The 2019–20 Vancouver Canucks season was the 50th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. The Canucks attempted to return to the postseason for the first time since the 2014–15 season.

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled. The Canucks advanced to the playoffs for the first time since the 2014–15 season. They defeated the Minnesota Wild in the qualifying round in four games. The Canucks then defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in six games, advancing to the second round for the first time since the 2010–11 season, where they faced off against the Vegas Golden Knights, losing the series in seven games.

Off-season The Vancouver Canucks hosted the 2019 NHL entry draft on June 21–22, 2019.

Training camp The Canucks held their training camp at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia, from September 13–15. The following day, they hosted a preseason game against the Calgary Flames in Victoria, which they lost 4–3.

Regular season

October

The Canucks began their season with a 3–2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on October 2. After ending their season-opening two-game road trip with a 3–0 loss to the Calgary Flames, the team returned home for their October 9 home opener against the Los Angeles Kings, the same team the Canucks hosted in their inaugural game exactly 49 years earlier. In a special pre-game ceremony, the Canucks named Bo Horvat the 14th captain in team history. The Canucks defeated the Kings 8–2, with rookie defenseman Quinn Hughes scoring his first NHL goal. The Canucks would get back to .500 in their next game by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3–2 in a shootout. Before the final game of the homestand, Jacob Markstrom left the team for personal reasons, resulting in Thatcher Demko making his first start of the season, where the Canucks won 5–1 over the Detroit Red Wings. The Canucks opened their road trip on October 17 by defeating the defending champion St. Louis Blues 4–3 in a shootout, coming back after being down 3–1 in the game to earn their first road victory of the year. Playing their next two games on back-to-back days, the Canucks were shutout by the New Jersey Devils 1–0, with Quinn's brother Jack Hughes scoring his first NHL goal. however they rebounded and defeated the New York Rangers 3–2 the following day, which included Bo Horvat scoring his 100th career goal. The Canucks concluded their road trip by defeating the Detroit Red Wings 5–2, with Bo Horvat scoring his first career hat-trick and helping Vancouver overcome a 2–0 deficit in the game. On October 25, back at home facing the Washington Capitals, the Canucks surrendered a 5–1 second period lead and lost the game 6–5 in a shootout. The team rebounded in their next game and beat the Florida Panthers 7–2. To close out the month of October, the Canucks began a three-game California road trip by visiting the Los Angeles Kings. Vancouver earned a 5–3 victory in the October 30 game, which included a Brock Boeser hat-trick.

November Continuing their road trip, the Canucks opened November with a 2–1 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks. They responded the following day by winning 5–2 over the San Jose Sharks. The Canucks earned five of six points on the road trip, and won their first game in San Jose since March 31, 2016. They then proceeded to go 1-5-2 over their next 9 games.

End of season At the 2020 NHL Awards, first year defenceman Quinn Hughes would finish second in the Calder Memorial Trophy voting, marking the third consecutive year that a Canucks rookie finished in the top 3 in voting for this award, a feat that has not been matched since the New York Rangers did so from 1969 to 1971.

Standings

Divisional standings

Western Conference

Tiebreaking procedures Fewer number of games played (only used during regular season). Greater number of regulation wins (denoted by RW). Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime (excluding shootout wins; denoted by ROW). Greater number of total wins (including shootouts). Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded. Greater goal differential (difference between goals for and goals against). Greater number of goals scored (denoted by GF).

