In today’s NHL, evaluating player performance goes far beyond just goals and assists. With the growing availability of advanced analytics, fans and analysts alike have powerful tools to assess a player’s true impact on the ice. One such stat is Wins Above Replacement—better known as WAR—a metric that aims to measure how many wins a player contributes to his team over a replacement-level counterpart.
While WAR has long been a staple of baseball analytics, it’s found its way into hockey through platforms like Evolving-Hockey, which also offers complementary stats such as Goals Above Replacement (GAR) and Standing Points Above Replacement (SPAR). By examining WAR, we can gain a clearer sense of who truly drove results for the Vancouver Canucks during the 2024-25 NHL season.
Why WAR Matters
Unlike traditional stats, WAR accounts for all aspects of a player’s game—offense, defense, even penalties drawn and taken—adjusted for context. It’s not a perfect metric, but it’s one of the best attempts at capturing overall value in a single number.
Canucks’ Top WAR Contributors (2024-25 Season)
Using data from Evolving-Hockey, here are the Canucks’ top players by WAR, grouped by position.
Forwards
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Elias Pettersson – 2.0 WAR (Tied 55th among NHL forwards)
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Pius Suter – 1.6 WAR (Tied 86th)
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Conor Garland – 1.5 WAR (Tied 94th)
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Kiefer Sherwood – 1.5 WAR (Tied 94th)
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Nils Höglander – 1.4 WAR (Tied 106th)
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Jake DeBrusk – 1.2 WAR (Tied 114th)
Despite Pettersson’s well-rounded play, no Vancouver forward cracked the top 50 league-wide—a glaring issue for a team that missed the playoffs. In comparison, playoff-bound clubs like the Jets, Lightning, and Oilers had multiple forwards ranked significantly higher.
Defensemen
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Quinn Hughes – 2.8 WAR (6th among NHL defensemen)
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Marcus Pettersson – 1.6 WAR (Tied 31st)
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Filip Hronek – 1.0 WAR (Tied 75th)
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Derek Forbort – 0.4 WAR (Tied 135th)
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Tyler Myers – 0.2 WAR (Tied 158th)
Quinn Hughes continued to prove himself as one of the NHL’s elite blueliners, finishing sixth among all defensemen in WAR. Marcus Pettersson was a solid addition, but overall, the Canucks’ defense lacked depth in high-end impact.
Goaltenders
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Kevin Lankinen – 2.4 WAR (22nd among NHL goalies)
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Thatcher Demko – 0.9 WAR (41st)
Backup Kevin Lankinen surprisingly outpaced Thatcher Demko in WAR, a stat that hints at inconsistency from the Canucks’ usual number one netminder. For a team fighting for every win, goaltending stability was clearly in flux.
Reading Between the Lines
So what does this data tell us?
The Canucks had a few standout individual performances—particularly Hughes on defense and Pettersson up front—but lacked the kind of across-the-board impact that playoff teams often feature. Their forward group, in particular, didn’t deliver at a top-tier level, which helps explain Vancouver’s absence from the 2025 postseason.
Compare that to 2023-24, when the Canucks had multiple forwards ranking in the league’s top 50 by WAR. That kind of balance is what they’ll need to rediscover if they hope to return to the playoffs next season.
Looking Ahead
If Vancouver wants to rebound in 2025-26, the front office will need to either see major internal growth or make bold roster moves—especially among the forward corps. Getting more high-impact seasons from players like Höglander, Garland, and DeBrusk will be critical. WAR isn’t the only stat that matters, but it gives us a sharp snapshot of where things went right—and wrong—for the Canucks this past year.
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