NHL Entry Draft

The 2011 NHL Entry Draft was held June 24–25, 2011, at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Canucks selected eight players including Nicklas Jensen with their first-round draft choice, 29th overall. On day two of the entry draft the Vancouver Canucks traded their second-round draft choice to the Minnesota Wild for two picks in later rounds. In total, Vancouver selected eight players including David Honzík, Alexandre Grenier, Joseph LaBate, Ludwig Blomstrand, Frank Corrado, Pathrik Westerholm and Henrik Tommernes. In total, none would become regular NHL players, with Corrado playing the most games with 76 appearances across three teams.

Minor League affiliations

On June 21, 2011, True North Sports & Entertainment, the owners of the Manitoba Moose received Board of Governors approval to purchase and re-locate the Atlanta Thrashers. The Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to replace the Manitoba Moose. The Moose announced that they were moving to St. John's and would become the AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. As a result, the Canucks were left without an affiliate temporarily. On June 27, 2011, the Vancouver Canucks signed a two-year affiliation agreement with the Chicago Wolves.^[2] The Vancouver Canucks announced that Craig MacTavish would be the new coach for the Wolves on August 1 after Claude Noel, who coached the Manitoba Moose during the 2010–11 season, was hired by the Jets.^[3]

In addition, on April 8, 2011, it was announced that the Chilliwack Bruins of the Western Hockey League would be moving their franchise to Victoria, British Columbia.^[4] The sale of the Chilliwack Bruins to RG Properties was completed and made official on April 20 by the WHL.^[5] The Victoria Royals replaced the Victoria Salmon Kings and began play in the 2011–12 WHL season. RG Properties, who also owned the Victoria Salmon Kings, opted to fold the Salmon Kings franchise at the conclusion of the 2010–11 ECHL season.^[6] As a result, the Canucks were left without an ECHL minor league affiliate. The Salmon Kings spent five years as the ECHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks.

On September 22, the Vancouver Canucks announced that it had signed an ECHL affiliation agreement with the Kalamazoo Wings.^[7]

October–November

The Vancouver Canucks began their season on October 6 when they hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins before embarking on a four-game road trip. Prior to the start of the home opener the Canucks organization held a ceremony to celebrate their 2010–11 season and to thank the police officers, firemen and volunteers who helped the city recover after the Stanley Cup riot. The game was supposed to be Sidney Crosby's third NHL game at Rogers Arena, and first hockey game since scoring the golden goal at the 2010 Winter Olympics but was unable to play as he was still recovering from a concussion. In the game, the Vancouver Canucks battled back from a 3–1 deficit but fell short in a shootout.

The club held a ceremony on October 18 prior to their game against the New York Rangers to honour the late Rick Rypien. Rypien played within the Vancouver Canucks organization for seven seasons, splitting time between the Canucks and the Manitoba Moose, before signing with the Winnipeg Jets during the summer. Rypien was found dead at his home in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, on August 15. The Canucks wore a helmet decal in honour of Rypien during the season.^[10] The Canucks also ran a video tribute for former Ranger Derek Boogaard who also died during the off-season.^[11]

The Canucks struggled throughout the month of October which was punctuated by a significant trade. Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm were traded to the Florida Panthers on October 22, just hours after the Canucks defeated the Minnesota Wild. In return, the Canucks acquired a third-round draft pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and forwards David Booth and Steven Reinprecht. The month ended with a match up against the Washington Capitals that saw the Canucks prevail by a final score of 7–4. Alex Edler, Maxim Lapierre and Chris Higgins all registered two goals for Vancouver while Alexander Ovechkin also scored a pair of goals for Washington.

The month of November opened with a six-game road trip beginning in Calgary, where the Canucks won the game by a score of 5–1. The game saw Daniel Sedin score his 254th goal of his career to tie Pavel Bure for fourth all-time in Canucks goal scoring. However, the Canucks continued to battle inconsistency and were unable to sustain any momentum through the first two-thirds of the month where they compiled a record of 4–4 capped by a blowout loss to rival Chicago. The Canucks, led by Cory Schneider who originally replaced an injured Roberto Luongo, finished the month with five consecutive victories that included back-to-back shutouts for Schneider. During the winning streak head coach Alain Vigneault became the team's winningest coach when the team defeated Colorado on November 23.^[12]

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Pre-season

Regular season

Detailed records

Playoffs

The Vancouver Canucks clinched the Presidents' Trophy for the second consecutive year, thus guaranteeing themselves home ice advantage for the duration of the playoffs. However, they were knocked out in the first round by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; GS = Game Starts; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals against average; SA= Shots against; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Canucks. Stats reflect time with Canucks only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Canucks only.

Updated after game on April 7, 2012

Records

Milestones

Awards

Trades