Alex Biega and Frank Corrado on waivers in favour of defenceman Ben Hutton and forwards Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann. Corrado was claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs the following day. Biega and Vey cleared waivers and were sent to the Utica Comets. Both were called up in December and would finish the season with the Canucks.

## Standings

Pacific Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 46 | 25 | 11 | 43 | 218 | 192 | +26 | 103 |
| 2 | x – Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 48 | 28 | 6 | 46 | 225 | 195 | +30 | 102 |
| 3 | x – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 46 | 30 | 6 | 42 | 241 | 210 | +31 | 98 |
| 4 | Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 35 | 39 | 8 | 34 | 209 | 245 | −36 | 78 |
| 5 | Calgary Flames | 82 | 35 | 40 | 7 | 33 | 231 | 260 | −29 | 77 |
| 6 | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 31 | 38 | 13 | 26 | 191 | 243 | −52 | 75 |
| 7 | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 31 | 43 | 8 | 27 | 203 | 245 | −42 | 70 |
Western Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | CE | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 41 | 27 | 14 | 37 | 228 | 215 | +13 | 96 |
| 2 | CE | x – Minnesota Wild | 82 | 38 | 33 | 11 | 35 | 216 | 206 | +10 | 87 |
| 3 | CE | Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 39 | 39 | 4 | 35 | 216 | 240 | −24 | 82 |
| 4 | PA | Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 35 | 39 | 8 | 34 | 209 | 245 | −36 | 78 |
| 5 | CE | Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 35 | 39 | 8 | 32 | 215 | 239 | −24 | 78 |
| 6 | PA | Calgary Flames | 82 | 35 | 40 | 7 | 33 | 231 | 260 | −29 | 77 |
| 7 | PA | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 31 | 38 | 13 | 26 | 191 | 243 | −52 | 75 |
| 8 | PA | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 31 | 43 | 8 | 27 | 203 | 245 | −42 | 70 |

## Schedule and results

The Canucks set a franchise record with a goal drought of 234 minutes and 52 seconds beginning after the Daniel Sedin goal at 12:00 of the first period on March 16 against Colorado and ending with the Bo Horvat goal at 6:52 of the first period on March 24 against Nashville.

### Regular season

2015–16 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

#### Detailed records

Western Conference :
| Central Division |||||||
| Opponent | Home | Away | Total | Pts. | Goals scored | Goals allowed |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 1–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–2–0 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 1–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 2–1–0 | 4 | 9 | 5 |
| Dallas Stars | 0–1–0 | 0–0–2 | 0–1–2 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
| Minnesota Wild | 0–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–2–0 | 2 | 6 | 14 |
| Nashville Predators | 1–1–0 | 0–0–1 | 1–1–1 | 3 | 7 | 7 |
| St. Louis Blues | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–3–0 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 0–3–0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| Total | 3–8–0 | 2–5–3 | 5–13–3 | 13 | 42 | 69 |
| Pacific Division |||||||
| Opponent | Home | Away | Total | Pts. | Goals scored | Goals allowed |
| Anaheim Ducks | 1–1–0 | 2–1–0 | 3–2–0 | 6 | 9 | 13 |
| Arizona Coyotes | 1–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 3–1–0 | 6 | 11 | 9 |
| Calgary Flames | 0–1–1 | 1–2–0 | 1–3–1 | 3 | 13 | 20 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 2–0–1 | 0–2–0 | 2–2–1 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 1–1–0 | 1–1–1 | 2–2–1 | 5 | 8 | 14 |
| San Jose Sharks | 0–3–0 | 2–0–0 | 2–3–0 | 4 | 12 | 15 |
| Vancouver Canucks | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 5–7–2 | 8–6–1 | 13–13–3 | 29 | 62 | 85 |
Eastern Conference :
| Atlantic Division |||||||
| Opponent | Home | Away | Total | Pts. | Goals scored | Goals allowed |
| Boston Bruins | 0–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 1–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 0–0–1 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–1 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Florida Panthers | 1–0–0 | 0–0–1 | 1–0–1 | 3 | 7 | 7 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 1–0–0 | 0–0–1 | 1–0–1 | 3 | 8 | 5 |
| Ottawa Senators | 1–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 2 | 7 | 6 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 0–0–1 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| Total | 4–2–2 | 3–3–2 | 7–5–4 | 18 | 46 | 47 |
| Metropolitan Division |||||||
| Opponent | Home | Away | Total | Pts. | Goals scored | Goals allowed |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 0–0–1 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–1 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| New Jersey Devils | 0–1–0 | 0–0–1 | 0–1–1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| New York Islanders | 0–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| New York Rangers | 1–0–0 | 0–0–1 | 1–0–1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 1–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| Washington Capitals | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Total | 3–4–1 | 3–3–2 | 6–7–3 | 15 | 38 | 41 |

