The Vancouver Canucks are playing for nothing more than 24th overall in the NHL, with a week to go before the regular season ends once and for all.
Though NHL teams never seem to believe in tanking, a loss for the Canucks against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday will do more good than harm. They are still in contention to finish 29th overall in the NHL, but they are also in contention to finish higher than six other teams in the league-wide standings.
We’ve seen the Canucks give it all they’ve got throughout the season, and there’s zero reason to believe they’re secretly tanking.