Schedule and results

Pre-season The Canucks released their pre-season schedule on June 18, 2019. 2019 pre-season game log: 4–4–0 (Home: 2–3–0; Road: 2–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Recap 1 September 16 Vancouver 3–2 Calgary OT Bachman 17,465 1–0–0 2 September 16 Calgary 4–3 Vancouver McIntyre 7,006 1–1–0 3 September 17 Edmonton 2–4 Vancouver Demko 17,738 2–1–0 4 September 19 Vancouver 6–1 Edmonton Markstrom 15,789 3–1–0 5 September 21 Vancouver 5–7 Los Angeles Bachman 10,014 3–2–0 6 September 23 Ottawa 4–6 Vancouver Markstrom 7,046 4–2–0 7 September 25 Ottawa 6–2 Vancouver Demko 18,781 4–3–0 8 September 26 Arizona 4–2 Vancouver Markstrom 18,528 4–4–0 Notes: Indicates split-squad. Game was played at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia. Game was played at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Game was played at Abbotsford Centre in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Regular season The regular season schedule was released on June 25, 2019. 2019–20 game logOctober: 8–3–1 (Home: 4–0–1; Road: 4–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 2 Vancouver 2–3 Edmonton Markstrom 18,347 0–1–0 0 2 October 5 Vancouver 0–3 Calgary Markstrom 19,005 0–2–0 0 3 October 9 Los Angeles 2–8 Vancouver Markstrom 18,955 1–2–0 2 4 October 12 Philadelphia 2–3 Vancouver SO Markstrom 18,652 2–2–0 4 5 October 15 Detroit 1–5 Vancouver Demko 18,183 3–2–0 6 6 October 17 Vancouver 4–3 St. Louis SO Demko 18,096 4–2–0 8 7 October 19 Vancouver 0–1 New Jersey Demko 13,818 4–3–0 8 8 October 20 Vancouver 3–2 NY Rangers Markstrom 17,030 5–3–0 10 9 October 22 Vancouver 5–2 Detroit Markstrom 18,455 6–3–0 12 10 October 25 Washington 6–5 Vancouver SO Markstrom 18,871 6–3–1 13 11 October 28 Florida 2–7 Vancouver Demko 17,864 7–3–1 15 12 October 30 Vancouver 5–3 Los Angeles Markstrom 15,565 8–3–1 17 November: 5–7–3 (Home: 1–2–2; Road: 4–5–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 13 November 1 Vancouver 1–2 Anaheim OT Markstrom 15,173 8–3–2 18 14 November 2 Vancouver 5–2 San Jose Demko 16,480 9–3–2 20 15 November 5 St. Louis 2–1 Vancouver OT Markstrom 17,789 9–3–3 21 16 November 7 Vancouver 2–5 Chicago Markstrom 21,418 9–4–3 21 17 November 8 Vancouver 1–4 Winnipeg Demko 15,325 9–5–3 21 18 November 10 New Jersey 2–1 Vancouver Markstrom 18,871 9–6–3 21 19 November 12 Nashville 3–5 Vancouver Demko 18,233 10–6–3 23 20 November 14 Dallas 4–2 Vancouver Markstrom 18,642 10–7–3 23 21 November 16 Colorado 5–4 Vancouver OT Demko 18,409 10–7–4 24 22 November 19 Vancouver 1–6 Dallas Markstrom 18,198 10–8–4 24 23 November 21 Vancouver 6–3 Nashville Markstrom 17,168 11–8–4 26 24 November 23 Vancouver 2–1 Washington SO Markstrom 18,573 12–8–4 28 25 November 25 Vancouver 1–2 Philadelphia Demko 17,083 12–9–4 28 26 November 27 Vancouver 6–8 Pittsburgh Demko 18,465 12–10–4 28 27 November 30 Vancouver 5–2 Edmonton Markstrom 18,035 13–10–4 30 December: 8–5–0 (Home: 7–3–0; Road: 1–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 28 December 1 Edmonton 3–2 Vancouver Markstrom 18,871 13–11–4 30 29 December 3 Ottawa 2–5 Vancouver Demko 18,559 14–11–4 32 30 December 7 Buffalo 5–6 Vancouver OT Demko 18,871 15–11–4 34 31 December 10 Toronto 4–1 Vancouver Markstrom 18,290 15–12–4 34 32 December 12 Carolina 0–1 Vancouver OT Markstrom 18,626 16–12–4 36 33 December 14 Vancouver 