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Daniel Sedin | 82 | 28 | 33 | 61 | 7 | 36 |
| Henrik Sedin | 74 | 11 | 44 | 55 | 0 | 24 |
| Bo Horvat | 82 | 16 | 24 | 40 | −30 | 18 |
| Jannik Hansen | 67 | 22 | 16 | 38 | 16 | 32 |
| Sven Baertschi | 69 | 15 | 13 | 28 | −14 | 14 |
| Radim Vrbata | 63 | 13 | 14 | 27 | −30 | 12 |
| Ben Hutton | 75 | 1 | 24 | 25 | −21 | 14 |
| Alex Burrows | 79 | 9 | 13 | 22 | −13 | 49 |
| Alexander Edler | 52 | 6 | 14 | 20 | −8 | 46 |
| Jared McCann | 69 | 9 | 9 | 18 | −6 | 32 |
| Matt Bartkowski | 80 | 6 | 12 | 18 | −19 | 50 |
| Christopher Tanev | 69 | 4 | 14 | 18 | −8 | 8 |
| Derek Dorsett | 71 | 5 | 11 | 16 | −13 | 177 |
| Linden Vey | 41 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −14 | 6 |
| Jake Virtanen | 55 | 7 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 45 |
| Dan Hamhuis | 58 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −2 | 28 |
| Emerson Etem$^†$ | 39 | 7 | 5 | 12 | −8 | 9 |
| Adam Cracknell$^‡$ | 44 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 14 |
| Brandon Sutter | 20 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| Luca Sbisa | 41 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 26 |
| Brandon Prust | 35 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −3 | 59 |
| Yannick Weber | 45 | 0 | 7 | 7 | −17 | 24 |
| Alex Biega | 51 | 0 | 7 | 7 | −11 | 22 |
| Chris Higgins | 33 | 3 | 1 | 4 | −14 | 4 |
| Markus Granlund$^†$ | 16 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −3 | 6 |
| Nikita Tryamkin | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 10 |
| Brendan Gaunce | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −9 | 2 |
| Taylor Fedun | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike Zalewski | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Alex Friesen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| Alexandre Grenier | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 2 |
| Ronalds Kenins | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 6 |
| Andrey Pedan | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 16 |
| Hunter Shinkaruk$^‡$ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Ryan Miller | 51 | 51 | 3043:31 | 17 | 24 | 9 | 137 | 2.70 | 1634 | .916 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Jacob Markstrom | 33 | 30 | 1847:26 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 84 | 2.73 | 988 | .915 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Richard Bachman | 1 | 1 | 59:52 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3.01 | 31 | .903 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Traded to Canucks mid-season. Stats reflect time with Canucks only. $^‡$Traded (or lost by waivers) to another team mid-season. Stats reflect time with Canucks only.

