NHL analyst gives his honest opinion on who is to blame for Vancouver Canucks' struggles

NHL analyst Jamie McLennan shared his thoughts on the Vancouver Canucks' struggles this season. They are currently sitting fourth in the Pacific Division with a record of 33-26-12 and 78 points. And have three points less than the St. Louis Blues, who are occupying the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Speaking on Domino’s That’s Hockey with Bruce Boudreau, McLennan said that bad luck is the biggest reason for the Vancouver Canucks' problems.

Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko, who was 35-14-2 last season, has played only 18 games. Captain Quinn Hughes has also missed 14 games due to an oblique injury. McLennan pointed out that Demko and Hughes missed crucial time and it was one of the factors in their poor performance. He believes injuries have hurt the team and that the Canucks would be much stronger with a healthy lineup.

"...The players have to absorb a lot of that because they have to be a lot better. But I would start, number one, with luck. Because if you had health and some luck, you would have a very deep team on paper." McLennan said.

Hughes leads the Canucks with 68 points and 52 assists and forward Brock Boeser has scored 23 goals. But at the same time forward, Elias Pettersson has struggled to score. McLennan said that the Canucks players need to be more consistent. Their performance has not been good enough to keep the team in the playoff race.

"Number two is the players because they go out and play the game—they have to be a lot better and more consistent," McLennan said.

Jamie McLennan talked about Vancouver Canucks' late action on the Miller-Pettersson situation

Jamie McLennan also mentioned Vancouver Canucks management as another factor. He believes they should have handled the situation between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson sooner. It was a major media headline for weeks and Miller was later traded to the NY Rangers.

"And number three, I would go with management because I think management could have taken care of the J.T. Miller Pettersson—we’ll call it a feud, just for lack of a better word—a lot sooner, to maybe clean things up and allow a clearer path for things to sort out," McLennan said.

The Vancouver Canucks have lost three of their last five games. But a 6-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets can be looked at as a positive sign since the Jets are second in the league with 48 wins and 100 points. The Canucks need more consistency before the playoffs to secure a playoff spot.