2–4 San Jose Markstrom 16,242 16–13–4 36 34 December 15 Vancouver 3–6 Vegas Markstrom 18,066 16–14–4 36 35 December 17 Montreal 3–1 Vancouver Markstrom 18,788 16–15–4 36 36 December 19 Vegas 4–5 Vancouver OT Markstrom 18,871 17–15–4 38 37 December 21 Pittsburgh 1–4 Vancouver Markstrom 18,285 18–15–4 40 38 December 23 Edmonton 2–4 Vancouver Markstrom 18,851 19–15–4 42 39 December 28 Los Angeles 2–3 Vancouver Markstrom 18,837 20–15–4 44 40 December 29 Vancouver 5–2 Calgary Demko 19,289 21–15–4 46 January: 8–3–0 (Home: 5–0–0; Road: 3–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 41 January 2 Chicago 5–7 Vancouver Markstrom 18,871 22–15–4 48 42 January 4 NY Rangers 1–2 Vancouver Markstrom 18,871 23–15–4 50 43 January 7 Vancouver 2–9 Tampa Bay Markstrom 19,092 23–16–4 50 44 January 9 Vancouver 2–5 Florida Demko 12,648 23–17–4 50 45 January 11 Vancouver 6–3 Buffalo Markstrom 18,509 24–17–4 52 46 January 12 Vancouver 4–1 Minnesota Markstrom 17,348 25–17–4 54 47 January 14 Vancouver 0–4 Winnipeg Markstrom 15,325 25–18–4 54 48 January 16 Arizona 1–3 Vancouver Markstrom 18,871 26–18–4 56 49 January 18 San Jose 1–4 Vancouver Demko 18,786 27–18–4 58 50 January 27 St. Louis 1–3 Vancouver Demko 18,871 28–18–4 60 51 January 29 Vancouver 5–2 San Jose Markstrom 16,024 29–18–4 62 February: 5–6–2 (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 2–4–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 52 February 1 Vancouver 4–3 NY Islanders OT Markstrom 14,862 30–18–4 64 53 February 2 Vancouver 3–4 Carolina SO Demko 15,767 30–18–5 65 54 February 4 Vancouver 0–4 Boston Markstrom 17,850 30–19–5 65 55 February 6 Vancouver 2–4 Minnesota Markstrom 17,191 30–20–5 65 56 February 8 Calgary 6–2 Vancouver Markstrom 18,871 30–21–5 65 57 February 10 Nashville 2–6 Vancouver Markstrom 18,871 31–21–5 67 58 February 12 Chicago 0–3 Vancouver Markstrom 18,871 32–21–5 69 59 February 16 Anaheim 5–1 Vancouver Demko 18,871 32–22–5 69 60 February 19 Minnesota 4–3 Vancouver SO Markstrom 18,871 32–22–6 70 61 February 22 Boston 3–9 Vancouver Markstrom 18,871 33–22–6 72 62 February 25 Vancouver 4–3 Montreal OT Demko 21,187 34–22–6 74 63 February 27 Vancouver 2–5 Ottawa Demko 12,166 34–23–6 74 64 February 29 Vancouver 2–4 Toronto Demko 19,371 34–24–6 74 March: 2–3–0 (Home: 2–2–0; Road: 0–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 65 March 1 Vancouver 3–5 Columbus Domingue 18,378 34–25–6 74 66 March 4 Arizona 4–2 Vancouver Demko 17,363 34–26–6 74 67 March 6 Colorado 3–6 Vancouver Demko 18,871 35–26–6 76 68 March 8 Columbus 2–1 Vancouver Demko 18,871 35–27–6 76 69 March 10 NY Islanders 4–5 Vancouver SO Demko 18,871 36–27–6 78 Cancelled games # Date Visitor Home 70 March 12 Vancouver Arizona 71 March 13 Vancouver Colorado 72 March 15 Winnipeg Vancouver 73 March 18 Tampa Bay Vancouver 74 March 20 Vancouver Anaheim 75 March 21 Vancouver Los Angeles 76 March 23 Vancouver Vegas 77 March 25 San Jose Vancouver 78 March 27 Calgary Vancouver 79 March 28 Anaheim Vancouver 80 March 30 Vancouver Dallas 81 April 2 Vancouver Arizona 82 April 4 Vegas VancouverLegend:

Playoffs

The Canucks defeated the Minnesota Wild in the qualifying round in four games.

The Canucks faced the St. Louis Blues in the first round, and defeated them in six games.

In the second round, the Canucks faced the Vegas Golden Knights, but lost in seven games.