### Suspensions and fines

| Player | Explanation | Length | Salary | Date issued |
| Brandon Prust | Spearing Boston forward Brad Marchand. | – | $5,000.00 | December 6, 2015 |
| Jannik Hansen | Diving/embellishment during NHL game no. 510 in Tampa Bay on December 22, 2015, at 10:15 of the third period. | – | $2,000.00 | December 31, 2015 |
| Jake Virtanen | Interference against San Jose defenceman Roman Polak. | 2 games | $9,614.70 | March 30, 2016 |

## Awards and honours
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| Daniel Sedin | NHL Second Star of the Week | November 23, 2015 |
| Daniel Sedin | NHL All-Star game selection | January 6, 2016 |

### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Ben Hutton | 1st NHL game 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | October 7, 2015 |
| Jared McCann | 1st NHL game | October 7, 2015 |
| Jared McCann | 1st NHL goal 1st NHL point | October 10, 2015 |
| Jake Virtanen | 1st NHL game | October 13, 2015 |
| Brandon Sutter | 500th NHL game 100th NHL goal | October 16, 2015 |
| Henrik Sedin | 1,100th NHL game | October 24, 2015 |
| Jake Virtanen | 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | October 27, 2015 |
| Derek Dorsett | 100th NHL point | October 27, 2015 |
| Brendan Gaunce | 1st NHL game | October 29, 2015 |
| Brendan Gaunce | 1st NHL goal 1st NHL point | October 30, 2015 |
| Alex Burrows | 700th NHL game | November 2, 2015 |
| Jake Virtanen | 1st NHL goal | November 2, 2015 |
| Jared McCann | 1st NHL assist | November 4, 2015 |
| Hunter Shinkaruk | 1st NHL game | November 16, 2015 |
| Alexandre Grenier | 1st NHL game | November 18, 2015 |
| Daniel Sedin | 900th NHL point | November 21, 2015 |
| Alexander Edler | 200th NHL assist | November 21, 2015 |
| Adam Cracknell | 100th NHL game | November 27, 2015 |
| Andrey Pedan | 1st NHL game | December 1, 2015 |
| Jannik Hansen | 200th NHL point | December 3, 2015 |
| Jannik Hansen | 500th NHL game | December 9, 2015 |
| Radim Vrbata | 900th NHL game | December 13, 2015 |
| Bo Horvat | 100th NHL game | December 15, 2015 |
| Alexander Edler | 600th NHL game | December 17, 2015 |
| Alex Biega | 1st NHL assist | December 20, 2015 |
| Sven Baertschi | 100th NHL game | December 26, 2015 |
| Jacob Markstrom | 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | December 26, 2015 |
| Chris Higgins | 700th NHL game | December 28, 2015 |
| Daniel Sedin | 1100th NHL game | January 1, 2016 |
| Linden Vey | 100th NHL game | January 6, 2016 |
| Ben Hutton | 1st NHL goal | January 17, 2016 |
| Alex Friesen | 1st NHL game | February 15, 2016 |
| Dan Hamhuis | 300th NHL point | March 7, 2016 |
| Nikita Tryamkin | 1st NHL game 1st NHL assist 1st NHL point | March 16, 2016 |
| Matt Bartkowski | 200th NHL game | March 22, 2016 |
| Markus Granlund | 100th NHL game | April 6, 2016 |
| Nikita Tryamkin | 1st NHL goal | April 7, 2016 |

### Records

| Player | Record | Date |
| Daniel Sedin | Most career goals in Canucks history | January 21, 2016 |

## Transactions

The Canucks been involved in the following transactions:

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 27, 2015 (2015-06-27) | To Vancouver Canucks:3rd round pick (66th overall) in 2015 7th round pick in 2016 | To Carolina Hurricanes:Eddie Lack |
| June 27, 2015 (2015-06-27) | To Vancouver Canucks:7th round pick in 2015 | To San Jose Sharks:Patrick McNally |
| June 30, 2015 (2015-06-30) | To Vancouver Canucks:2nd round pick in 2016 | To Anaheim Ducks:Kevin Bieksa |
| July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01) | To Vancouver Canucks:Brandon Prust | To Montreal Canadiens:Zack Kassian 5th round pick (124th overall) in 2016 |
| August 28, 2015 (2015-08-28) | To Vancouver Canucks:Brandon Sutter BUF's 3rd round pick in 2016 | To Pittsburgh Penguins:Nick Bonino Adam Clendening ANA's 2nd round pick in 2016 |
| January 8, 2016 (2016-01-08) | To Vancouver Canucks:Emerson Etem | To New York Rangers:Nicklas Jensen 6th-round pick (157th overall) in 2017 |
| February 22, 2016 (2016-02-22) | To Vancouver Canucks:Markus Granlund | To Calgary Flames:Hunter Shinkaruk |
| February 24, 2016 (2016-02-24) | To Vancouver Canucks:Philip Larsen | To Edmonton Oilers:Conditional 5th-round pick (126th overall) in 2017 |

### Player signings

| Player | Date | Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) |
| Joseph LaBate | April 30, 2015 (2015-04-30) | 2-year, $680,000 entry-level contract |
| Mackenze Stewart | May 12, 2015 (2015-05-12) | 3-year, $655,000 entry-level contract |
| Jordan Subban | May 14, 2015 (2015-05-14) | 3-year, $755,000 entry-level contract |
| Linden Vey | June 29, 2015 (2015-06-29) | 1 year, $1 million |
| Alex Biega | June 30, 2015 (2015-06-30) | 1 year, $600,000 |
| Yannick Weber | July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01) | 1 year, $1.5 million |
| Sven Baertschi | July 28, 2015 (2015-07-28) | 1 year, $900,000 |
| Brandon Sutter | August 4, 2015 (2015-08-04) | 5 years, $21.875 million contract extension |
| Guillaume Brisebois | December 10, 2015 (2015-12-10) | 3-year, $703,333 entry-level contract |

## Draft picks

Below are the Vancouver Canucks' selections at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, to be held on June 26–27, 2015, at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 23 | Brock Boeser | RW | United States | Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) |
| 3 | 66 | Guillaume Brisebois | D | Canada | Acadie–Bathurst Titan (QMJHL) |
| 4 | 114 | Dmitry Zhukenov | C | Russia | Omskie Yastreby (MHL) |
| 5 | 144 | Carl Neill | D | Canada | Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 149 | Adam Gaudette | C | United States | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL) |
| 6 | 174 | Lukas Jasek | RW | Czech Republic | Ocelari Trinec (Czech Extraliga) |
| 7 | 210 | Tate Olson | D | Canada | Prince George Cougars (WHL) |

### Draft notes

* The Vancouver Canucks' second-round pick went to the Calgary Flames as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015, that sent Sven Baertschi to Vancouver in exchange for this pick.
* $^a$ The Carolina Hurricanes' third-round pick went to the Vancouver Canucks as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015, that sent Eddie Lack to Carolina in exchange for a 2016 seventh-round pick and this pick.
* The Vancouver Canucks' third-round pick went to the Anaheim Ducks as the result of a trade on June 27, 2014, that sent Nick Bonino, Luca Sbisa and a first and third-round pick in 2014 to Vancouver in exchange for Ryan Kesler and this pick.
* $^b$ The New York Rangers' fifth-round pick went to the Vancouver Canucks as the result of a trade on March 5, 2014, that sent Raphael Diaz to New York in exchange for this pick.
* The Vancouver Canucks' seventh-round pick went to the Minnesota Wild as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014, that sent a third-round pick in 2014 to Tampa Bay in exchange for a third-round pick in 2014 and this pick. Tampa Bay previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 27, 2014, that sent a second-round pick in 2014 to Vancouver in exchange for Jason Garrison, the rights to Jeff Costello and this pick.
* $^c$ The San Jose Sharks' seventh-round pick (from New York Islanders via Tampa Bay Lightning) went to the Vancouver Canucks as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015, that sent Patrick McNally to San Jose in exchange for this pick.